Editor's Choice

What is the effect of dialect in a story?

Quick answer:

Dialect in a story enhances characterization by providing insights into a character's social, economic, racial, or geographic background. It includes vocabulary, pronunciation, and speech patterns, offering clues about a character's identity and education level. For instance, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck's southern dialect reflects his upbringing and challenges assumptions about his intelligence. Authors use dialect to convey authenticity and critique societal biases, encouraging readers to question superficial judgments based on speech.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Dialect is essentially an entire set of linguistic norms that are used by a specific group of people. The most common dialect groups can be distinguished by social status, economic status, race/ethnicity, and geographic region. Dialect includes vocabulary used, pronunciation of words or parts of words (such as vowels), and patterns of speech and can also include colloquialisms and slang. It’s important to note that colloquialisms are words and phrases used by people of a specific geographic region, such as the southern “y’all,” and slang is generally single words used by specific social groups, such as teenagers calling something “lit.” Therefore, remember that dialect can include colloquialisms and slang, but colloquialisms and slang words are not enough to denote a specific dialect on their own.

Dialect is an important literary device that gives us insight about a character and is therefore an excellent example of characterization . The way a...

Unlock
This Answer Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

character speaks can give readers a massive amount of insight about them.

For example, in Twain’s The AdventuresofHuckleberry Finn, Huck says, “But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick’ry, and I couldn’t stand it. I was all over welts.” Terms like “by-and-by” (a colloquialism) and “pap” let us know that our character is speaking with a southern dialect. The word “hick’ry” also points to a southern dialect and could also denote Huck’s lack of education, as unusual contractions are not generally used by people who are well-versed in Standard American English. Finally, the pattern and phrasing of the last sentence, “I was all over welts,” is a deviation from Standard American English spoken in the western and midwestern regions of the United States. More typically, we would think of someone saying, “I had welts all over,” but the inversion of “welts” and “all over” points to a specific pattern of speech associated with southern dialects.

Our analysis of dialect in a literary work is also interesting because it can point out current cultural misconceptions related to speech. As with the “hick’ry” example above, the way a person speaks can often make others assume that they possess (or, rather, do not possess) a certain level of education or intelligence, especially when that dialect is related to racial or socioeconomic minority groups. Therefore, it is vital to consider the author’s intent in crafting a character that uses a certain dialect. If we return again to the example above, we notice that Huck speaks in a dialect that causes others to assume he is uneducated and unintelligent, but he proves throughout the novel that he is witty, clever, and wise beyond his years. It would be safe to assume that Twain is making a statement about how we are quick to use superficial information, such as dialect, to form our initial opinions about the characters in novels and that there is a social danger in doing the same to the people we encounter in our lives as well.

Approved by eNotes Editorial