Sociolinguistics and Linguistic Prejudice & Discrimination

sociolinguistics

the study of linguistic variation and how language varies by signals and social identities. Varies by geography, social identity, context

geographic variation

Dialectology identifies systematic differences in how people speak based on geography and community

language contact

geography affects language use. settlement patterns may vary by location

language change

natural barriers allow and limit contact

divergence

when a language community doesn't have contact with other speakers. older structures can be retained in one community, but not the other, innovations in one but not the other

Smith and tangler island (physical isolation)

only accessible by boat, changes on the mainland didn't spread. Sink and nice pronunciation similar to that of the 17th century. Developed new vocabulary about catching crabs

varieties differ at all linguistic levels

vocabulary, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics

chain shift

vowels in a variety change their pronunciation. change in one vowel leads to change in the next

lexical variations

varieites may use different words to mean the same thing. (sneakers-tennis shoes-gym shoes-running shoes)

broadening

a word is used to refer to more things than before. (Barn, UK: building for storing grain, US: building used for storing all grain related items)

narrowing

refer to fewer things than before. (Corn, UK: any type of grain, US: maize)

Rhoticity

whether a variety contains an /r/-like consonant in syllable coda position

Rhotic accents

most american and scottish (Car)

non-rhotic accents

british, australian (Cah)

NYC Rhoticity

prior to ww2, non-rhoticity was pretigious, after ww2, rhoticity became the prestigious norm

Labov NYC study

Language varies by social class. Pronouncing r's was more common in higher status stores (saks) than lower status (S. Klein). lower --> working --> lower middle --> upper middle --> upper middle (20-29 yrs) (for careful speech)

variation by gender

women may use language as a marker of social captial. women typically maintain larger, more diverse social networks, increasing exposure to new variants. women say um more, men say uh.

variation by age

young adults speech is still plastic, identity formation driver differentiation

pierre hombert et al (2004)

Recorded speech from gay and straight men and women. Gay and lesbian speakers were rated more "gay" than straight speakers.

Lesbian/bi women: /a/ and /u/ were farther back compared to straight women.

gay men: larger vowel spaces compared to straight men

There does not appear to be a gay speech style.

Social status - California laatina gang study

norma mendoza-denton. studied how elements of california gang members speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges signal affiliations and identities. California vowel shift [I] is raised to [i]. The rate of california raising correlated with status within the gang

style switching

Switch in language use to allign with the context or percieved identity in a given situation. Intentional or unconscious. Attention to speech varies, unguarded, little attention, full attention. Convergence with interlocutor speech perhaps gains approval

register

collection of linguistic behaviors associated with a particular social situation, frozen, formal, consultative, casual, intimate

frozen register

fixed language, pledge of allegiance, bible quotes

formal register

one-way participation among strangers (presentations)

consultative register

2-way participation (teacher/student, doctor/patient)

casual register

among in-group friends

intimate register

family members, close friends

theories of variation

variation as a grammar, variable rules

variation as a grammar

variation is systematic, it makes sense to think of it as grammatical rules. speakers of different varieities learn different grammatical rules (ie. non-rhoticity).

variable rules

A grammatical rule may apply different proportions of the time (80% to 20%) apply probabilistically

hyperarticulation

be clear about the word you're saying. Larger, longer articulatory gestures

Fair housing act (1968)

Prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race

Purnell et al. (1999)

conducted phone calls with landlords posing as a renter. varied whether he used AAVE, chicano english (ChE) or standard american english (SAE). found that there were higher appointments for SAE than AAVE or ChE.

discriminatory profiling

language as a proxy for race, class, national origin. Language --> infer identity --> discrimination

linguistic prejudice

ascribing negative properties to people because of the way they speak/sign. can be impliicit, reinforced by the media, leads to negative outcomes in social, academic, workplace, legal settings. reflect social biases

Rachel Jeantel

Friend of trayvon martin, on the phone with him when he was killed. Testified for 6+ hours. Jurors said they found her discredible and hard to understand (AAVE).

Warren Demesme "lawyer dog" case

Linguistic variation can be weaponized against speakers. "I want a lawyer, dawg"

The theory of Audience Design

speakers adapt their speech to the needs of their interlocutor or based on their social relationship with the interlocutor

VOT

Voice Onset Time (VOT) is the crucial time gap between releasing a consonant (like a 'p' or 'b') and the start of vocal cord vibration (voicing) for the vowel that follows

perception difficulty

minimal pairs differing in voicing differ in their VOT, hard to distinguish. COD GOD - voicing minimal pair

northern cities vowel shift

major, ongoing chain shift in how vowels are pronounced in cities around the Great Lakes (like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland), where one vowel sound changes, causing a domino effect on others, making words sound different (e.g., "caught" sounds like "cot," "cat" sounds like "kit").

US low back merger shift

a major English sound change where the vowel sounds in words like "cot" and "caught" become the same, making them homophones across much of North America, especially the West, Canada, and parts of the Midwest/East. Leads to fewer contrasts

pin-pen merger

• conditional merger of /ɪ/ and /ɛ/ before the nasal consonants [m], [n], and [ŋ]

• a linguistic phenomenon in Southern American English and other dialects (like NZ English) where the short 'i' sound (as in "pin") and the short 'e' sound (as in "pen") become identical before nasal consonants (m, n, ng)

  • south

uptalk and vocal fry

Vocal fry is a low, creaky, raspy sound made at the end of sentences, while upspeak (or uptalk) is ending statements with a rising pitch, making them sound like questions; both are common speech patterns, often used by young women, but frequently criticized as unprofessional