SOCIOPHONETICS

Labov, 1966

The Social Stratification of English

in New York City

“Investigating the r
pronunciation after
vowels.”
Method

1. Walking around three

New York City
Department Store
(Saks, Macy’s, and
S.Klein).
2. Asking the location of
department he knew
to be situated on the
fourth floor.
Result

1. r -pronunciation
after vowels was
being reintroduced
into New York
speech from
above.
Result

2. r -pronunciation
after vowels was
a feature of the
speech of
younger people
rather than of
older people
Result

3. r -pronunciation
after vowels was
more likely to
occur as the
formality level
increased
Result

4. r -pronunciation
after vowels
would be more
likely at the
ends of words
than
before consonants
Trudgill, 1974
The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich

How the use of variants is related to

social class and level of formality

Analysis of the variables (ng), (t), and (h)

 Result

1. The higher the social class,

the more frequent is the use
of the [], [t], and [h] variants
rather than the corresponding
[n], [], and [] variants.
 Result

2. The higher the level of

formality, the more frequent is
the use of the [], [t], and [h]
variants rather than the
corresponding [n], [], and []
variants.
 Result
3. The use of [] is not only related to
social class, but also to gender.

Females show
greater
preference for
[] than males.