Social Class

• What did Malcolm Petyt investigate?

  He investigated the frequency of H-dropping: The pronunciation of words such as house and hat without the initial /h/ sound, e.g., "ouse" instead of "house." He studied different social classes in Bradford, ranging from the working class to the middle class.

  • His sample included speakers from varying economic backgrounds to understand how language use correlated with social mobility.
• What did Petyt find?

  working-class speakers had the highest levels of h-dropping.

  • Middle-class speakers used it less frequently.
• What are the reasons of Petyt's findings?

  • Middle and upper-class speakers tend to follow standard pronunciation norms because they align with education, professionalism, and social mobility.
  • People style shift or upwardly converge to fit in with higher status groups.
  • Some people retain h-dropping as a way to maintain local identity and solidarity with their community.
  • Higher education levels expose individuals to Standard English norms, making them more likely to adjust their speech.
• What did Trudgill investigate in his Norwich study?

  • focused on the variation between standard and non-standard pronunciation of the -ing ending:
  • Standard form: /ŋ/ (e.g., "running")
  • Non-standard form: /n/ (e.g., "runnin’")
  • studied speakers from different social classes in Norwich, England.
  • He also analyzed differences between men and women in their speech patterns.
• What were Trudgills main findings from his Norwich study?

  • Working-class speakers were more likely to use the non-standard /n/ pronunciation ("runnin’").
  • Middle-class speakers used the standard /ŋ/ pronunciation more frequently, especially in formal settings.
  • Men used more non-standard forms than women, even within the same social class.
  • Women were more likely to use the standard form because they were more conscious of “correct” speech and its association with social status
  • individuals adjust their language depending on the social context to project a desired image.
• why was it that men used more non standard grammar for trudgills study?

  • Men,specifically w/c might have used more non-standard grammar to assert their social identity. Non-standard forms were often associated with local, working-class speech, which men might have used to express solidarity or toughness. (covert prestige)
  • Linguistic Prestige: Women were more likely to adhere to standard forms because of the higher prestige that standard language held in society.
  • men were more concerned with "status" women were more focused on "solidarity"
• Method of Labov - Martha's vineyard study

  investigated the centralization of the diphthongs in words like mouse (/aʊ/) and time (/aɪ/)

  • studied around 69 speakers from different social groups on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts.
  • conducted interviews with speakers of different ages, occupations, and social backgrounds. He used covert observation and casual conversations to see how they naturally spoke, rather than asking them directly about their speech.
• Findings of Labov - Martha's vineyard study

  -

  • Young men (especially fishermen) intentionally exaggerated the centralized vowel sounds to distance themselves from tourists and align with the local identity.
  • Older, rural, and long-term island residents also used more centralization, reinforcing local identity.
  • Tourists and newer residents did not adopt the centralized pronunciation, showing that this was a marker of in-group identity.
  • This study supported the idea that language change can be unconscious and driven by social factors, particularly identity and group membership.
• Method of Labov new york department store study

  investigated the pronunciation of the post-vocalic /r/ (the "r" sound after a vowel) in words like car, fourth, and floor.

  • In New York City, pronouncing the /r/ was associated with higher social status, while dropping it (r-lessness) was linked to the working class.
  • Participants: Employees from three different department stores in New York, each targeting different social classes:
  • Saks Fifth Avenue (Upper Class)
  • Macy’s (Middle Class)
  • Klein’s (Lower Class)
• Findings of Labov new york department store study

  • Saks (Upper Class) used the /r/ the most.
  • Macy’s (Middle Class) employees showed the most variation, often hypercorrecting (adding /r/ more in careful speech).
  • Klein’s (Lower Class) used the /r/ the least.

  1. Overt vs. Covert Prestige

  • Pronouncing the /r/ was linked to overt prestige (consciously trying to sound more "correct" or "formal").
  • The lower-class and working-class speakers may have had covert prestige, valuing their natural speech as part of identity.
• Method of Jenny Cheshire - reading study

  investigated non-standard grammatical features used by teenagers, particularly:

  • Non-standard "s"
  • Ain’t used for negatives
  • Multiple negation
  • Was/weren't variation
  • A group of teenagers (both boys and girls) in a Reading playground (a working-class area).
  • Method:
  • Long-term observation of the teenagers’ natural speech.
  • She also recorded their interactions and examined their social behavior (e.g., how they followed peer group norms).
• Findings

  of Jenny Cheshire - reading study

  boys used more non-standard forms than girls.

  • Girls who associated with delinquent behavior (fighting, swearing, rule-breaking) also used more non-standard forms.
  • Teenagers who approved of criminal activities and re
  • Non-standard grammar was a symbol of toughness and group identity. (covert prestige)
  • Standard grammar was linked to social acceptance in mainstream society.bellion used more non-standard grammar.
• method of Milroy Belfast study

  • examined th fronting and th stopping
  • Saying "tink" instead of think (th-stopping)
  • Saying "bruvver" instead of brother (th-fronting)
  • studied working-class communities
  • Used network analysis, looking at social networks (the connections people had).
  • Measured Network Strength Score (how closely someone was integrated into their local community).
  • Conducted interviews and covert observation to analyze speech in natural settings.
• Findings of Milroy Belfast study

  • People with strong social networks (tight-knit, close communities) used more non-standard features.
  • People with looser social networks (weaker community ties) used more standard English.
  • Men had denser networks (e.g., working together in factories, playing in local football teams) → used more non-standard forms.
  • Women had less dense networks (more likely to work outside the community) → used more standard English.
  • Non-standard speech was linked to group identity and covert prestige.