I have an idea for my final project that stems from a larger topic I have wanted to work with for some time. It is one that considers the language of a family, or the “ecolect.” Before I explain further, I will tell you that ecolect is like genre for me; now that I have been introduced to the idea, I see the implications everywhere.
So, what is it? As I explained above, ecolect can be defined as the language of a family. And, in the past, it would have been just that. The language a family used to communicate in ways that were unique from the outside world. A modern day example of this would be what a family with a child calls a pacifier. At our house, it is the “plug,” a term I got from what my father used to call it. Think about it. Does your family have a word that you say to each other that no one from the outside would know what you were talking about?
Now, think about how many families you belong to. Because the way we live is changing, so are our family structures. And, I would argue that we are a part of more units that replicate the family environment than ever: groups of friends, people you work with, even the participants of a class. And, particularly in the US, we no longer live in one close-knit community our entire lives.
I think we can learn a lot about our language development by examining how our ecolects work and more specifically how they interact with one another. I will explain more about this interaction in another post, but for now, you will have to take my word for it that ecolect can be thought of as a vital step in the process of our language development and acquisition.
When I heard about our project, I was really excited about the possibilities for these data-mining tools with regards to tracking this type of language acquisition using things like twitter. I am at the point where I still need to do more research into the types of tools I could possibly use for our project here (and I would gladly take suggestions or feedback if anything comes to mind), but I also see the larger implications these tools could have on this type of study long-term. Is it appropriate to talk about these ideas and use one representation as an example of their applicability? Is this idea too in-depth for this type of project?
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November 29, 2010 at 11:11 am
Erin
Hmm.. I think it’s a really cool concept. I think your biggest challenge is tracing the actual words for things. Do you have a list of words that you’d want to use?
And I’d think that you’ll find that regional disctinctions make a HUGE difference/impact on what humans call things. I grew up near Pittsburgh and my grandmother always called a nosy person a “nebnose.” It’s not widely used (that I can tell) outside the Pittsburgh area, but most other kids in my town would know and probably used the term.
When I went to college in Wisconsin, they referred to a drinking fountain as a “bubbler.” I was confused for 2 weeks! So I wonder if it’s possible to suss out the family ecolect as outside and distinct from the regional one. Does your project then become some complicated sort of regional mapping based on where the people were originally raised?
November 29, 2010 at 1:31 pm
S. Anderson
Erin, you are exactly right! Ecolect is just a part of the hierarchy of language. And, the regional dialects are definitely something different than the smaller stuff I am talking about. Thanks for the idea of coming up with a specific list of words. I am really thinking the heat maps might work as solid illustrations too as I can collect the data.
November 30, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Alexa Potter
There are wide ranging uses for such a project, and you’re right that it could be a huge undertaking. Maybe follow Erin’s suggestion for a specific list of keywords, and then try to confine it to a distinct region of the country or time period so that you have a manageable data set.
November 30, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Dan Cohen
I agree with Erin that intellectually it’s a very cool idea, but I’m not sure how you would digitally trace it. I believe that there’s an ongoing study of language use in a small circle of Philadelphia families over several decades; will try to find a reference for you and see if there’s an open database to mine.