Abstract
This chapter focuses on the speech of rural New England in terms of cultural pluralism. The speech and lifeways of the urban migrants to rural New England should eventually be considered; but it would seem better and wiser to view and hear the linguistic changes that seem to be connected with that migration from the perspective of the old-dwellers. A number of communes were set up in rural New England in the late sixties; some of them continue. The language of the urban newcomer is not ipso facto refined or cultured or mannered or high-falutin any more than the up-country New England talk is always plain, truthful, direct, and marked by great verbal economy. To distinguish standard from nonstandard may be asking too much, but it is certainly possible to note certain features that mark varieties of a language and that its speakers themselves use as markers in sorting each other out.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
