社会语言学论文42247059-初稿

　 英文学院研究生学期课程论文

　 Viewing the Movie My Fair Lady from Sociolinguistic Perspective

　by

　寇佳艳

　School of Tourism

　Xi'an International Studies University

　Xi’an, China

　2010

　 Viewing the Movie My Fair Lady from Sociolinguistic Perspective

　Abstract

　My Fair Lady is a classic movie, which has already been appreciated too much from the viewpoint of literature and translation, but few analysis are from linguistic viewpoint. It is also acknowledged that this movie is a good example of sociolinguistics. This paper is to analysis their dialogue in the film from sociolinguistic perspective. To be specific, this paper will discuss several sociolinguistic aspects by analyzing their dialogue and these aspects are language and social class, language and gender and language planning.

　摘要

　《窈窕淑女》是一部经典电影，许多学者已经从文学和翻译学角度对这部电影做了赏析， 但很少有评析是以社会语言学角度出发的。

　这部电影也是有关社会语言学一个很好的教材。

　这篇文章将从社会语言学角度分析电影中的语言和对话。具体来讲，这篇文章将分析这几个有关社会语言学的方面在电影中的映射，这几个方面分别是：语言和社会阶层，语言和性别，语言规划。

　Key Words

　My Fair Lady, language and social class, language and gender, languange planning

　关键词

　《窈窕淑女》， 语言和社会阶层，语言和性别， 语言规划

　 My Fair Lady is a classic movie, which was adapted from Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion in 1964. My Fair Lady tells how the poor flower girl Eliza Doolittle becomes a lady with the help of the famous phonetic linguist Professor Higgins. The great change was achieved mainly by changing her rude low class level language into standard upper class level language because Henry Higgins, this arrogant and irascible linguist believes that the way people speak determines a person's prospects in society. This movie has already been appreciated too much from the viewpoint of literature and translation, but few analysis are from linguistic viewpoint. It is also acknowledged that this movie is a good example of sociolinguistics. This paper is to analysis their dialogue in the film from sociolinguistic perspective. To be specific, this paper will discuss several sociolinguistic aspects by analyzing their dialogue in the following part and these aspects are language and social class, language and gender and language planning.

　First, the author wants to simply explain these terminology. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to social factors, that is social class, educational level and type of education, age, sex, ethnic origin, etc(Richards, Jack, et al, 2005). The language in My Fair Lady clearly shows that the language one speaks reflects his social class level, educational background. And one's social class level and educational background determines what kind of language he says in return. For example, in My Fair Lady, on that rainy day, during their first meet, Eliza spoke all ellipsis. She had a bad accent. She couldn't pronounce the word clearly and correctly. For example, in this sentence" you wouldn't let 'im spoil a poor girl's flow'rs and run away without payin", she's unable to speak a full sentence and didn't know correct grammar. Like Professor Higgins said Eliza was a woman who utters such disgusting depressing noises and a cold-blooded murder of English tongue. Not only Eliza did so, but also the people like Eliza who lived in the slums spoke such bad English. The language Eliza and people like Eliza said and the poor accent they had clearly showed they were from lower class and had poor education. For contrast, Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering, they spoke pleasant and standard Shakespeare English, which signified that they were from upper class and they must have had good education.

　When Eliza went to find Professor Higgins to ask him to teach him standard English, she also showed very ignorant and silly. She was so proud that she would pay for Higgins. She paid him one shilling one class, and thought this was a great pay. Apparently, she knew nothing about the price. She even didn't know how an ordinary would cost, let alone taught by a great professor. She was so ignorant. This also showed she was a lower class girl with really bad education. This was what a lower class girl like her couldn't think about.

　Except this, there are more other places gives her out. When she got training from Higgins, the first step was the vowels. She couldn't pronounce them correctly even after hard training. It is assumed that a person from upper class with good education must have no difficulty in pronouncing these five vowels. She couldn't pronounce /h/ also. She pronounced it so lightly even silent. During the training, although she already could speak these tongue twists correctly, she could only talk about greetings and weather. She used too many slangs like bloke, tec and so on. When she declared she was right, she said" I ain't doing nothing wrong", rather than " I haven't done anything wrong". What she said was very lower class type. When came to other topics, she still couldn't get rid of her lower class way of speaking. Another example totally told she was actually a lower class girl. When she was brought to equestrian park, talking about her aunt's death, she used the phrase "do somebody in". Apparently this was the lower class way of speaking. When she cheered her favorite horse Dover on, she said:" Come on. Come on, Dover. Come on. Come on, Dover! Move your bloomin' arse!"(刘伶俐, 2009) When heard this, the lady beside her exclaimed "Oh! Dear" and got fainted. How rude her word was! It shouldn't been said by a true lady. This totally gave her out and proved she was actually a lower class girl.

　All these examples tells that the language one speaks can reflect his social status and educational background. In fact, one's social class and educational background also determines the language he speaks. Because if he is a lower class man, of course he is unable to accept good, let alone best education. The surroundings he lives also can't be a good one. In such environment, his language can just be rude, unpleasant, nonstandard. With all these, how can his language be standard?

