Discussion
Started 5 April 2024

Comment on the correlation between Regional Dialects and Social Dialects.

REGIONAL AND SOCIAL DIALECTS
This PowerPoint discusses phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic differences in New England, the South, the South West, California (Valley-Girl, and Surfer Dude), the Borsht Belt (Yiddish influences), Down-East Yankee, Minnesota (Lake Wobegon), Brooklyn, Western, Canadian, and Star Wars (Yoda) regional and social dialects.
The frontier humor of the American West or of Australia tends to be exaggerated: He is so stingy that he sits in the shade of the hackberry tree to save the shade of the porch. His feet are so big that he has to put his pants on over his head. His teeth stick out so far that he can eat a pumpkin through a rail fence. When Slue-Foot Sue married Pecos Bill, Sue insisted on riding his horse, Widow-Maker. Widow-Maker bucked her off and she bounced so high on her spring bustle that she orbited the moon and they had to throw jerky to her to keep her from starving to death. When Pecos Bill died, they marked his grave site with, “Here lies Pecos Bill. He always lied and always will. He once lied loud. He now lies still.”
Joe Barnes was sired by a yoke of cattle, suckled by a she-bear and had three sets of teeth and gums for another set. Nimrod Wildfire was a touch of the airthquake. He had the prettiest sister, the fattest horse, and the ugliest dog in the district. Wirt Staples has a shadow that can wilt grass, breath that can poison mosquitoes, and a yell that can break windows. Mike Fink was a Salt River roarer, a ring-tailed squealer, half wild horse and half cock-eyed alligator and the rest crooked snags and red-hot snappin’ turtle.
Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints:

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Don L. F. Nilsen
Arizona State University
What is the correlation between regional dialects and social dialects? Any comments you make about this PowerPoint will be appreciated.
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Why does J. K. Rowling use so much onomastic word play in the Harry Potter books?
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  • Don L. F. NilsenDon L. F. Nilsen
HUMOROUS NAMES IN J. K. ROWLING’S HARRY POTTER BOOKS
In the Harry Potter books, J. K. Rowling uses new spellings and different names to establish the fact that she is taking readers to a world that runs parallel to their own, but is quite different.
She uses creative naming to provide instant characterization and to help her readers remember who is who.
When she names her charms and potions, she is like modern manufacturers who name their products so as to create built-in advertising claims as with Allerest allergy medicine, Diehard batteries, and Holsum bread.
In relation to plot development, Rowling uses her newly created names, especially the names of her charms, to keep her plot moving at a fast pace.
She also uses newly created names for foreshadowing and for revealing the depth of her characters’ emotions.
But most of all, she uses creative naming for comic relief. Just as Shakespeare provided comic relief in the darkest of his tragedies, Rowling does the same thing in her Harry Potter series.
One example of Rowling’s word play occurs in The Chamber of Secrets, which centers around the identification of a mysterious student from the past named Tom Riddle. Ginny was given his diary, and throughout the year has been communicating with him, although she did not know who he was. When she is drawn into his evil plans, Harry gets the diary and finds himself communicating with its original owner. It belonged to TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, which is an anagram for I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints:
How important are regional and social dialects in the study of linguistics?
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  • Don L. F. NilsenDon L. F. Nilsen
REGIONAL AND SOCIAL DIALECTS
This PowerPoint discusses phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic differences in New England, the South, the South West, California (Valley-Girl, and Surfer Dude), the Borsht Belt (Yiddish influences), Down-East Yankee, Minnesota (Lake Wobegon), Brooklyn, Western, Canadian, and Star Wars (Yoda) regional and social dialects.
The frontier humor of the American West or of Australia tends to be exaggerated: He is so stingy that he sits in the shade of the hackberry tree to save the shade of the porch. His feet are so big that he has to put his pants on over his head. His teeth stick out so far that he can eat a pumpkin through a rail fence. When Slue-Foot Sue married Pecos Bill, Sue insisted on riding his horse, Widow-Maker. Widow-Maker bucked her off and she bounced so high on her spring bustle that she orbited the moon and they had to throw jerky to her to keep her from starving to death. When Pecos Bill died, they marked his grave site with, “Here lies Pecos Bill. He always lied and always will. He once lied loud. He now lies still.”
Joe Barnes was sired by a yoke of cattle, suckled by a she-bear and had three sets of teeth and gums for another set. Nimrod Wildfire was a touch of the airthquake. He had the prettiest sister, the fattest horse, and the ugliest dog in the district. Wirt Staples has a shadow that can wilt grass, breath that can poison mosquitoes, and a yell that can break windows. Mike Fink was a Salt River roarer, a ring-tailed squealer, half wild horse and half cock-eyed alligator and the rest crooked snags and red-hot snappin’ turtle.
Don and Alleen Nilsen “Humor Across the Academic Disciplines” PowerPoints:
How is our world view affected by our bodies: tall vs. short, fat vs. skinny, old vs. young, athletic vs. intellectual, boy vs. girl?
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  • Don L. F. NilsenDon L. F. Nilsen
Humor in Gender and Embodiment Issues
Emily Toth is responsible for the first Humane Humor Rule: "Never target a quality that a person can't change. The original humane humor rule appeared in "Female Wits" by Emily Toth The Massachusetts Review Vol. 22, No. 4, (Winter 1981). Based on this first humane humor rule, a number of other humane humor rules have been posited, such as 1. Target yourself, i.e. use self-deprecating humor. 2.Target your own ethnic group or gender, but no other ethnic group or gender. 3. Never target the victim. 4. Always target a strength so that it empowers rather than humiliates the target. 5. Be sure there is spatial, temporal and psychological distance before making fun of a difficult situation. And 6. Remember that Tragedy + Time = Comedy.
Also, the way we see the world is determined by the bodies we live in. George Lakoff gives evidence that our view of the world is largely determined by the body we inhabit: Old vs. Young, White vs. Black, Male vs. Female, Strong vs. Weak, Educated vs. Uneducated, Farmer vs. Rancher, Muslim vs. Jewish vs. Christian, Norwegian vs. Spaniard, Athletic vs. Clumsy, etc.
Don and Alleen Nilsen are suggesting the VARIES acronym to explain how embodiment affects language variation. The VARIES acronym explains linguistic diversity in the following ways:
V-VOCATIONAL JARGON AND HUMOR
Computer Guys, Doctors, Lawyers, Linguists, Teachers
A-AGE-RELATED LANGUAGE AND HUMOR
Children, Teenagers, Old People
R-REGIONAL LANGUAGE AND HUMOR
California, Canada, New York, South
I-INFORMAL OR FORMAL LANGUAGE AND HUMOR
Casual Acquaintances, Lovers, Friends, Relatives
E-ETHNIC LANGUAGE AND HUMOR
Blacks, Jews, Mexicans, Native Americans
S-SEX-RELATED LANGUAGE AND HUMOR
Males, Females, Lesbians, Gays
Give examples of how our world view is affected by our bodies: tall vs. short, fat vs. skinny, old vs. young, athletic vs. intellectual, boy vs. girl, etc.

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