Dialect
A dialect is the language used by people in a particular area, class, district, or group of people. The term dialect encompasses the spelling, sounds, grammar and pronunciation of a particular group of people and differentiates them from those other people around them.
Dialect is a very powerful and common type of characterization that works out the geographic and social background of each character.
Examples of dialect in literature
Example 1: Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain)
Jim: “We are safe, Huck, we are safe! Jump up and crack your heels. This is de good ole Cairo at las', I know it. "
Huck:" I'll take the canoe and go, Jim. It couldn't be, you know. ”
One of the best examples of dialect in literature, using it as a literary device, is in this piece by Mark Twain. Here Twain uses an exaggerated dialect to distinguish between the characters.
Example # 2: To Kill a Mockingbird (by Harper Lee)
Characters who are less educated and less sophisticated are generally shown speaking in a much stronger dialect. At certain points, you may even need translations. Like:
Walter: “I think I almost died the first year. I come to school and give them nuts; people say he glued them up and put them on the side of the school fence. ”
Translation: I guess so. I ate those nuts, I almost died. Some people accuse [Mr. Radley] of poisoning them and keeping them on the side of the school fence
Examples of dialect in poetry
Example # 4: Poor wench. Lawrence)
“No one will say silence! to you, poor girl, poor piece of a woman?
A man will never say: Come, my dove, come and still be with me, my own piece of a woman! “
Example 5: Gypsies (by D.Lawrence)
“ I, the man with the red scarf,
Will give you what I have, the income of the last week.
Take it and buy a silver ring
And married me to satisfy my longings
For the rest, when you are married
I get wet my forehead for you
I enter a house with sweat for your sake,
You should close the doors for me. “
You can also find good examples of the use of dialects in two of George Eliot's novels, Silas Mariner and Middlemarch. Another method of using dialects is to knowingly misspelling a word to build an artistic aura around a figure known as "metaplasm".
Dialects in American and British English
There have been several very unique dialects in literature in the past, some of which have become more dominant. Old and Middle English had different regional dialects. The main dialects in Old English were Kentish, North Umbrian, Mercian and West Saxon dialects. Over the years, the West Saxon dialect became the standard. In addition, Middle English included the dialects South, West Midlands, North, East Midlands, and Kentish.
In the British Isles, modern English gives references to both class and regional dialects. Almost every UK country has its own variations to some extent. Baugh pointed out that in one place you can sometimes mark three dialectal regions in a country Modern American English is made up of dialects such as eastern New England, central south, northern interior, southern, general American north, central country , New York and the black colloquial English concert with the reality that it illustrates. African American authors often criticize this state of affairs while discussing the importance of speaking in so-called "standard" American English as compared to African American English. Toni Cade Bambara made a remarkable contribution to this aspect by choosing the language of her culture and community. He used his language as a very productive critical tool, and his illustration of dialect in The Lesson functioned as an examination of how listeners eventually hear the slighted speech. By reviving language, which had long been marginalized, she contributes to the effort to save the cultural identity of African Americans. This integration of non-standard linguistic features in the literature in "the lesson" works as an insightful response to marginalization. She also demonstrates the strength and power of language to portray the diverse realities of people from different places.
Popular Literary Devices
- Ad Hominem
- Adage
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Anachronism
- Anagram
- Analogy
- Anapest
- Anaphora
- Anecdote
- Antagonist
- Antecedent
- Antimetabole
- Antithesis
- Aphorism
- Aposiopesis
- Apostrophe
- Archaism
- Archetype
- Argument
- Assonance
- Biography
- Cacophony
- Cadence
- Caricature
- Catharsis
- Characterization
- Cliché
- Climax
- Colloquialism
- Comparison
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Denotation
- Deus Ex Machina
- Dialect
- Dialogue
- Diction
- Didacticism
- Discourse
- Doppelganger
- Double Entendre
- Ellipsis
- Epiphany
- Epitaph
- Essay
- Ethos
- Eulogy
- Euphemism
- Evidence
- Exposition
- Fable
- Fallacy
- Flash Forward
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Genre
- Haiku
- Half Rhyme
- Hubris
- Hyperbaton
- Hyperbole
- Idiom
- Imagery
- Induction
- Inference
- Innuendo
- Internal Rhyme
- Irony
- Jargon
- Juxtaposition
- Limerick
- Line Break
- Logos
- Meiosis
- Memoir
- Metaphor
- Meter
- Mood
- Motif
- Narrative
- Nemesis
- Non Sequitur
- Ode
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Palindrome
- Parable
- Paradox
- Parallelism
- Parataxis
- Parody
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Pathos
- Pentameter
- Persona
- Personification
- Plot
- Poem
- Poetic Justice
- Point of View
- Portmanteau
- Propaganda
- Prose
- Protagonist
- Pun
- Red Herring
- Repetition
- Rhetoric
- Rhyme
- Rhythm
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Simile
- Soliloquy
- Sonnet
- Style
- Superlative
- Syllogism
- Symbolism
- Synecdoche
- Synesthesia
- Syntax
- Tautology
- Theme
- Thesis
- Tone
- Tragedy
- Tragicomedy
- Tragic Flaw
- Transition
- Utopia
- Verisimilitude