WIlliam Labov

William Labov

William Labov is a famous professor, who was the founder of sociolinguistics and questioned the idea of how social class affected language and dialect. He used several theories to reinforce his ideas and prove evidence for his theory.

 

Martha’s Vineyard

Martha’s Vineyard is a popular tourist destination, lying just on the fringe of the East Coast of the USA. Martha’s Vineyard is a small island, meaning the population is fairly small; however there is a consistent influx of tourists every year. The local people whom live on the island are labelled as the ‘islanders’; these people live on the island all year round and are regarded as the ‘middle class’ people of the island.  There was another group of people who were called the fisherman; these people were hard workers who followed the traditions and old fashioned values of everyday life. The fisherman were known to be in the ‘working class’ area, and spoke with an accent based around old fashioned received pronunciation and non-standard grammar use. This certain accent is known as ‘diphthong’, this is where a sound is made by two vowels being merged together.

On this island, the island was dissected into labels of how populated it is, ‘down island’ is the most populated part of the island, where the tourists and islanders are mostly based. Then there is the ‘up island’, the less populated part of the island, with this area being where the fisherman lived.  The tourists actually had their own name on the island, with them being known infamously as ‘the summer people’, as these tourists often visited in the summer.

Summer people – middle class

Islanders – working class/middle class

Fisherman – working class

Labov’s findings

Labov found that the islanders shifted to speaking as a fisherman, with them frequently using the ‘diphthong’ accent. This could be suggested because they are trying not to be like the summer people, they are using this accent to distance themselves from the summer people. This would be called divergence, as they are accommodating their language to distance themselves from the summer people by using the diphthong accent. This means that the summer people are using the language as a tool to reinforce their island identity. This is an interesting observation to find, as although a fair majority of the islanders are middle class and well educated, they would talk with a diphthong accent which is usually associated with a working class status. This would be called covert prestige, which means that they are deliberately using non-standard language and trying to elevate their status on the island.

 

 

Department store theory

William Labov analysed a theory of how employees used language in 3 different department stores. This theory was based in New York, Manhattan, which is widely remarked as a place with upper class people. The theory looks at the link between department stores and social class. Labov tested these language patterns and linked them to class and prestige.

 

The 3 Department Stores;

Sak’s 5^th Avenue – High status

Macy’s – Middle status

Klein’s – Lowest status

Labov looked at how employees would utilize ‘the social stratification of the post vocalic r’, this is the idea of individuals actually pronouncing the ‘r’ at the end of words. Labov suggested that if you actually pronounce the ‘r’, then this will mean that you are intelligent and wealthy. In order to test this with the employees, Labov asked the employees a question in which the answer will always be ‘Fourth floor.’, he then pretended not to hear in order for the employee to repeat the answer. By the employee repeating the phrase, this could show signs of the employee converging their language and speaking in a different way.

Labov’s findings

The results told Lakoff that the pronunciation of ‘r’ was stratified by class, and that those with higher socioeconomic status pronounced the ‘r’ more frequently.

RESULTS:

Sak’s – 62%

Macy’s – 51%

Klein’s – 20%

However it could be argued that these results are flawed, as it could be argued that just because somebody works in Sak’s, it does not mean that they are more prestigious and are of a higher class. It could also be argued that this data and theory is outdated, meaning that this theory cannot be reflective of today’s society.

Deborah Cameron

DEBORAH CAMERON

• Cameron criticised the idea that there are natural differences in male and female speech
• ‘idea of men and women using language in different ways for different reasons is a great myth’
• Cameron discusses how this myth has progressed – we now believe that men have a natural desire to be competitive (aggressive speech style) – women talk about relationships and feelings
• Says that these myths have moulded our expectations of men and women and linguist behaviour that we believe is normal
• Cameron’s work mainly focuses on how speakers construct gendered identities for themselves
• This could challenge or draw in stereotypes
• Theorist Janet Hyde suggests that men and women language is actually similar due to said variables; age, class ethnicity

Men	Women
Dominate conversation by topic initiation, topic shifts, holding the floor, interrupting and speaking more.	More submissive in a conversation and likely to speak less. Unlikely to interrupt, initiate or change topics.
Use an informal register through their use if accent, taboo, slang, dialect, sociolect etc.. Likely to use covert prestige to sustain a masculine identity.	More likely to use overt prestige to help create a feminine identity and succumb to stereotypes on how a ‘lady’ should talk.
More likely to be factual, competitive, direct and detached when speaking while maintaining a need for status.	More likely to be supportive, cooperative, polite, apologetic when speaking.

Jenny Cheshire

Jenny Cheshire

Jenny Cheshire is a theorist who explored the use of grammatical variables and lexis used by boys and girls in conversation. She used long-term participant observation to obtain this data, in which she looked at three groups in a playground; one girl group, two boy groups. She analysed the children’s language and tallied how often they utilized these variables.

Non-standard –s	They calls me all the names under the sun
Non-standard has	You has to do what the teachers tell you
Non-standard was	You was with me, wasn’t you?
Negative concord	It ain’t got no pedigree or nothing
Non-standard never	I never went to school today
Non-standard what	Are you the little bastards what hit my son over the head?
Non-standard do	She cadges, she do
Non-standard come	I come down here yesterday
Ain’t = auxiliary have	I ain’t seen my nan for nearly seven years
Ain’t = auxiliary be	Course I ain’t going to the avenue.
Ain’t = copula	You ain’t no boss.

 

Jenny Cheshire then deciphered from the data she collected, that the boys use nonstandard grammar and often use slang in conversation. This could reinforce the idea that women are more naturally literate and knowledgeable than males.  

The 'Scouse Accent'

The ‘scouse’ accent

                        

The Liverpool accent is an instantly recognisable accent based in the city of Liverpool; it is a fairly recent trend. Before the 19^th century, Liverpudlians usually spoke in a Lancashire accent, even today; the accent can be discreetly heard in the scouse accent. The roots of the accent can be traced back to when a huge influx of immigrants entered Liverpool.

Scouse is renowned for being a accent with a fast, highly accented manner of speech, ranging from rising and falling tones. Phrases are frequently utilized by scousers, and would seem alien compared to other areas of the United Kingdom. As a regional urban accent Scouse is rated very low in comparison to other accents as it is associated with crime and being "dirty" in accent test.

Pronunciation is a foremost aspect of the scouse accent, this is feature makes the accent instantly recognisable. Scouse is known to often emphasise the ‘k’ on the end of words and even elongate the pronunciation of some words. For example, instead of ‘Steven Gerrard’ they may pronounce it as ‘Steeeeeven Gerrard’. They also amplify the vowels in certain words, in which it makes a ‘eeee’ sound. One of the most unique Scouse features is the way the accent renders the letter `t' at the beginning of a word or a stressed syllable /t/ is affricated, becoming something of a /ts/ sound, for example,  tree becomes `tsree' or town becomes `tsown'. Grammar is also a key aspect, with Liverpudlians using nonstandard pronouns and pluralisation; they often say ‘yous’ instead of ‘you’. Double negation is often used in the accent, as they will use two negative words in a clause which makes the sentence clumsy, for example ‘I ain’t done nothing’.

It is often seen that the Liverpool accent carries connotations of unintelligence and illiteracy. This could be argued because they often use vowel omission, double negation etc. It creates an impression that they are not intelligent, as it can be perceived by some that they cannot craft a functioning sentence. Stereotypes have been manufactured around the accent, with one of them being that those who use the accent are ‘rough’ and are at a financial deficit. This is shown in the diagram, with a quarter of brits voting the Liverpool accent to be the most unintelligent.