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Language in Ethnicity - Coggle Diagram
Language in Ethnicity
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Who Speaks MLE?
Mostly descendants of immigrants speak MLE but also people of British origin grow up using features of MLE in their language.
Not everyone speaks MLE, some people just pick up words or features of MLE without speaking it fully.
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MLE was first recognised as Jafaican (fake Jamaican) and began to replace Cockney as young people began to use similar words or phrases of their black peers, friends or neighbours.
MLE is quite a recent language development and isn't spoken by anyone born before 1970 regardless of their ethnicity and background.
MLE depends on a person's social network and who they communicate with. They can switch in and out of MLE whenever they want to.
MLE is mainly present in London because it has been the biggest hub for immigration in the last 50 years.
MLE is a variety of language because of hierarchical geographical diffusion because as more immigrants move to London, the more language they bring in. This leads MLE to acquire new words and pronunciations.
Terminology
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Creole
A mix of languages. Developed from a 'pidgin' or trade language to become a stable language used by speakers as their mother tongue.
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John Pitts (2012)
He noticed a shift in young black speakers in London. They felt that mainstream society was ignoring them and forcing them towards a resistance identity. A move was seen from sounding like Ian Wright to sounding like Bob Marley.
Language used to express an identity of ethnicity because they felt like their language from their race was being invalidated.
Cheshire et al (2008)
They identified a new form of language emerging (especially among young people) from the melting pot of language in London called Multicultural London English (MLE). This has also been identified in many other areas around the country and linguists are beginning to describe these forms as Multicultural Urban British English (MUBE).
Influenced by the demographic and ethnic influence of the area. An explanation to show language has changed and progressed.
MUBE
Some linguists have been tracking the growth of MLE and argue that it should be called Multicultural Urban British English (MUBE), a multi ethnolect as young people far away from London understand some of its core terms.
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Japan
Japan is the world's largest monoculture and because of that, its language hasn't changed in over 1000 years.
Sue Fox
People are beginning to sound the same, regardless of their colour or ethnic background.
Ben Rampton (2010)
Creole was widely seen as cool, tough and good to use. It was associated with assertiveness, verbal resourcefulness, competency in heterosexual relationships and opposition to authority.
This perception is still valid in 2021 however, it is quite detrimental to MLE speakers. It all depends on context and is quite generalised.
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A variety of English emerged around the 1990's called British Black English (BBE). Many people of Caribbean heritage use BBE in their repertoire of styles.
BBE combines standard English with creole/patois forms. BBE will also vary from region to region, reflecting the local varieties seen.
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Location changes because of the use of MLE and MUBE, as there are more ethnic people further south as more people move to London because of the thought of jobs and money.
Cross cultural mixing gave way for the language changes as cultures began to overlap with their languages and adopt features of other cultures.
MLE doesn't have a discrete variety of language like Cockney or Scouse, as it does not have a specific set of features and rules. It is a pool of language characteristics adopted at different amounts by its speakers. This can depend on age, ethnicity, region and identity. You can take what you need and want from the pool of characteristics.
MLE is more than just slang, although some of the words are slang terms and moved into more mainstream usage.