1. The History of Sociolinguistics
Seminar: Language Variation & Change
Lecturer: Prof. R. Hickey
Term:
WS 07/08
Hildegard Schnel (LN, HS)
Nadja Höckesfeld (TN, HS)
Meike Strohn (TN, HS)

2. Introduction From Dialectology to Sociolinguistics
William Labov’s studies - Martha‘s Vineyard - The Social Stratification of English in New York City

3. From Dialectology to Sociolinguistics
HS: Language Variation and Change Prof. Dr. Hickey
WS 2007/08
Hildegard Schnel

4. Content Definition: Dialectology Dialectological Terms Aims Methods
Urban Dialectology
Significance for Sociolinguistics
References

5. Definition: Dialectology
study of language in relation to dialects from a regional angle
begun by Georg Wenker in 1876
also called 'Dialect Geography'
sub-discipline of linguistics
ignoring social factors in language use and change

6. Dialectological Terms
Dialect / Dialect areas
Language
Variety
Accent

7. Dialectological Terms
not the standard form of a language
notion of low-status (working-class)
associated with the peasantry
lacking in prestige
differs grammatically, lexically and phonologically
Example: "I done it last night“ [Cockney-English]
"I did it last night“ [RP-English]

8. Dialectological Terms
Dialect areas
London and the Home Counties
East Anglia
The South
The South-West
The Midlands (West Midlands; the East Midlands border on the Home Counties; East Anglia)
The North
the north-west (Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria)
the north-east (Lincolnshire, Yorkshire)
the far north (Northumberland, north-east).

9. Dialectological Terms
Language
non-technical term; less specific
“a language is a dialect with an army or a navy”
one dialect is not linguistically superior to any other
historical, political, geographical, sociological, cultural and linguistic reasons
Example: German, Swedish, Danish

10. Dialectological Terms
Variety
neutral term; specific
any particular kind of language
referring to language as a single entity
Example: Yorkshire English
Leeds English
middle-class Leeds English

11. Dialectological Terms
Accent
a speaker‘s way of pronouncing
refers to a variety
differs phonetically or phonologically
Example: /bvt/ ; /bv?/

12. Aims registering language use focusing on regional variants
documenting individual place dialects
linguistic geographic data
producing linguistic maps
analyzing language variation (phonology, semantics, syntax, lexis and morphology)
ignoring social apects

13. Methods tape-recording
non-mobile, elderly, uneducated, untravelled, rural males > biased choice of informants
list of items
questionnaire (written/oral)
direct: one-word answers
indirect: natural responses
formal: questions in advance
informal: free to form questions

14. Urban Dialectology mid-20th century
dialects are both: regional + social
trying to integrate social factors
Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada (by Hans Kurath, 1930)
focusing on urban dialects
interested in phonology and grammar
quasi-conversational speech
choice of informants still biased
considering the linguistic variable

15. Significance for Sociolinguistics
arose out of Dialectology
unbiased choice of informants
random sampling required
Dialectology
provided analytic tools for dealing with language variation in actual speech
provided the linguistic variable
Example: but > /bvt/ ; /bv?/

16. References www.uni-due.de/ELE
Chambers, J.K.: Dialectology. Cambridge
Geobl, H. (ed): Dialectology. Quantitative Linguistics, Vol. 21. Brockmeyer. Bochum 1984.

17. The History of Sociolinguistics I
HS: Language Variation and Change Prof. Dr. Hickey
WS 2007/08
Nadja Höckesfeld

18. Sociolinguistics
from the combining form socio- (referring to society) and linguistics
scientific study of social language aspects
focuses the relationship between language and social life
emphasizes the communicative competence of speakers (communication abilities)
stresses language variation (i.e. due to different backgrounds)
language is not only used for communication and exchange of information but also to create identity
there is not one sociolinguistic theory but different approaches exist depending on the linguistic interest

19. William Labov American linguist
professor at the University of Pennsylvania
regarded as founder of sociolinguistics
his goal: to identify how language varies in the community and draw conclusions from that for linguistic theory and everyday life (e.g. education)
his methods for collecting data have become very influential in social dialectology

20. Case Study 1: W. Labov, Martha‘s Vineyard
Setting:
Martha‘s Vineyard is an island about 3 miles off the East Coast of the USA
permanent population of about 6,000 inhabitants
more than 40,000 visitors a year
island is can be separated in different parts according to the people living there
a part of the original inhabitants was very opposed to the summer visitors

21. W. Labov, Martha‘s Vineyard
About the study:
study took place from 1961 to 1963
Labov studied the variations in diphthongs
the pronunciation of the diphthongs varies in the community and is called a linguistic variable
69 tape – recorded interviews with speakers from different ages and ethnic groups from the island
Labov used a scoring system for his analysis
interviewees are divided into age groups

