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I don't consider children of transplants natives, even though the children may have been born in the area.
Why?
Culturally, they're not native. They're more influenced by their parents and speak more in line like someone from another region.
It really takes two generations removed from the region from which the grandparent came to be called a native of another region.
Why?
Generation 1 (G1)-Grandparent: Culturally and linguistically like that of the other region.-not native
(G2)- Parent: Culturally and linguistically a hybrid, often closer to that of the grandparent.-not native.
(G3)- Grandchild: Culturally and linguistically somewhat closer to the transplanted region. Can claim native status.
If, however, one of the grandparents is a native of the transplanted region, then their children (G2) can be called natives. It's when both of the G1 generation are transplants when it takes two generations to claim native status, in my opinion.
That's a very gross generalisation. A friend/former roommate of mine's biological father is from Indiana, and lives there now. Her foster father is from Kansas. She herself is a Texan through and through, with a strong drawl. Same thing with another friend/current roommate of mine who's father was born in Texas but his father's foster grandmother was born in Michigan. Both of them are very much Texans with accents to boot.
With your argument, the American born child of an immigrant is not REALLY an American... That's a narrow train of thought. Guess what? Unless you're an American Indian, your family came from somewhere not that long ago, that isn't where you were born.
The problem is that native and raised are two very different things. While born and native are synonymous, raised is not. If one's parents moved away from a child's place of birth, carrying the child with them, when the child was just 7 years old, but grew up in a different town, can that child, now an adult, claim to be a native of his or her birthplace?
Although influences from one's birthplace can be very weak, it would seem to me that one's birthplace defines a being native, while his or her hometown does not. Hometown refers to where one grew up, not necessarily the same thing.
But to summarize, being raised in a town is not the same thing as being born in a town, although some people try to falsely join the two together all in one, such as in the catchphrase, "born and raised". But I despise that phrase because it's such a mix-up, does not apply to my situation!
Last edited by Deltabluesman; 12-08-2019 at 06:44 AM..
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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I’m a native NY’er, proud of it, and often reminded of it. I was born and raised there but have lived elsewhere since age 24 (was technically still considered a NY’er while attending out of state business school) and will be buried in NY when the time comes—but not yet.
Last edited by elchevere; 12-08-2019 at 07:30 AM..
Native means born there. I was born in state A, raised in state B, then moved to C, D, and E, and have now been in F for x years. So I am a native of A but not without caveats. “Raised in” conventionally means your basic education years.
Since kids have little recollection before age 3, where they are born has more relevance to their parents needs and attitudes. And often the parents may only have a short association with that area before the kid is born. So to me where you are raised, ie the decade 4 to 14 is most formative.
Last edited by luv4horses; 12-08-2019 at 07:57 AM..
By definition, natives are those born in that state. You can only be born once.
But you can be from many states, or only one. If someone asks me where I’m from, I say, “I live in _____.” Depending whether the context indicates they want to know where I lived most of my life OR what state I last lived in OR where I was born, I answer accordingly.
In my case, the question often really is a mealymouthed way of asking what country I was born in or what ethnicity I am. Sometimes when I get this flavor of where are you from I deliberately answer with the name of the state where I live, just because if they are trying to determine my ethnicity, they should dmn well ask outright instead of trying to be PC. PC phrasing is always ambiguous.
Just because a person has greater influences elsewhere or lived most of their childhood there, that does not make that person loose his/her nativity (ah hah - there's your answer!). For example, a person is still a native of NY if he/she was born there even if he/she has greater influences or lived most of their childhood elsewhere in another hometown or state. By the very definition of the word "nativity" or "native", which means birth, they do not loose the fact that they are a native of where they were born. So the assumption that influences, or where you spent most of your childhood, determines where you are a native is false. (It can no longer be assumed to be the same thing all rolled together in one.)
For another example, look at Jesus' life:
Jesus' nativity: Bethlehem (native)
Jesus' hometown: Nazareth (early childhood)
Jesus' "from": Jerusalem (adult life/work)
These are all three very different things. For some people, the first two stages just happen to be the same as they were both born and raised in the same place, but for other people it's definitely not, in which case being a native of somewhere and their hometown must not be confused or mixed together. Either way, you are always a native of where you were born.
Last edited by Deltabluesman; 12-08-2019 at 05:17 PM..
I don't care what anyone says. I moved to NC as a adult and when I asked where I'm from I say NC. It's cheesy but home is where the heart is. Also you can become a native. If you move to a state at 25 and you die at 80. That would be silly to call that person a transplant.
I think there could be some grey area about what "native" means when we are talking about very little children (for example, a child born in state A who moved to state B at age 2 and lived there until adulthood might reasonably be considered a native of state B, even though technically they are not), but no way is someone who moved to a new place at age 25 ever going to be a "native" of that place. They will become a long-time resident, and there is nothing wrong with that, but not a native.
I think "native" refers to where you were born......IF your still there.
I wrote some columns for the local newspaper. After about 30 years I went from "resident" to "long-time resident" in my biography.
Native is totally meaningless to me. Well, I do have a passport with my picture at age six in a foreign language!!!
BUT there should be a WORD describing the location that during your childhood influenced and made you the adult that you are today.
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