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It has been said that Britain in the 1940s and 1950s was the only place in the world that a person’s social status could be noted within seconds by accent alone. Oral communication and vocabulary was status laden. Accent revealed education, economic position and class. Today, particularly in certain professions (including law), regional accents can often be a source of discrimination. Such discrimination is not spoken of to those whose speech habits are different; only to those whose speech habits are acceptable, creating an elite. Given the variety of oral communication, accent, tone and vocabulary, it is clear that it is not just the language that is important but how it is communicated and the attitude of the speaker. Does it include or exclude? Written expressions of language are used to judge the ultimate worth of academic work but also it is used to judge job applicants. Letters of complaint that are well presented are far more likely to be dealt with positively. The observation of protocols concerning appropriate letter writing can affect the decision to interview a job applicant. So, language is extremely powerful both in terms of its structure and vocabulary and in terms of the way it is used in both writing and speaking. Rightly or wrongly, it is used to label one as worthy or unworthy, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, rational or non-rational. Language can be used to invest aspects of character about which it cannot really speak. An aristocratic, well spoken, English accent with a rich vocabulary leads to the assumption that the speaker is well educated, of noble birth and character and is rich; a superficial rationale for nobleness, education and wealth that is quite often found to be baseless. 2.4 CASE STUDY: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE, LAW AND RELIGION Religion, politics and, of course, law find power in the written and spoken word. Many aspects of English law remain influenced by Christianity. The language of English law, steeped in the language of Christianity, speaks of the ‘immemorial’ aspects of English law (although the law artificially sets 1189 as the date for ‘immemoriality’!). In many ways the Christian story is built into the foundation of English law. Theories of law describe the word of the Sovereign as law; that what is spoken is authority and power, actively creating law based on analogy just as God spoke Christ into creation. Since the 16th century, when Henry VIII’s dispute with the Holy Roman Catholic Church caused England to move away from an acceptance of the religious and political authority of the Pope, English monarchs have been charged with the role of ‘Defender of the Faith’. As an acknowledgment of modern pluralist society, there have recently been suggestions that the Prince of Wales, if he becomes King, should perhaps consider being ‘Defender of Faith’, leaving it open which faith; although the role is tied at present to Anglicanism, that Christian denomination ‘established by law’. English law recognises the Sovereign as the fountain of justice, exercising mercy traceable back to powers given by the Christian God. Indeed, this aspect of the
DOI link for It has been said that Britain in the 1940s and 1950s was the only place in the world that a person’s social status could be noted within seconds by accent alone. Oral communication and vocabulary was status laden. Accent revealed education, economic position and class. Today, particularly in certain professions (including law), regional accents can often be a source of discrimination. Such discrimination is not spoken of to those whose speech habits are different; only to those whose speech habits are acceptable, creating an elite. Given the variety of oral communication, accent, tone and vocabulary, it is clear that it is not just the language that is important but how it is communicated and the attitude of the speaker. Does it include or exclude? Written expressions of language are used to judge the ultimate worth of academic work but also it is used to judge job applicants. Letters of complaint that are well presented are far more likely to be dealt with positively. The observation of protocols concerning appropriate letter writing can affect the decision to interview a job applicant. So, language is extremely powerful both in terms of its structure and vocabulary and in terms of the way it is used in both writing and speaking. Rightly or wrongly, it is used to label one as worthy or unworthy, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, rational or non-rational. Language can be used to invest aspects of character about which it cannot really speak. An aristocratic, well spoken, English accent with a rich vocabulary leads to the assumption that the speaker is well educated, of noble birth and character and is rich; a superficial rationale for nobleness, education and wealth that is quite often found to be baseless. 2.4 CASE STUDY: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE, LAW AND RELIGION Religion, politics and, of course, law find power in the written and spoken word. Many aspects of English law remain influenced by Christianity. The language of English law, steeped in the language of Christianity, speaks of the ‘immemorial’ aspects of English law (although the law artificially sets 1189 as the date for ‘immemoriality’!). In many ways the Christian story is built into the foundation of English law. Theories of law describe the word of the Sovereign as law; that what is spoken is authority and power, actively creating law based on analogy just as God spoke Christ into creation. Since the 16th century, when Henry VIII’s dispute with the Holy Roman Catholic Church caused England to move away from an acceptance of the religious and political authority of the Pope, English monarchs have been charged with the role of ‘Defender of the Faith’. As an acknowledgment of modern pluralist society, there have recently been suggestions that the Prince of Wales, if he becomes King, should perhaps consider being ‘Defender of Faith’, leaving it open which faith; although the role is tied at present to Anglicanism, that Christian denomination ‘established by law’. English law recognises the Sovereign as the fountain of justice, exercising mercy traceable back to powers given by the Christian God. Indeed, this aspect of the
It has been said that Britain in the 1940s and 1950s was the only place in the world that a person’s social status could be noted within seconds by accent alone. Oral communication and vocabulary was status laden. Accent revealed education, economic position and class. Today, particularly in certain professions (including law), regional accents can often be a source of discrimination. Such discrimination is not spoken of to those whose speech habits are different; only to those whose speech habits are acceptable, creating an elite. Given the variety of oral communication, accent, tone and vocabulary, it is clear that it is not just the language that is important but how it is communicated and the attitude of the speaker. Does it include or exclude? Written expressions of language are used to judge the ultimate worth of academic work but also it is used to judge job applicants. Letters of complaint that are well presented are far more likely to be dealt with positively. The observation of protocols concerning appropriate letter writing can affect the decision to interview a job applicant. So, language is extremely powerful both in terms of its structure and vocabulary and in terms of the way it is used in both writing and speaking. Rightly or wrongly, it is used to label one as worthy or unworthy, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, rational or non-rational. Language can be used to invest aspects of character about which it cannot really speak. An aristocratic, well spoken, English accent with a rich vocabulary leads to the assumption that the speaker is well educated, of noble birth and character and is rich; a superficial rationale for nobleness, education and wealth that is quite often found to be baseless. 2.4 CASE STUDY: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE, LAW AND RELIGION Religion, politics and, of course, law find power in the written and spoken word. Many aspects of English law remain influenced by Christianity. The language of English law, steeped in the language of Christianity, speaks of the ‘immemorial’ aspects of English law (although the law artificially sets 1189 as the date for ‘immemoriality’!). In many ways the Christian story is built into the foundation of English law. Theories of law describe the word of the Sovereign as law; that what is spoken is authority and power, actively creating law based on analogy just as God spoke Christ into creation. Since the 16th century, when Henry VIII’s dispute with the Holy Roman Catholic Church caused England to move away from an acceptance of the religious and political authority of the Pope, English monarchs have been charged with the role of ‘Defender of the Faith’. As an acknowledgment of modern pluralist society, there have recently been suggestions that the Prince of Wales, if he becomes King, should perhaps consider being ‘Defender of Faith’, leaving it open which faith; although the role is tied at present to Anglicanism, that Christian denomination ‘established by law’. English law recognises the Sovereign as the fountain of justice, exercising mercy traceable back to powers given by the Christian God. Indeed, this aspect of the
ABSTRACT
It has been said that Britain in the 1940s and 1950s was the only place in the world that a person’s social status could be noted within seconds by accent alone. Oral communication and vocabulary was status laden. Accent revealed education, economic position and class. Today, particularly in certain professions (including law), regional accents can often be a source of discrimination. Such discrimination is not spoken of to those whose speech habits are different; only to those whose speech habits are acceptable, creating an elite.
