Damek.

I’m no linguist, but I find language interesting tangentially to other things that interest me, and since I’ve commented on it before, I couldn’t pass on posting about this.

The film It’s All Gone Pete Tong got mentioned on the IDM list, with a question as to who “Pete Tong” was and what he had to do with the fictional focus of the film, Frankie Wilde.

I knew the answer, but only in that I knew it was an expression along the lines of “it’s gone tits up” or “it’s gone pear shaped” – all meaning that something’s gone wrong. But I didn’t know why “pete tong” meant that, while one can generally imagine the origins for those other expressions. (Actually, “tits up” may have an aviation origin… — but I digress)

Now I know the full answer. Apparently there’s a tendency for cockney slang to take things that rhyme with what they mean and say the rhyme instead. So “Tong” rhymes with “wrong” and, well, there you go. There’s even a website for cockney rhyming slang, although since visitors can contribute to the site, I have to wonder about the legitimacy of most of the phrases on the site.

On the same tip, someone else on the IDM list pointed us to verlan, a similar phenomenon in France.

What interests me about these is that, while most people think “uneducated” language keeps people from advancing themselves, these (well, Verlan is; I’m not so sure about cockney rhyming) are examples of language changing and morphing as a result of class separations. Economics keeps groups separate, and language diversions follow. Sure, then, not being able to assimilate into the cultural norms of the higher classes will help maintain the separation, and then discrimination works in the other direction as well.

Language is cultural as much as it is information technology… And to the extent that it is cultural, it is also incorporating information, just a different kind of information.

ADDENDUM: This article about why languages change is a nice summary of existing ideas. My above comments would fit under the last one, social bonding. BTW, I wonder if the rate of language change is in any way related to the amount of use of said language? Like, if there’s more communication going on, there’s a greater change for linguistic/cultural mutations (like slang)… think of internet slang and all the acronyms blossoming all over the place. Or would that only apply for verbal communication, while written communication would help reinforce established rules? So is the internet hastening language change or helping to freeze it? Like, whatever, man…