What dialect do we speak?

[Kaiser Mors V]

I saw a listing of language for a subdivision as "shirerithian english" and got me wondering.. what that means exactly... I know we don't SPEAK our dialect.. so what dialect do we type? Californian? Formal English? American English? British English?...

[hypatias mom]

I would suggest that at its founding, most Shirerithians spoke a northern Californian youth dialect. With people joining from all over the planet, most of our English is now written, so the verbal inflections may have departed. However, at its base, some of Sonoma State University's students produced this amazing place and permitted us to have a part in it. It seems that American English has a predominant place here, but other influences do change the way we communicate.

[Kaiser Mors V]

Sonoma didn't have any influence over Shireroth till almost 3ish years after its founding.. I'll point out...

I think the lack of speaking leaves us with just written.. and thus no real.. dialect..

[hypatias mom]

I had been under the impression that you had founded the nation while a student at Sonoma State. I apologize for the error. And, yes, you are right--dialect would refer to spoken, rather than written, language. Therefore, Shireroth uses American English, but there is no particular pronunciation or inflection to show itself specifically tied to one geographic region.

[Jonas]

Hhmm, the language I normally speak is Dutch. But in Shireroth I speak British English... I hope I'm doing that

[Ari Rahikkala]

I use a kind of bastardised "International English", with mostly British spelling and American vocabulary (because I can never remember the British word for things that the British have their own word for). I could use American spelling, it's certainly what I'm subjected to the most these days, it's just that I feel the British dialect is superior

[Kaiser Mors V]

Nope, I founded Shireroth while a Freshman in High School... Some time in Early Spring..

[hypatias mom]

When I was looking at the age of Shireroth, and subtracting your current age, I realized just how young you were. This is quite an accomplishment for one of your then tender years.

[Prodigy Almighty]

Well, hey, our current king Bayen is only in his (our, actually) sophomore year... His coronation was supposed to be in the summer between 9th and 10th but was delayed... at least, I think it was supposed to be in the summer... or was that just when it was decided? Eh, the point is made...

There's quite a few young and important micronationalists hanging about. I was surprised to learn that Spangle is the same age as me.

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

I could use American spelling, it's certainly what I'm subjected to the most these days, it's just that I feel the British dialect is superior

Legend!

[Aurangzeb Khan]

British English is Formal (correct) English you great tool.. er... your Niftiness...

[Kaiser Mors V]

Study some Linguistics... then call me that... And I've been to England.. half of them don't even speak "British English"... Anyways.. "Formal English" was just an attempt several hundred years ago to make the language artificially match Latin syntax...

Micronations is mostly a hobby for the young.. trying to make a place for themselves.. make a world for themselves.. aside, inside and outside, another world that would rather berate and ignore them..

[andelarion]

I speak "European" English with a Swedish accent, not as bad as Sven's I hope. I use British spellings, because they look more cool :P

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Study some Linguistics... then call me that... And I've been to England.. half of them don't even speak "British English"... Anyways.. "Formal English" was just an attempt several hundred years ago to make the language artificially match Latin syntax...

I am not liable for the failure of the state and the establishment to adequately discipline the plebs and purge this great island of the wretched and inferior accents (some of which shave into being dialects in their own rights) that plague it.

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

Why, certainly. Apart from Scouse, Geordi, Cockney, and a good old Welsh accent.

[HIH Hesam Jahandar]

Then its agreed,

We shall eviscerate the proletariat! All hail BBC English!*




*Not the international desk, they still have the slightest trace of regional nuances

[hypatias mom]

It is agreed by whom???? There are those of us who differ strongly with you, and if you speak with the Kaiser, he may also have another opinion than yours. Long live northern Californian forever!!!!

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

^ I think this one needs diction lessons from Patrick Moore!

Seriously, this could be a new motive for civil war- British English speakers versus American English speakers. 'Twould be interesting.

[Jonas]

Seriously, this could be a new motive for civil war- British English speakers versus American English speakers. 'Twould be interesting.

And what with me?

[benkern]

You fight with us, because Europe is closer to Britain!