　From these process, Peter Trugill's theory about regional and social dialect variation, regional and social accent variation also can be seen. When using regional(horizontally) and social(vertically) dialect variation draw a rectangular chart(chart1), the chart will be a ladder-shaped one,without a peak(Trugill, 1983b). Horizontally the regional dialect variation is a dialect continuum - a large number of different but not usually distinct non-standard dialects connected by a chain of similarity, but with the dialects at either end of the chain being very dissimilar(Hudson, R.A. 1996) For example, all the languages they speak in the movie are regional dialects varied from standard English, no matter these people are from Selsey, Hawkestone, Hampton Court and etc. Even people living several miles away, they speak differently. Like Higgins said, he could figure out the language every six miles. Vertically social dialect, the upper, the more standard. The lowest are the most localized. When using regional (horizontally) and social(vertically) accent variation draw a chart, this chart will be a triangle(chart2), that is to say, this chart is with a peak. In this movie, the pronunciation of these vowels and the accent Higgins taught to Eliza are the most standard one, the received pronunciation. These two charts are different, chart 1 without a peak, chart 2 with a peak. In this movie, there is a most standard accent required, but there isn't a most standard dialect required, which shows the difference between these two charts.

　After discussing the reflections of the relation between language and social class in this movie, the author wants to talk about the reflection of language planning and policy in this movie. Language planning is an attempt to interfere deliberately with a language or one of its variation. That attempt may focus on its status with regard to some other language or variety or its internal condition with a view to change that condition, or on both of these since they are not mutually exclusive. The first focus results in status planning; the second results in corpus planning(Wardhaugh, 2006). In this movie, Higgins' opinion on British English and the language policy he said should be the first kind of language planning, status planning. Through the control of their language, they can achieve the control of people. During Eliza and Higgins' first meet in that rainy day, arrogant Higgins sharply criticized Eliza's way of speaking. He thought their language was the language of Shakespeare and Milton and the Bible. Look at what he said about Eliza's language: "Condemned by every syllable she utters". Look at what he said about other poor people's language: " Hear them down in Soho Square, dropping H's everywhere, speaking English any way they like." He thought this kind of people were cold-blooded murder of the English tongue and should be should be taken out and hung." In fact, it seems to be a law to do so, because Higgins said by the right she should be taken out and hung. This was the language policy of Britain at that moment. This is a kind of language planning. The government wants all people in Britain just speak standard British English like in China, the government spread Putonghua. It can be understand. But if these people who speak bad English are really hung, it is too cruel. It is unbelievable that there is such kind of language policy. But if there really exists such kind of language policy, it is a murder of language diversity.

　Professor Higgins also complained that Americans across Atlantic Ocean hadn't use their standard English many years. Americans want to get rid of the control of the Great Britain, so they create their own language,which becomes a regional dialect because of historical factors and their independence. The Great Britain wants to spread its language to American to keep their absolute position, which is status language planning, but they failed to do so. When Professor Higgins said so, he must have never think American English could also be a mainstream language, which even prevails over British English and even gradually get control of the thought of whole world.

　From these examples, it can be seen that the power of language is really great. The power of language planning is much greater.

　Except these there points, the relation of language, gender and social class is also obviously shown in this movie. "Gender" is a social notion not necessarily on the basis of biological distinction. The sociolinguists investigate how gender plays a role in sociolinguistic behavior and norms of communication（Wardhaugh,2006). Gender studies shed much light on how we as a human society communicate and sustain human civilization. Through the different language Eliza and Professor Higgins use, it is clearly seen that man has absolute power at that time. Their language had sharp contrast, which reflected their gender difference and their different social class levels. Before training, Professor Higgins used very bad words to call Eliza. For instance, he called Eliza"a prisoner of the gutters", "you silly girl", but Eliza called him "sir", "gentleman". When Eliza tried to justify for herself, Professor Higgins coldly and sharply interrupted: "Oh, shut up! Shut up!" Contrasting with Eliza's coward tone, this showed Professor Higgins as a man had absolute leading role in the conversation. These striking contrast showed that men in that society had more social power than women. Even when Eliza learned the so-called standard English and became a lady, Professor Higgins, the arrogant upper class man still called Eliza "You impudent hussy!" and "You brazen hussy!", which shows that even you are a lady, but you are a women, still have less discourse power and social power in that society.

　About language and gender, this movie also shows some hints. For example, women say much less taboos than men. Women are more likely to say feminie words and euphemism. When Higgins realized Eliza wanted to leave him, he kept saying "Damn, damn, damn...". Although this kind of words like "damn" are taboos for women, but Higgins, as a man, he can use this kind of words to express his strong feelings. Women are more likely to speak slowly and speak every word clearly. Like Labov's post-vernacular /r/ experiment shows women are likely to pronounce these syllabus clearly(Labov,1966). In this movie, when Eliza learned all these vowels and had a quite good language skills, she was likely to speak very slowly and clearly. Even when she and Higgins read the same sentence "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain", she read more slowly and clearly than Higgins.

　From all the changes of the language Eliza speaks, the great power of language can be clearly seen.

　Conclusion

　This thesis analyzes the movie My Fair Lady from sociolinguistics point of view, focusing mainly on the language the hero and heroine speaks. This paper analyzes the reflections of language and social class, gender, regional and Peter Trugill's Triangle Theory, and also the language planning. From the different language these two characters speak, the relation of language, social class and gender is shown. From the whole opinion Higgins had about English, the reflection of Peter Trugill's theory can be seen. Language planning also can be seen from Higgins' saying about the language policy at that time. This paper analyzes My Fair Lady from sociolinguistics perspective, thus we can better understanding the art of language.

　References

　Labov, W. (1966). The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

　Richards, Jack, et al. (2005). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics.3rd Edn. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

　Ronald Wardhaugh. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics.3rd Edn. Beijing: Language Teaching and Research Press.

　Trugill, P. (1983b). Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, rev. Edn. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.

　刘伶俐。（2009）。社会语言学视角下的《窈窕淑女》。《影视文学》，21，83-85。