The social stratification of English in New York City

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Introductory note to the first edition......Page 9
Preface to the first edition......Page 10
Preface to the second edition: forty years later......Page 13
Part I Problems and methods of analysis......Page 15
1 The study of language in its social context......Page 17
The study of linguistic structure......Page 18
Some earlier restrictions on linguistic study......Page 20
Some earlier studies of language in its social context......Page 25
2 First approach to the structure of New York City English......Page 32
Results of the exploratory interviews......Page 41
Resolution of the problem......Page 44
The five phonological variables......Page 47
The problem of stylistic variation......Page 51
The problem of social variation......Page 52
3 The social stratification of (r) in New York City department stores......Page 54
The method......Page 59
Overall stratification of (r)......Page 60
The effect of other independent variables......Page 63
Differentiation by age of the informants......Page 67
Some possible sources of error......Page 68
Conclusion......Page 69
4 The isolation of contextual styles......Page 72
The problem of casual speech......Page 78
Channel cues for casual speech......Page 86
The array of stylistic variation......Page 88
The structure of stylistic variation......Page 98
5 The linguistic interview......Page 101
The interview situation......Page 102
The questionnaire......Page 105
Interviewing several members of the household......Page 109
6 The survey of the Lower East Side......Page 110
The selection of the area......Page 111
Procedures of the MFY survey......Page 114
A view of the Lower East Side......Page 116
The ALS survey population......Page 121
Selection of native speakers......Page 124
The ALS sample population......Page 127
The ALS television interview......Page 129
Characteristics of the ALS respondents......Page 131
Redefinition of “native speaker” and “New Yorker”......Page 132
Class distribution of the ALS respondents......Page 133
Ethnic distribution of the ALS respondents......Page 135
Summary of possible sources of error......Page 138
Part II Social differentiation......Page 141
Social class as a measure of social stratification......Page 143
Two approaches to social variation in language......Page 144
The socio-economic class index......Page 146
Class stratification of the five variables......Page 155
The possible relations of class to language......Page 162
The social structure of (r)......Page 163
The social structure of (th) and (dh)......Page 168
The deviant case of Nathan B.......Page 171
The social structure of (æh)......Page 176
The social structure of (oh)......Page 177
The hypothesis of real deviation......Page 182
Summary......Page 183
8 Further analysis of the variables......Page 185
The logical ordering of the independent variables in time......Page 186
Education of respondent as an independent variable......Page 187
Occupation of respondent as an independent variable......Page 189
Occupation and education combined......Page 190
Ethnic group as an independent variable......Page 194
Relation of ethnic membership to (oh)......Page 200
Relations of ethnic groups to socio-economic class......Page 204
Jewish and Italian differences for other variables......Page 208
Comparison of men and women......Page 210
Temporal relations of the variables......Page 211
9 Distribution of the variables in apparent time......Page 213
Methods for the synchronic study of change......Page 214
The relative stability of class patterns......Page 216
The possible relations of apparent time and real time......Page 217
The distribution of the population by age......Page 223
A case of stigmatization: the upgliding vowel of third......Page 227
The distribution of (r) in apparent time......Page 231
Comparison with the department store survey......Page 236
The distribution of (æh) and (oh) in apparent time......Page 240
The distribution of (th) and (dh) in apparent time......Page 247
Summary......Page 253
The mid-central vowel in her......Page 255
The social distribution of (ay) and (aw)......Page 258
A case of stigmatization without change: unstressed (ing)......Page 268
Part III Social evaluation......Page 277
11 Subjective evaluation of the variables......Page 279
The zero pattern......Page 286
Subjective reactions to (oh)......Page 287
Subjective reactions to (æh)......Page 293
Subjective reactions to (r)......Page 297
Subjective reactions to (th) and (dh)......Page 303
Further analysis of (r) response......Page 306
The convergence of social differentiation and social evaluation......Page 310
The self-evaluation test......Page 314
Self-evaluation for (r)......Page 316
Self-evaluation for (æh) and (oh)......Page 323
The case of Mrs. Mollie S.......Page 327
Self-evaluation for (her) and (hurt)......Page 329
The index of linguistic insecurity......Page 331
The case of Emilio D.......Page 335
Summary......Page 336
13 General attitudes towards the speech of New York City......Page 338
Methods and the population studied......Page 339
Opinions on how outsiders view New York City speech......Page 341
Views of the out-of-town ALS informants......Page 342
Attitudes of New York respondents towards New York speech......Page 343
Informants’ dislike of their own speech; pressure from above......Page 344
Pressures from below......Page 345
Differences in linguistic attitudes of various sub-groups......Page 348
The negative prestige of New York City speech......Page 352
Summary......Page 353
Part IV Synthesis......Page 357
14 The structure of the NewYork City vowel system......Page 359
Co-variation of (h) and (oh)......Page 362
Co-variation of (ay) and (aw)......Page 364
Co-variation of (ah) with (oh)......Page 367
Correlation of (æh), (oh) and (ah)......Page 372
Merger of /ih/ and /æh/, /uh/ and /oh/......Page 374
The upgliding vowels......Page 375
Vowel systems in formal styles......Page 377
The structure of stylistic patterns......Page 380
The three-dimensional structure of stylistic variation......Page 381
Class stratification of the New York City vowel system......Page 384
Developments of the three-dimensional structure in real time......Page 386
The mechanism of linguistic change......Page 391
15 1966–2006......Page 394
1968 Harlem: William Labov, Paul Cohen, Clarence Robins, John Lewis......Page 395
1972 Philadelphia: Thomas Cofer......Page 396
1973 Panama City: Henrietta Cedergren......Page 397
1974 Norwich: Peter Trudgill......Page 398
1978 Buenos Aires: Beatriz Lavandera......Page 399
1978 Paris: Matthew Lennig......Page 400
1979 Ottawa: Howard Woods......Page 401
1981 Amman: Hassan Abdel-Jawad......Page 402
1982 Rio de Janeiro: Solange de Azambuja Lira......Page 403
1985 Sydney: Barbara Horvath......Page 404
1988 Tokyo: Junko Hibiya......Page 405
1991 Seoul: Yunsook Hong......Page 406
1994 Milton Keynes: Paul Kerswill and Ann Williams......Page 407
1998 Memphis: Valerie Fridland......Page 408
2006 Charleston, South Carolina: Maciej Baranowski......Page 409
2006 North America: William Labov, Sharon Ash, Charles Boberg......Page 410
Where are we heading?......Page 411
III Values of the variables......Page 418
IV Standard linguistic terms and terms defined in this study......Page 419
I. “Some information on your language background”......Page 423
II. Lexicon: traditional......Page 425
III. Folklore......Page 427
IV. Semantics and Syntax......Page 429
V. Pronunciation. [text of readings on the following pages]......Page 430
VI. Subjective evaluation......Page 433
VII. Linguistic attitudes......Page 434
VIII. Variant pronunciations.......Page 435
IX. Form for self-evaluation test and index of linguistic insecurity......Page 436
I. The punch-ball game......Page 437
II. The lunch counter......Page 442
Appendix C Analysis of losses through moving of the MFY sample population......Page 444
Local status of the moved population......Page 446
Assessment of the effects of losses through moving......Page 449
Characteristics of the non-respondents......Page 451
Analysis of the television interview......Page 453
Summary......Page 461
B. Elicitation of particular forms......Page 462
E. To determine occupation of informant [to follow B. 7]......Page 463
Appendix E The out-of-town speakers......Page 464
Subjective reactions of out-of-town respondents......Page 472
Bibliography......Page 476
Index......Page 487