The social stratification of (r) in New York City

The social stratification of (r) in New York City

By Catherine Laliberté

Multiple Choice

The variable studied by Labov in NYC department stores is...

• Split short a

• The cot-caught merger

• Rhoticity

• Nasal Fronting

Terminology reminder

​Variable: thing that varies, e.g. (r)

A variable is an abstract entity​

​

Variant: concrete realization of a variable, e.g. /r/ or ∅

Multiple Choice

True or false? Traditionally, the NYC accent is rhotic.

• True

• False

​Example of (proto)typical traditional NYC English:

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Raging Bull (1980)​

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​

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​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fEIn_5OkoY&ab_channel=DavidBernardino

Multiple Choice

Which of these criteria was NOT considered when classifying the department stores?

• Pricing

• Layout and decor

• Newspaper advertisements

• Number of employees

In order to investigate social variation, we need to have a good understanding of what social categories are.

​

They do not go without saying but must be argued for.​

Multiple Choice

Which of these choices is NOT an independent variable?

• Age

• Use of (r)

• Race

• Gender

Terminology

Dependent vs. independent variables

The dependent variable is the linguistic variable which varies according to social factors.

​

Independent variables are ​those social factors.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

True or false? This figure shows results that are consistent with the hypothesis.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which proposition is false, based on this graph?

• In all stores, stylistic variation is present

• The difference between Kleins & Macy's is greater than between Macy's & Saks

• In Saks, the style difference is greater than in Macy's and Kleins

• Kleins employees have the lowest rates of (r-1)

The principle of accountability

​​When we study variation, we must account for ALL variants of a variable,

i.e., not only those that are non-standard.

​

In this study, Labov counts both rhotic (r-1) and non-rhotic (r-0) instances. They are complementary. ​

The envelope of variation

​Circumscribe the context in which variation can occur

e.g. rhoticity = pre-consonantal or pre-pausal environments
car, cart, fourth, floor,

Multiple Choice

Which of these propositions is true?

• Black informants are less likely to have r-less speech, in general

• Internal job hierarchy at Macy's plays no role in rates of (r-1)

• White women who work at Macy's have mostly non-rhotic speech

• Even among Black employeess, (r) rates are socially stratified

Multiple Choice

True or false? (th)-stopping does not show social stratification.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or false? The department store study results show language change in apparent time.

• True

• False

Real vs. apparent time

Language from two or several age groups, e.g.

10, 30, 50, 70 years old

(= proxy for real time)​

​Apparent time

Language at two or several points in time, e.g.

1930, 1960 and 1990​

Real time

Multiple Choice

Which of these propositions is false?

• Only Saks shows expected age differences

• At Macy's, older speakers use more (r) than younger ones

• The puzzling results for the age variable are due to the method used

• The department store and interview data pattern in the same way for age

Multiple Choice

The behavior of age groups in Macy's may be due to...

• Linguistic insecurity of older speakers

• Race

• Contact with RP speakers

• Internal phonological constraints

Multiple Choice

One disadvantage of using the "casual and anonymous" survey method is...

• Small number of participants

• Researcher bias

• Low potential for replicability

• Does not allow to overcome the Observer's Paradox