[Jacobus Loki]

My wife was an English major. She tells me that true language is descriptive , describing language as it is actually used, rather than proscriptive, (a la Academie Francaise) trying to force real life into a box of rules that usually don't work.

Along that line , I'd say 'twould be Shirerithian English, or the Kaiser's English. As we interact with one another, we will tend to adopt words and phrases from each other.

Don't forget our influential Suomi minority, and the Netherlandish contingent.

I flop back and forth between British and American spellings, just for variety.

No, language word be a lousy reason for a civil war. Too much like RL. Besides, we Americans feel a wee bit isolated lately.

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

No, it depends what kind of English a non-native English speaker would prefer, if they had to make a choice between English English and the American Patois.

[hypatias mom]

Or, we could go back to the original thought--we don't really speak English here--we write it. And the Kaiser and most of the original citizens were and are from California. We have had and, in fact, do have, people from all over the world, and the mode of communication is written English. Some of us speak/write it with greater fluency than others, but all use the same language. At the end of the day, it really matters little whether we favor the American or the British form of the language, as long as we can make ourselves understood plainly in the language.

[HIH Hesam Jahandar]

There is no such language as "American English". There is only the English Language. From there, there is only one acceptable sub-division. Those that use it properly, and those that do not.

While it might be a part of the culture of California to over estimate its own importance in the West, I can ensure all 36,457,549 of you that the rest of the world has had more than enough "Californication". It's because of the Californian based media that youth from Anchorage to Hong Kong are speaking to their parents in the language of LA Street Gangsters.

As for the American dialect as a whole, all I can say is research why it is that you spell Aluminium incorrectly. It's a laugh.

[Jacobus Loki]

There are dozens of Englishes. India is the largest English-speaking country in the world, with by far more Engish books printed there than anywhere else.

Let's hear it for Nigeria! Pakistan! Bangladesh! South Africa! I could go on for days.

English-English (even the so-caled Queen's English) is a patois at heart. We thank England for cobbling the thing together out of Anglo-Saxon, (Jonas , are there any Frisians left?) Norman French (itself a patois of Old French and Norse), Danish, the odd Celtic contribution, and mixing it liberally with classic (and otherwise) Greek and Latin. We still adopt foreign words we like(and mangle) and invent things out of the clear blue sky.

It got on ships with the Royal Navy and various merchants, and escaped into the world at large. The copyright has long lapsed, and it belongs to Mankind, our new Latin, our common lingua franca, to mangle as we see fit.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Let's speak Japanese English in Shileloth! Evelybody have fun make nation and follow Kaiser's commands!

[Liam conToketi]

You did that wrong. Ls turn into Rs...

ENGRISH!

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Yeah, that way's more common. But since most Japanese know that English has both R and L, but can't remember which word has which, they very often just guess. Sometimes they guess wrong, and put one where the other should be; the funniest ones are where they overcompensate and do as many Ls as they can. I can't think of any personal examples at the moment, but there are some good ones online, like this menu.

Trust me on this one, I've been teaching English in Japan for almost two years now

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

Engrish... wonderful website that- almost as good as Chinglish
Although English is indeed a lingua franca these days, the same thing is in place with Russian, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese. Of course all languages and peoples are a mix of ethnicities and influences- but that doesn't dispel the fact that the first nation to standardise and record its language- and encouraged it as the spread of the lingua franca- does have the right to be called the beginning point of that language. The fact remains that American English is a variant of British English.
Or if we want to just go for the first language of any of the nations here, all the Americans here can learn Ojibwa, Cherokee or something (depending where in the US they live) and us Brits can start learning a spot of Cornish or Welsh

[Scott of Hyperborea]

But when American English split from British English, British English was quite different than it is now - after all, the first colonists came to America around the time of Shakespeare. So it's less that American English changed and British English stayed the same, then it is that they're both mutual descendants of 1600s English that went down a slightly different path. Sure, speakers of modern British English share the same geographical location as speakers of original British English, but their language isn't necessarily any better linked.

Either we all must go back to talkynge and spellynge like unto Chaucer, or we admit that linguistic purity is a silly concept and move on.