Characters Speaking in Contractions

Keep in mind that the use of contractions is just one very small element in the different language registers that people use. There are a variety of syntactical and grammatical adjustments people make to indicate the level of formality in their interactions. Also word choice plays heavily in this arena.

For example, I grew up in rural Oklahoma, but later went to college, etc. At work, I use "don't have" and "why." At home, among my family, I use "don't got" and "how come." And those are just two small instances where my language register changes.

To make this contrast work, you may need to do some research into language register formation. Start with wikipedia to get the background and go from there.

I don't know, maybe it's just a cultural thing, but I've been around all kinds of people, and I don't remember any class or type that never used contractions -- except certain Soong androids, of course. Redzilla's suggestion is a good one. Look for other idiosyncrasies of language to help express the MC's shift between "high" and "low" language.

Will readers catch on to her verbal rebellion? Some, yes, some (perhaps many), no. I think I would, only because I'd be so annoyed by the stilted contractionless diction of the parents that it would be a huge relief to read the daughter's.

I think it would be noticeable. I often say 'cannot' instead of can't - I don't know why exactly - and as long as you include other proper ways of speaking, I think it could work.

I would consider that the reader might not be enchanted by a MC who talks like a royal on display. I'm pretty sure even the families of Kings or Queens speak in contractions, use cuss words and so on when they are not on camera. In the vernacular when you are speaking emphatically you would dispense with the contractions, but in private you would probably say "don't," & "can't," etc.

I think it might be noticeable, depending on the mindset of the reader--some might miss it entirely, but I'd probably catch on. If only because my more formal characters tend to talk with far fewer contractions than my more casual and modern characters.

In my stories, the characters from a different culture set far in the past tend to talk with few contractions, and even among them there are a few characters who use almost no contractions at all--so it varies. The more modern and casual my characters, the more contractions they use. I once had somebody complain that the characters in a series of mine, set in ancient times, sounded stilted. That was fine by me, because they were SUPPOSED to sound stilted--that's how the people of their culture, in their time, happen to talk. *shrug*

I think how well this shows up in your story depends on the reader, though. Some people don't notice things like contractions, or else grew up with different experiences, so such symbolism will be lost on them. (They might notice it on some unconscious level, however.)

Redzilla is exactly right. Lauguage is a lot more complex than that. If you have social class differences, then the language those classes use will be more pronounced. There will also likely be other cultural differences to go along with it bucause it's all connected. Dress, mannerism, social ettiqute. Even within classes there are differences. Look at the wealthy in the US. There's old money, new money, celebrity money, dot com money. Each subset of the class has their own traits and social norms.

In the course of my old job as a fundraiser, I interacted on occasion with many of the richest people in the United States (most of the people you can think of, except for the Gates family, whom I never met). They all used contractions in speech.

You can see videos of, say, Senator Jay Rockefeller on YouTube. Or Jim Roosevelt. They use contractions, even in these formal speeches (and they are much more informal in their speech during, say, a dinner party).

One of the more interesting elements about studying sociolinguistics is that the higher the socioeconomic level of speakers, the less likely they are to speak at the highest language registers. Because they don't have to. They're already the richest, best, brightest, etc. It's the people in the social registers below that who tend to speak in the highest linguistic registers.

So, yes, you've got some research ahead of you. You can read scholarly journals and books on sociolinguistics that will offer examples of the different registers. You can also try to find ways to rub elbows with your "social betters" at fundraising events, etc. Find out which non-profits attract the more upper class volunteers and then volunteer with them. (You can find this out by researching the board members of the charity.) Seriously, I worked a variety of non-profit jobs in Tampa and in the course of my work interacted with the wives of the richest men in Florida. Very interesting.

Alpha Echo said:

Hmmm. So what do you suggest I do to make the characters realistic? The MC is from old money. Her ex-husband, not quite an MC but very close, is middle class but grew up with parents that struggled to make ends meet.

I guess for now, I'll tredge on with my WIP (for Nano) and do some research before my first revision?

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Just to kind of reiterate--will the readers notice? If you do it right, if you give them a pop quiz later I doubt they'll say, "Oh yeah, she used contractions with friends and didn't with her family." But hopefully they'll say she was more formal with her parents and laid back with friends. And like others said, more than contractions alone will give you those different voices.

I agree that it's more a matter of word choices and syntax, rather than use of contractions, that separates different 'classes' of speech.

In my WIP, the MC is a native English speaker (British English, not American English). The other important characters are native German speakers. Two of them learned English while young (therefore speaking more like the MC) while the other learned English later in life (so his speech is distinctly different).

In dialogue, your character may speak in whatever manner you wish.

There are no rules for speech in dialogue.

The rest of your writing is another matter. But in this instance, feel free to express your character's self. I think Samuel Clemons did it quite well.
Whether dialect or formality, go for it.

Side note: Your only downfall in this is the reader's comfort level with reading it.

Just put in what's appropriate to the character's situation. I change my speaking patterns to match my environment. When in my home state, I sling the twang, when traveling abroad I lose the accent to the point where they mistake me for a Brit.

One of my characters does this, slipping back and forth between informal and proper speaking. I don't think any of my readers have caught onto it yet.