Languages, just like various cultures, influence each other, as they are not sufficient on their own. The language intercourse contributes to the development of relationships among the parties involved. The French-American English dialect has gained popularity in various regions, such as CU Boulder. English has borrowed some words from the French language. Dialects have a significant influence on the automatic speech recognition; it is imperative to detect and classify various dialects to understand their originality and influence in the commonly used languages. The Standard English and American-French dialects have some similarities, as the languages borrow some words from each other. It is essential to analyze the differences depicted by the data, language, and sociolinguistic styles of both dialects.
The standard American English dialect refers to the general form of the language, which has less influence of other languages. The formal English language is taught in various learning institutions and used for professional communication in the United States of America. The use of several dialects has caused a challenge in identifying the appropriate nature of American English dialect. It is widely used I the Midwest regions of the country. According to studies, the American English dialect comprises of various accents; some books explain the differences between the French and the Standard English dialects.
The French dialect allows users to prolong the words, especially at the suffix points. The users of Standard English, on the other hand, tend to front various words, such as “o”, for instance in words like “goat”, which leads to the formation of IPA ɜʊ or “eh-oh”. French, an Indo-European language, is related to the Romance Family. The French language influenced the Standard English language since the 11th century; the Norman invasion played a role in influencing the English and French intercourse. The two languages share several grammatical characteristics and cognates. The Standard English has some differences in terms of the sound systems from the French language. The lack of correspondence between the two languages may cause pronunciation errors.
The French dialect does not allow the users to use the tip of the tongue while pronouncing words; this causes challenges during the articulation of some vowel sounds, such as, ship / sheep, or full / fool (Dillard 56) . The American-French users encounter challenges in containing letters, such as, think, as they have th (/θ/ /ð/). The American-French dialect omits /h/ sound, especially at the beginning of some words. The omission is attributed to the fact that the French language does not have such sounds. The omission leads to wrong pronunciations of some words, such as ‘Ave’ instead of ‘have’ or eard rather than ‘heard’. The American-French dialect may lead to an overcompensation of some pronunciation in some words, for instance, the users may put a /h/ sound in words like hour or honour.
According to Valdman, Albert, and Kevin (43), the Standard English speakers tend to swallow some syllables at the beginning of some words, such as tomorrow (t’morrow); this swallowing creates a difference among the American-French speakers, which leads to the creation of an accent (stereotypical staccato accent) among the speakers. The two dialects differ as the French dialect focuses on stressing of some words, especially the cognates. The American-French speakers regularly stress English words, and may be unwilling to reduce the stressing of English syllables.
The Standard English and the American-French dialects tend to have some overlap in various verb grammar aspects. In the American-French and Standard English dialects, auxiliaries, the past-present-future tenses, both active and passive voices, and participles are present. The two dialects may have some external similarities in the formation of verb grammar (Cran, Christopher, and Robert 171). It, however, is essential to note that the differences between the two dialects may pose interferences during the production of English words. One of the challenges that emerge during the production process is the usage of wrong tense. The American-French speakers tend to use a different verb to convey a certain meaning in the English language, which results to the creation of a different meaning altogether.
The emergence of various dialects can be attributed to the unification of various cultures and languages. The historical background of languages dictates the extent of intercourse of the dialects. The morphological structure may play a role in determining the domain of the usage of some phonological constraints (Cran, Christopher, and Robert 171). The French-American and Standard English dialects contain some similarities, as most of the words emerge from the Standard English Language. The differences between the two dialects include the usage of verb grammar, stressing of some words, omission of various syllables, and overcompensation of syllables. The language environment contributes to the changes in the dialect usage. The French speaking community in CU has influenced the French American dialect.
Works Cited
Cran, William, Christopher Buchanan, and Robert MacNeil. Do You Speak American?Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2005.
Dillard, J L. A History of American English. London: Longman, 2002. Print.
Valdman, Albert, and Kevin J. Rottet. Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010. Print.
