Variation

Question 1

Labov 1963 - Martha’s vineyard

Answer 1

• small community distinct insular population
• invesitaged local speech patterns and influence of social factors
• found that centralisation of [a] towards [ə] in the dipthongs [ai] and [au]
• argued this was a social marker of loyalty to the island community > ingroup prestige > resist assimilation of mainland culture
• ## change more prevelant amongst younger islanders suggesting change happened over time

Question 2

Labov 1966 - Department Store study - NYC

Answer 2

• looked at linguistic variation across social class
• 3 department stores , one budget, average, upper class > asked people where the shoe section was
• elicited casual speech with first response and asked them to clarify eliciting careful speech
• found that higher classes were more likely to pronounce r > lower social classes more likely to drop r or used weakend r
• systematic patterns between social class and degree of formality (careful v causal)
• by looking at individuals, demonstrated phonetic variation was not random
• reverse pattern found in England > Bristol and reading > shows that value judgements about language are arbitrary (TRUDGILL)