LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL CLASS

ACCENT AND DIALECT

Accent Non-standard

pronunciation of a word

21 accents

Dialects Non-standard

Pronunciation Grammar Vocabulary

Black American dialect

WHAT IS SOCIAL CLASS?

Grouping people together Giving them status in society according

to the groups they belong to

WHAT IS SOCIAL CLASS?

Accent or dialect? Where you live? Your occupation? Your income? How much money your family has?

WHAT DETERMINSES SOCIAL CLASS? Everyone gets

four cards Education Income Occupation Wealth

WHAT DETERMINES SOCIAL CLASS?

Some people get face cards and land in the upper middle class

Others may only get low cards and be in the lowest class

CLASSES IN THE U.S.

Two upper classes Upper upper: Old money (George Bush) Lower upper: New money (Bill Gates)

Two middle classes Upper middle: professional Lower middle: White collar and

entrepreneurs Two lower class

Upper lower: Blue collar (factory workers) Lower lower: Unemployed and homeless

THE AMERICAN DREAM

Do Americans believe that they can move from one class to another? 40% of Americans believe that the

possibility to move up has increased. 35% believe that there has been no

change. 23% believe that the possibility to move up

has decreased.

THE AMERICAN DREAM - REALITY

One study found that fewer families moved up the income ladder during the 1980s than during the 1970s And even fewer moved up in the 1990s

Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the ability to move up declined from the 1980s to the 1990s.

IDENTIFYING SOCIAL CLASS

How you look How you dress What you eat What you like to do Where you live What your house looks like How you talk

HOW DOES SOCIAL CLASS AFFECT LANGUAGE?

William Labov’s Department Store Study in New York City

Saks 5th Avenue – Upper class At 50th St. and 5th Ave., near the center of the

high fashion shopping district Macy’s – Middle class

On Herald Square & at 34th St. and 6th Ave. near garment district

S. Klein – Lower class On Union Square at 14th and Broadway, not far

from the Lower East Side

DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY

Location Number of advertisements in New York

newspapers Prices of women’s coats

Saks: $90 Macy’s: $80 Klein’s: $23

Size and layout of store

DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY

Interviewer: Excuse me, where are the women’s shoes?

Salesperson: Fourth floor.Interviewer: Excuse me?Salesperson: Fourth floor.

DEPARTMENT STORE STUDY

Pronunciation of postvocalic /r/ is variable

Labov’s hypothesis: Prestigious stores will have most /r/ Middle ranked store will have an

intermediate number Lowest ranked store will have the least /r/

PERCENT OF /R/ IN “FOURTH FLOOR”

DIFFERENT SPEECH COMMUNITIES

The same linguistic variable is likely to have different values in different speech communities. New York: /r/ is pronounced more by higher

social classes. Reading, England: /r/ is pronounced less by

higher social classes.

CONCLUSIONS

Language variation, the use of standard and non-standard dialects, often reflects speakers social class.

Lower classes tend to speak non-standard dialects.

Upper classes tend to speak standard dialects.

Middle classes sometimes speak more standard dialects because they hope to move to a higher class.

REFERENCE:

Presentation adapted from: http://www.english.wisc.edu/rfyoung/336/class.pdf Accessed on April 25, 2011.