ABSTRACT
In America the stigma is more selective, and therefore, sometimes, more tenacious. The dialects that were transplanted from Britain were not so different from one another that they were ever a great hindrance to communication. But a number of regional standards, for example those centered on Boston, New York, and Charleston, were nevertheless established as a result of varying patterns of immigration from Britain, and others crystallized with the expansion westward. Next to Black English, the most widespread stigmatized dialect in America is the Spanglish of the Southwest, spoken by the largest ethnic group in the country with a non-English background. With speaking, the consideration that must be shown is not only intelligibility and avoidance of distraction but regard for status. Societies differ in the signs of deference they expect, but there is always some degree of formality when one speaks to a stranger, an employer, a clergyman, or someone of rank.
