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Bless Your Heart: Constructing The ‘Southern Belle’ In The Modern South’, Staci Defibaugh, Karen Taylor
Bless Your Heart: Constructing The ‘Southern Belle’ In The Modern South’, Staci Defibaugh, Karen Taylor
English Faculty Publications
Language and identity are intricately woven into the personal and public lives of social groups. Words and phrases may originate in a subculture morphing into mainstream culture on the comingled streams of interactions among the masses. These words and phrases have specific meanings within their original contexts in their home cultures, yet they vary and evolve as they travel on the above-mentioned comingled streams of interactions and conversations. In this paper, we explore the typified Southern expression, ‘bless your heart,’ examining the ways in which this phrase is used, understood and reinterpreted as it circulates within the South and outside …
Contemporary English In The Usa, Melissa Axelrod, Joanne Scheibman
Contemporary English In The Usa, Melissa Axelrod, Joanne Scheibman
English Faculty Publications
Indigenous and immigrant speakers from a variety of linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds have in different ways contributed to the development of present day American English, as have the geographical and social dimensions of the country. This paper provides a survey of contemporary usage of American English by describing and illustrating linguistic features documented for social and regional groups in the United States. The focus on variation in pronunciation, grammar, and meaning in American English highlights the diversity of dialects and styles in the U.S. as well as the centrality of sociocultural identities to language use. We group examples of variation …