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SALIM Amine
MOROCCAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Semester 3

Language is the Bastion of Identity

Language is a vital feature of human identity. By uttering Simple “noises”, we can

transmit a lot of information about ourselves that reflect our identities. Through language, we can

communicate our religious, regional, ethnic, educational, psychological and many other

identities. According to Edwards (2013), “language and identity are ultimately inseparable” (p.

20). The direct link between the two is approved in different fields of study such as anthropology,

psychology, sociology, and applied linguistics. When wondering about our identity and

sometimes asking the simple question “who are we?” We automatically shift the perspective and

ask ourselves again, “ How others perceive us?”. In this way, the identity of an individual

depends on the view of other members of the group of his or her role and position within that

social group. In fact, our language /identity would shift every time we engage with different
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interlocutors, the dynamics of our identity enables it to mold and reshape according to different

contexts hence using suitable language choice that can negotiate our identity at that particular

time or context. This essay is an attempt to make clear the link between language and individual

identity because an individual’s identity goes on changing according to contexts and this identity

transformation is primarily managed by language. It is also highlighted how dialect and accent

can be markers of identity as well.

Identity is constantly constructed and re-constructed in interaction and in relation to other

participants and other contexts. According to Baumann (2000), “Individual identity is the

situated outcome of a rhetorical and interpretive process in which interactants make situationally

motivated selections from socially constituted repertoires of identificational and affiliational

resources and craft these semiotic resources into identity claims for presentation to others” (p.1).

From this perspective, by using language, people present and represent themselves by choosing

from an inventory of totally different identities depending on the social context or the

interlocutor which also means that each one of us has multiple identities that we can display in

our different social roles. Moreover, when we perceive someone speaking, we automatically

make certain assumptions about his linguistic, ethnic, social background. Similarly, when we

speak, we divulge an excess of personal and social information about ourselves, which in turn

calls for a multitude of judgements from people around us.

We tend to present ourselves to others through our choice of language or language variety

or sometimes through the use of special jargon appropriate to certain contexts. Considering our

language choice, most of the time we unconsciously speak and act in appropriate ways, because

we have learnt how to do so since our childhood, among family, in preschool or in formal

schooling. So, we can say that identity is constructed via social interaction and communication

which means that identity is a working process. As stated by Jenkins (1996), “All human
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identities are social in nature because identity is about meaning, and meaning is not an essential

property of words and things: meaning develops in context dependent use. Meanings are always

the ‘outcome of agreement or disagreement, always a matter of contention, to some extent shared

and always negotiable” (p. 4). The language use and individual identity are seen to be the

product of lived experiences. It is the outcome of interaction with the social, political, cultural

influences. Therefore, the individual identity is explained to be fluid, dynamic and changing in

nature.

Our identity is bound by a set of social constraints. Constraints like gender, race, family

and social roles push us to act and use the language accordingly. For instance, A woman in our

Moroccan society knows consciously or unconsciously a set of rules and actions that have been

historically passed down to her by her mother, grandmother or simply by her entourage. This

knowledge transmitted by the same group gives her certain appropriateness in language use and

actions. Pierre Bourdieu (1990) coined the term Habitus for such phenomenon:

"...system of acquired dispositions functioning on the practical level as categories

of perception and assessment or as classificatory principles as well as being the

organizing principles of action." (p,12-13).

Also,

Habitus is essentially the way in which the culture of a particular social group is

embodied (internalised) in the individual, during the socialisation process

beginning in early childhood. Habitus is, "society written into the body, into the

biological individual" (p. 63).

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We can infer that the “Habitus” is a set of dispositions that allow us to successfully

navigate social environments. For example, if someone grows up in a rough neighborhood, he

would likely develop certain skills and street smarts needed to successfully survive

confrontations, “hustle” in a marginalized neighborhood to find a job in a place with small

chances of employment. However, if we transfer the same person to those lucky neighborhoods

we will find that these street skills and dispositions will not be useful to him; maybe they will act

as a barrier that prevent him from succeeding in this new social environment.

Language marks our identity as individuals. A person uses his accent, pitch variations and

different registers to mark his identity. The language of any individual will include particular

register according to his class, region, religious beliefs, and profession and so on. So, we can

recognize a police officer, mechanic, doctor, child, or any other identity through their language

use. We can identify mothers from their affectionate and passionate register shown towards their

children. We can identify police men from their rough manner of speech and use of authority

words. We can identify professors from their academic jargon and their mastery of language. In

fact, this can be applicable to all members of society. Language can be seen as a marker and

identifier at the same time. We have been accustomed to a specific linguistic behavior within our

societies that we find it out of normality or awkward when we see a deviation from what we

consider a normal language behavior. The resulting effects can be surprising. One example by

Edwards (2013) illustrates this aspect of language:

A doctor who looked over her glasses and said “Well, it is the high jump for you,

squire” would seem frivolous and unfeeling; and a mechanic who reported that

“Your conveyance is, I regret to inform you, in a most sadly dilapidated state”

would invite both wonder and laughter. More importantly, each would appear

to have stepped out of character, violating our expectations. (p. 28)

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Here we can see that the doctor addresses his patient in crude slang and masculine terms,

declaring that he is suffering from a fatal condition, is an inappropriate or incompatible way for a

doctor to speak to his patient, which means that the digression in the language behavior does not

match the identity of the doctor. This also can be applied to the mechanic who is using

ridiculously old-fashioned formal language to announce that the car is in a very bad shape.

