Eye dialect: translating the untranslatable

The term ‘eye dialect’ was first coined in 1925 by George P. Krapp in The English Language in America (McArthur 1998). The term was used to describe the phenomenon of unconventional spelling used to reproduce colloquial usage. When one encounters such spellings “the convention violated is one of the eyes, and not of the ear”. Furthermore, eye dialect would be used by writers “not to indicate a genuine difference in pronunciation, but the spelling is a friendly nudge to the reader, a knowing look which establishes a sympathetic sense of superiority between the author and reader as contrasted with the humble speaker of dialect”. While the phrase “the humble speaker of dialect” may smack of prescriptivism to the modern reader, this passage is important, as it finally gives a term for a device that has been used in literature for centuries. Krapp was referring to spellings like enuff for ‘enough’, wimmin for ‘women’, animulz for ‘animals’ and numerous other examples in which the standard spelling of the word belies in some way its pronunciation. One may envisage these spellings as a sort of insinuation on the part of the author that the character whose speech is depicted so would spell these words in this way, hence demonstrating a level of education and literacy substantially lower than the average

Balancing Affordability and Opportunity: An Evaluation of Affordable Homeownership Programs With Long-Term Affordability Controls

Examines seven shared equity programs that allow low-income families to purchase homes at below-market prices with resale restrictions and their outcomes in terms of preserving affordability, personal wealth creation, security of tenure, and mobility

A promising way forward for homeownership: assessing the benefits of shared equity programs

In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, what programs can help low-income families become homeowners in a sustainable way? Shared equity programs offer one model, successfully balancing both affordability and asset building goals. In this article, researchers from the Urban Institute evaluate the effectiveness of 7 shared equity homeownership programs from across the country. They find that without exception, the programs provide long-term affordable homeownership, opportunities for low-income families to build equity, and sustainable tenure. This study suggests that shared equity programs could be cost effective way of supporting homeownership going forward.Home ownership

New Zealand culture of intoxication: Local and global influences

This article shows that attitudes towards and behaviours involving the consumption of alcohol in New Zealand have long been problematic. It provides an historical account of social, economic and legislative factors which have influenced the development of the New Zealand drinking culture. Accordingly, it tracks a combination of local and global alcohol-related influences and documents the interrelationships amongst these factors. In particular, it proposes that the liberalisation of alcohol licensing laws and advertising/sponsorship regulations, alongside the growth of the alcohol-based hospitality industry have promoted the normalisation of an alcohol-based leisure lifestyle. Against this backdrop, the growth of consumer culture , tertiary student culture and the New Zealand drug culture, along with the development of new alcohol products and the establishment of commercial and social-networking websites have conjointly enabled the growth of a culture of intoxication, which is characterised by drinkers intentionally drinking to intoxication and viewing this behaviour as socially acceptable