Walt Disney's Film Aladdin

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According to Ronald Macaulay, Languages and dialects have both a unifying and separatist function. They help a group of people see what they have in common with each other and how they differ from others (Macaulay 2006, 63). Certain characteristics of linguistic dialect happen to tell us about a person’s background; where a person’s language has originated from and what their social class tells us. Dialects helps us understand the basic principles that generate language differences, language innovation and language variation. In Walt Disney’s film Aladdin we begin to notice several distinctions among the characters through their use of diction and expression with words. Each character speaks differently, even though they are all still speaking…show more content…
Working class speakers have limited speech consisting of simple, often unfinished, sentences and limited vocabulary. Bernstein claims this is a “restricted code.” (Macaulay 2006, 75). In the film, Iago is constantly doing Jafar’s dirty work, similar to playing the role of the working class. That would then place Jafar in higher in the caste system. In the particular scene given, Iago has a small part and in that portion he holds a certain significance that separates him from Jafar dialect and character. Iago says “Jafar, could ya hurry up? I’m dyin in here.” The words “ya” and “dyin” are put in place of “you” and “dying”. This displays his use of simple and unfinished vocabulary. The phonetics or speech sounds of these words indicate a difference from the rest of the characters. He put more emphasis and on the word “dyin” to more represent “DAHyin” in order to display his emotion among the situation; in this case his suffering. Iago’s accent plays a huge part as well. In a stereotypical way he would be portrayed as loud, upfront, and a sometimes obnoxious bird based on his accent that seems similar to those from Brooklyn New York. Because of his meager use of Standard English, Iago is evidently from a poor decent. His loud disposition displays that he was raised in an ill-mannered…show more content…
Jafar uses what Bernstein would call an “elaborated code.” (Macaulay 2006, 75). He started using complex constructions and vocabulary as he approached Aladdin, persuading him about the treasures that await. Jafar’s main goal was to coax Aladdin to do his bidding while also making Aladdin believe that he gets something out of it, thus inducing his conniving plan. His mysterious and shadowy attitude toward his use of language is also considerable because it made an effective first impression towards Aladdin. Then, in order to appear more convincing, Jafar’s speech consisted of a vast vocabulary and exaggerated, yet effective, pronunciation. Likewise, there is a detection of a subtle English accent in his voice as he puts more emphasis at the end of his phrases and sentences. He says, “There is a cave, boy. A cave of wonders filled with treasures beyond your wildest dreams. Treasure enough to impress even your princess, I’d wager.” (0:20). Evidently, unlike Iago, Jafar applied the Standard English rules very well and because he did so, his speech became more substantial to Aladdin. Aladdin then seemed quite engaged in what he had to say because Jafar presented him with more complex adjectives and adverbs, all together a more intricate syntax. With that language composition comes an intriguing tone within his voice as well, adding more to that
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