There is also a strong relationship between identity and dialects. According to Francis

(1983) “dialects are varieties of a language used by groups smaller than the total community of

speakers of the language” (p.1). Keeping in view this concept, we can conclude that a dialect,

similar to a language, have its own grammar, vocabulary, and semantics. The dialectical identity

could be a geographical or social identity as stated by Akmajian (2001):

The classic example of a dialect is the regional dialect: the distinct form of a

language spoken in a certain geographical area. For example, we might speak of Ozark

dialects or Appalachian dialects, on the grounds that inhabitants of these regions have

certain distinct linguistic features that differentiate them from speakers of other forms of

English. We can also speak of a social dialect: the distinct form of a language spoken by

members of a specific socioeconomic class, such as the working-class dialects in

England.". (p. 276)

It is because of certain geographical restrictions and social factors that a different variety

of language is born. Nevertheless, this dialect would still be faithful to some extent to the

foundations of the mother language. This dialectical feature makes people look and feel a

different identity. Accent too gives a different identity to a speaker. According to Laver (1994),

“The technical meaning of the term accent is simply manner of pronunciation (p.55). Here, we
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can infer that an accent is the manner of pronouncing the words that is obviously different from

person to person. Lippi-Green’s (2012), on the other hand, defines accents as “loose bundles of

prosodic and segmental features distributed over geographic and/or social space” (p. 42).

Contrary to the first perspective, the second definition includes both the social and the key

geographical dimensions.

I would like to tackle this identity build up on geographical and social level adopting the

context of Morocco. Moroccan Arabic or Darija is divided into various dialects and accents

dispersed over the territory of the kingdom. The same thing can be said about Tamazight and its

varieties. We can talk about (Chamali dialect, Fassi dialect, Arbi dialect, Marrakchi dialect etc)

and also (Tamazight dialect, Tarifit dialect, Tachlhit dialect). No one can deny that the people

speaking these dialects have their own distinct identity which is tightly related to their

geolinguistic variety. Accent is also one of the important identity markers. It determines the

geographical and social identity of the speaker which is similar to the dialect but at a more

precise level. We can detect an Amazigh speaker by his accent in Arabic. We can identify the

people from the North when they produce specific sounds. We can identify a farmer from the

region of Chaouia by his spontaneous pronunciation of words. Even if one has a good command

of grammars and vocabulary of certain language or dialect, one would be still struggling to get

rid of his original identity if his or her native accent is intruding because it is deeply part of him.

The famous play “Pygmalion” by Bernard Shaw can be a good example to understand the

link between accent and identity. This play argues how accent, dialect, language can shape our

social identity. It depicts the different classes within society and each class is carefully

represented through its own identity. The lower class is represented through the character of Liza

and Mrs. Pearce and the other superior classes are portrayed through the rest of the characters.

Throughout his play, shaw highlights the possibility that through learning the accent and the
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manners of a high social class, an individual can reach or upgrade to a higher social status hence

identity. Liza, who is characterized by her cockney accent, undertakes a major transformation by

learning the accent and manners of the high born. This transformation gives birth to a new person

totally different from the poor flower girl. She adopts a new, refined. And educated accent and

her choice of words express a totally new superior identity.

To sum up, Language can not, in any way, be detached from identity. We are bound by

the choice of the words we communicate. The linguistic identity is so deeply engraved in our

minds. Language constructs our individual identity and that identity is in accordance with all

sort of other identities(class, regional,religious, national etc). So, identity is not only physical but

it is matter of what body of words and meanings one carry and use. Understanding identity helps

us solve many identity related issues in Language and society. A very inspiring quote by

Socrates says "Speak, so that I may see you "; meaning that a man’s identity/essence is reflected in

his speech more than in his face.

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References:

Akmajian, A., Farmer, A. K., Bickmore, L., Demers, R. A., & Harnish, R.
M. (2017). Linguistics: An introduction to language and
communication. MIT press.
Bauman, R. (2000). Language, identity, performance. Pragmatics.
Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association
(IPrA), 10(1), 1-5.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). In other words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology.
Stanford University Press.
Edwards, J. (2013). Language and Identity, Cambridge University Press,
UK
Francis, W. N. (1983). Dialectology: an introduction. Addison-Wesley
Longman Ltd.
Hall (2013). Teaching and Researching: Language and Culture. Routledge, Oxon,
USA. Hughes.,& Irving (2008). Howard Hughes: The Autobiography: the Most
Famous Unpublished Book of the 20th Century-- Until Now. John Blake
Publishing, Limited, US.
Jenkins, B. (ed.) (1996). Nation and identity in contemporary Europe. London:
Routledge.
Laver.J. (1994). Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge University Press, UK. P.55.
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination
in the United States. Routledge.
Riley, Philip (2007) Language, Culture and Identity: An Ethnolinguistic Perspective, P.
71.Continuum International Publishing, London.