Can you speak Yodish?

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens."  Have you seen it yet?  My husband Wayne and I joined a whole lot of other movie goers on Christmas Day this year at the Violet Crown theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico to get our Star Wars fix.  The movie has an intriguing plot, memorable characters and lively dialogue, but I must admit I missed seeing one of my favorite Star Wars characters-Yoda.

I admire Yoda because he is old and wise, but I have always been especially intrigued by Yoda's use of language.  When I taught courses in English Linguistics, I often used quotes from Yoda to introduce  students to topics in syntax, hoping to spark a little interest in what can be a very dry topic!

Yoda, of course, speaks English.  And we can all understand him.  But we also know that sometimes Yoda's language sounds a bit odd. "Lost a planet Master Obi-Wan has, " says the little green Jedi master. What's going on here?

Yoda sometimes uses an alternate word order from the Subject-Verb-Object basic word order of English.  (Linguists refer to that order as SVO.)  He often places modifiers, like adjectives, adverbs, and even modifying clauses, and also objects before the subject and verb, rather than after.   Yoda says, "Much to learn, you still have," rather than the more usual "You still have much to learn." (Linguists might classify Yoda's word order as OSV.)

Yoda's choice of a different word order gives us a chance to examine our own ideas of what is "right" and "wrong" in a language. 

Would you consider Yoda's language ungrammatical?  His language may sound poetic, archaic and formal, but is it truly wrong?  Yoda would not think so.

Yoda also often omits using the auxiliary verb "do" in negative statements.  He declares, "Size matters not" rather than the more standard "Size does not matter." Also, Yoda does not use contractions, like "doesn't" for "does not", which to me makes his language sound more formal. 

So, do you think you could change your standard dialect of English into Yodish?  The mechanics of doing so are really fairly simple, but can you match the wisdom of statements like these?

"Wars not make one great."

"Adventure.  Excitement.  A Jedi craves not these things."

And my favorite Yoda quote:  "When 900 years you reach, look as good you will not."

Would you like to read more Yoda quotes?    Yoda quotes

 



 

A bit of fun with accents in English

Do you speak English with an accent?  You don't?  Are you sure?  When I pose that same question to a group, I generally get a few comments from second language speakers, a few outright denials, and a few who catch on quickly to the point I am trying to make.

The truth of the matter is that anyone who speaks English, or any other language for that matter, speaks with a certain accent.  Accent in this sense refers to the way that speakers pronounce words (phonetic and phonological distinctions, in more formal terms).  What I find interesting about accents is how quickly we notice when someone else has a different accent from ours.  And, how in our heart of hearts, we truly feel that our accent is the "right" accent.  We are correct; everyone else is a little weird!

A recent holiday trip to the northern part of my home state of Texas to visit friends and family brought the topic of accents to my attention. I was speaking with my "correct" El Paso accent, and almost everyone else was speaking with their Texas drawl! ( El Paso is located in the far west corner of Texas and has borders with both Mexico and New Mexico.)  

I was reminded of my husband Wayne's young cousin who, when we first met years ago, looked up at me and commented, "You have a funny accent."  If I wouldn't have been trying to make a good impression on my in-laws, I might have informed that rude youngster that his accent sounded pretty comical to me too!

The British accent we sometimes hear on television and in movies can be a challenge for Americans to understand.   In reality, many different accents can be heard in Britain. Here is a clip of a woman speaking British English with seventeen different accents   And yet we Americans tend to think a British accent is classy, at least I do, even if I have to turn on closed captioning on TV to understand all the details.  You may enjoy this recent short spoof on accents, Downton Abbey scene done with American accent as much as I did.

But we really can't help ourselves from finding some accents more pleasing than others.  To me, a Canadian English accent is pure and devoid of distractions.  I enjoy hearing it.    I also like a Southern drawl, like President Jimmy Carter's speech.  New Zealand and Australian English bring back fond memories. The Scottish "r"  puts a smile on my face.  But the English spoken by moonshiners on one of my husband's favorite TV reality shows makes me long to hit the mute button.  Sorry!

Listening to different accents from the English-speaking world can be entertaining if we set aside our preconceived notions of the "right" way to say something.  What are some of your favorite accents?

 



   

Do these holiday words jingle your bells?

The December holidays are upon us.  Colder weather, Christmas music in stores, Starbucks' eggnog lattes.  And we begin using special holiday words that bring a rush of perhaps buried thoughts and emotions.  When, except for the winter holiday season, are the words 'ornaments', 'garland', and 'carols',  heard in everyday conversations?  Here are some of my favorite holiday words and expressions.

The term "sleigh ride" always takes my mind to snowy climates, very unlike the warm Southwest desert that is my home. On my imaginary sleigh ride, I can feel "Jack Frost nipping at my toes," hear the snow crunch beneath my boots, and see a sleigh piled high with furry blankets. The driver beckons for us to climb in, clicks the reins, calls to the horses, and passes back a thermos steaming with a heady concoction. We are off on trails through a snowy forest, and, yes, the bells are jingling.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that the one sleigh ride I have taken in my life was not quite like my dream ride.  I have two vivid memories.  One was that my snow suit was so tight from holiday overeating that I couldn't lift my leg onto the sleigh and had to be hauled up by helpful hands. Very embarrassing!  The other memory was of suffering in the frigid weather.  Brrrr.

Two other words that are heard frequently during the holidays are 'eggnog'

and 'fruitcake'.

A mention of either of these words often elicits a groan from guests, but don't you think these special holiday treats just sound festive?  What is amusing about eggnog is that recipes abound encouraging us to reduce the sugar content, cut the fat content, and prepare a gluten-free version. Why bother? Why not drink the sweet, rich concoction once a year and plan to eat healthy until Easter?

And fruitcake may have an even worse reputation than eggnog.  

But would you really want to go through the holidays without nibbling on one small slice of fruitcake?

Yet another expression that is associated with the holiday season is 'nativity scene'.  Nativity scenes are a depiction of the birth of Jesus in a stable, with Mary and Joseph, and often Wise Men, shepherds and sheep.  Nativities range from live scenes with human actors, to huge life size statues, to tabletop displays, to tiny nativity scenes.  All bring a reminder of the original meaning of the Christmas season.      

Nativity scenes always bring with them a touch of guilt for me.  Years ago I bought my first nativity scene at a five-and-dime store.  For years afterward, I collected nativity scenes of all imaginable origins, colors, shapes and configurations. And kind people would gift me nativity scenes.  My Christmas storage closet is now packed to overflowing with nativity scenes which I am too lazy to unpack and display.  Maybe I will locate just that one original nativity at the bottom of the box and put it on display this season....