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Deeply embedded in the U.S. national consciousnesses is a complexity of cultural references which
distinguish 'status' and 'power' relationships among the speakers of American English. This mixture of
different culture(s), language(s), and cultural references is continuously changing. New communications
technologies (the internet, expanded cable and satellite tv services, wireless multimedia, etc.) are
accelerating the pace of change.
They are also disseminating to audiences who are not natives of the host culture a greatly larger volume
of highly-culture-specific linguistic and visual content. This content may often be difficult for non-natives to
comprehend (translate, subtitle, etc.) without a perspective on the various associations, connotations or
other 'insider knowledge' that had been 'assumed' within the native culture for specific 'terms of
distinction', including 'register options' which may have a relatively lower or higher status.
A Dialect is distinct from a Language largely in the numerical, political or other influence of its speakers,
as suggested by the pithy definition of a language as "a dialect with an army." This influence may either
be "real" or "absolute," or simply "perceived" as being such, whether or not it really is (cf. the 'Thomas
Theorem').
Speaking the 'wrong' social dialect in a certain environment may result in awkwardness or difficulty for the
speaker. For example, speaking a highly-educated dialect while working in a blue-collar environment
would identify one as an "outsider" who might become the subject of resentment or open hostility. If a
black person speaks 'standard English' in a Black-Vernacular-English community, he could be regarded
as a 'traitor' to his heritage. If a travelling sales professional speaks a local or regional dialect which is
perceived by others as having lower or humorous status, he may not be regarded as authoritative or
believable, and sales would not be made.
If we belong to an ethnic community, we may express our membership in that community by speaking
the ethnic dialectof that group. The African-American Variety of English (AAVE, a.k.a. 'Black Vernacular
English' [BVE] or 'Ebonics') is an example of an ethnic dialect with a strong cultural identity. Currently
acquiring significant status in the U.S. is 'Spanglish'. Another example of interest for Finnish students
would be Finglish.
All of these different dialect influences affect the way we speak, whether or not we are conscious of it. In
turn, the way we speak influences how we are perceived by others. People are usually proud and strongly
defensive of the dialect(s) with which they identify. Within a large, diverse, multicultural nation such as the
United States, these identities with, and the continuing competition among, the varying registers of local,
regional, ethnic, social, gender and other dialects are the basis of much interplay of linguistic power, pride
and politics.