Sociolinguistics - Lecture 10

Linguistic Styles

the different ways an individual speaks within a variety — can be related to different things

• formality

• persona

• interlocutors

• stances

Style

the set of linguistic variants (across different variables) with ideologically-related social meanings

Style-Shifting

how individuals adopt different ways of speaking from one context to another; or from speaking with one interlocutor to another; or from assuming one aspect of identity to another

can happen moment-by-moment in an interaction

Register

the patterns of variants appropriate for a particular activity, topic, or domain

it’s about how language is conventionally used (and prescribed norms) for that situation

NOT the same as style

Style vs Register

style: what a speaker is doing with language, given the potential social meanings they wish to convey

register: conventions of how language is used in a particular setting and about how speakers adapt lingustically to fit into that context

Accommodation/Convergence

when a speaker shifts their linguistic style to be more like their interlocutor — signal affiliation with them

Divergence

when a speaker shifts their linguistic style to be less like their interlocutor — signal non-affiliation with them

Models of Style: Attention-to-Speech Model

key: style is linked to formality and how much we monitor our language use

• style is studied through collecting language data across a variety of tasks that differ in degree of formality

• the traditional sociolinguistic interview

• there’s an inverse relationship between attention paid to speech and vernacular use

  • more attention paid to speech → less vernacular use

  • less attention paid to speech → more vernacular use

• compute the rates of variant use across different social sub-groups and different styles (tasks)

Attention-to-Speech Model: Sociolinguistic Interview

original sociolinguistic interview involved five tasks:

minimal pairs: pairs of words whose pronunciations differ by only one sound (most formal task → pay most attention to speech)

word list: words in isolation are read aloud

reading passage: an excerpt is read aloud

careful speech: the start of the sociolinguistic interview

casual speech: the middle/end of a sociolinguistic interview (least formal task → pay least attention to speech)

Attention-to-Speech Model: Style x Class Effect

first crucial finding: social stratification parallels stylistic variation

second crucial finding: cross-over effect

Style x Class: First Finding

social stratification parallels stylistic variation

• the way people speak varies systematically with their social class.

• differences are consistent across a range of styles (formality)

• variants that are seen as more formal are usually the ones that are used at higher rates by the upper class group

Style x Class: Social Stratification

different social classes have different rates of use of the nonstandard/stigmatized variant

Style x Class: Stylistic Variation

different styles have different rates of use of the nonstandard/stigmatized variant

Style x Class: Second Finding

cross-over effect

• hypercorrection in the second-highest social class — speakers over-apply or over-use a prestige variant

• this group has the most linguistic insecurity

• low classes may encounter the standard less often or just not aspire to join the highest social classes, so less susceptible to cross-over effect

Style x Class: Sociolinguistic Indicator

social stratification with no stylistic variation

Style x Class: Sociolinguistic Marker

social stratification with stylistic variation

Attention-to-Speech Model: Criticisms

• style viewed as one-dimensional

• model doesn’t truly capture language in use

Models of Style: Audience Design

key: style-shifting happens in order to shape speaker’s relationship with their audience

• goes beyond interview settings and considers actual language in use

• study a very small number of speakers

• often focus on only one speaker but with exquisite detail and/or with a ton of data

• focus on audience

  • interlocutors, passive audiences, or eavesdroppers

  • any audience may affect speaker’s style

  • lots of room for accommodation or divergence here

Audience Design: Criticism

• can’t account for the full range of style-shifting that’s observed in most people

• relies on a responsive dimension — style-shifting is a reaction or a consequence of a change in context

• there may be instances where style-shifting is more agentive and this model doesn’t account for this

Audience Design: Refinement

Bell tried to refine the model, proposed nine key ideas of style:

1. style is what an individual speaker does with a language in relation to self and others

2. style derives meaning from the association of linguistic features with particular social groups

3. speakers design their style primarily for and in response to their audience

4. Audience Design applies to all codes and levels of a language repertoire

5. a speaker’s range of styles generally derives from and echoes the range that exists among speakers in the community

6. speakers show a fine-grained ability to design their style for a range of different addressees, and to a lessening degree for other audience members

7. styling according to topic or setting derives its meanings and direction from the underlying association of topics or settings with typical audience members

8. as well as ‘ Responsive’ dimension of style, there is the ‘Initiative’ dimension where a shift in style itself initiates a change in the situation rather than resulting from such a change

9. such initiative style shifts are in essence ‘Referee Design’, by which the linguistic features associated with a group can be used to express affiliation with that group (i.e., the referee)

Models of Style: Speaker/Referee Design

key: speakers have agency and are proactive, they don’t just simply respond to their audience

• comes from Bell’s refinement points (8) and (9)

• speakers consciously or unconsciously shaping who they are and how they’re perceived

• style-shift as an initiative/active process towards forming and performing their own social identities

• speakers stylize linguistic features in order to call up associations with particular groups or identities

  • conscious, deliberate use of linguistic features

  • features at least second-order indexes

  • key: particular groups not necessarily part of the immediate audience

Models of Style: Crossing

• happens when individuals use linguistic features belonging to another ethnic/racial/cultural group that is different from them

• relates to some extent to linguistic/cultural appropriation

• style-shifting with an initiative dimension

Models of Style: All Together (Linguistic Style)

First Wave Variation

researchers investigated broad correlations between variation and macro-social

Second Wave Variation

researchers began focusing on how individuals use language within their networks, emphasizing local identities and (social) practices

Third Wave Variation

researchers’ focus shifted to how people actively use language to construct and express their personhood

Community of Practice

any group of people who share an activity or a profession or a social group on a regular basis

• expect to have its own linguistic forms

• some forms/variants may index an identity associated with that community of practice (second/third order indexicality), while other forms may be more unconscious

Community of Practice: Co-membership

defined by three criteria

1. mutual engagement: direct personal contact

2. a shared repertoire: shared social and stylistic practices like use of slang, jargon, ways of pronouncing words, jokes, ways of dressing, interests in music, etc…

3. a jointly negotiated enterprise: all members are working towards a specific goal