22. Linguistic theory Linguistic variable:
feature that has two or more identifiable linguistic forms
variants differ in form but that does not afflict their linguistic meaning
Criteria for a linguistic variable:
frequent enough in ordinary conversation
structurally linked to other linguistic elements
exhibit a pattern of stratification due to social factors

23. W. Labov, Martha‘s Vineyard
Results:

24. W. Labov, Martha‘s Vineyard
Possible explanations:
a high degree of centralization shows belonging to the island and resistance against the summer people
young people are still somewhat ambiguous and therefore do not have such a strong centralization
Older people follow an older way of speaking which does not involve that much centralization
People of the age group 31 – 45 probably have recently made experiences which lead to the centralization of the diphthongs

25. W. Labov, Martha‘s Vineyard
Possible explanations:
Centralization indicates ‘Islander‘ status, loyalty, solidarity
Portuguese and Native people use centralization to show equality with original inhabitants

26. Bibliography
Wardhaugh, Ronald An Introduction To Sociolinguistics. Oxford UK & Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert, Leap Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Coulmas, Florian (ed.) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford UK & Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
Meyerhoff, Miriam Introducing Sociolinguistics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Holmes, Janet An Introduction To Sociolinguistics. New York & Harlow Essex: Longman.

27. The History of Sociolinguistics II
HS: Language Variation and Change Prof. Dr. Hickey
WS 2007/08
Meike Strohn

28. The Social Stratification of English in New York City – William Labov
Labov´s study of the varieties of English in New York City
Techniques for gathering data
Labov’s findings
Conclusion

29. 1. Labov´s Study of the Varieties of English in New York City
“The Social Stratification of English in New York City” (1966)
social stratification: the condition of being arranged in social strata or classes within a group (
 “soziale Schichtung”
Correlation between linguistic variation and social variation

30. S. Klein

31. Macy’s

32. Saks Fifth Avenue

33. 1. Labov´s study of the varieties of English in New York City
the three department stores show different levels of PRESTIGE:
Saks Fifth Avenue
Macy’s
S. Klein
the work at either store is valued accordingly
prediction: the personnel will be stratified according to these levels and will show respective linguistic features

34. 1. Labov´s study of the varieties of English in New York City
the linguistic variable (r) has two variants: [r] and Ø
example: a salesperson at Saks would presumably pronounce the (r) in far, a salesperson at S. Klein would use the r-less variety more often
another possible linguistic variable: initial consonant (th) as in thing, three variants: 1) [t], 2) [t2], 3) [2] ( not dealt with in this presentation)

35. 1. Labov´s Study of the Varieties of English in New York City
Hypothesis: The linguistic variable (r) differentiates English in New York City - STATUS: correlation with social class - STYLE: if formality increases, r-usage increases as well - POSITION OF OCCURENCE: more likely at the end of words than before consonants - AGE: rather a feature of younger speakers

36. 2. Techniques for gathering data
usage of rapid and anonymous speech events to circumvent the “observer’s paradox”
as informal and casual as possible
in this case: - interviewer in the role of a customer - informants do not know that their language is being investigated
„Where can I find lady‘s shoes?“ „Fourth floor.“
repetition  emphatic speech

37. 3. Labov’s findings - STATUS
Percentage of r-use in three NYC department stores
(based on Labov 1972)
The pronounciation of postvocalic [r] functions as a marker of the highest-ranking status group

38. 3. Labov’s findings - STYLE
R-pronunciation in NYC by social class & style of speech
(based on: Labov 1966)
The more formal the situation, the more usage of postvocalic [r].  exception: hypercorrection of LMC

39. 3. Labov’s findings - POSITION OF OCCURENCE
The r-pronunciation is more common at the end of a word than before a consonant

40. 3. Labov’s findings - AGE
Saks and S. Klein: older people used less r-pronunciation than younger people
Macy‘s: older people used more r-pronunciation than younger people
conclusion:  variable (r) is not generally a feature of young people  members of middle social groups tend to change their pronunciation after adolescence; highest and lowest social groups rather do not

41. 4. Conclusion
speakers who are ranked in a scale of social stratification will be ranked in the same order by their different use of a linguistic variable
socioeconomic differences cannot be ignored in linguistic studies

42. References
Labov, William The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Labov, William Sprache im sozialen Kontext. Kronberg: Scriptor Verlag.
Mesthrie, Rajend et al Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Wardhaugh, Ronald An Introduction To Sociolinguistics. Oxford UK & Cambridge USA: Blackwell.