Monday, September 28, 2009

The Social Stratiication of 'r' in New York City Department Stores

by Labov
1972

Because tape-recorded interviews interferred with natural speech, Labov conducted 'rapid and anonymous observations.

He went to 3 stores--S. Klein (low status), Macy's (middle), and Saks (high status) and asked salesladies where were women's shoes to elicit the response "fourth floor." He then said "excuse me?" to elicit an emphatic pronunciation.

The results of r-fulness in al three stores were examined. ue to linguistic insecurity, the middle-class women at Macy's adopted the newly prestigious Midwestern r; the linguistically secure older women at Saks retained their r-lessness; the lower-classed women at Kelin's did not know that their r-lessness was not prestigious.

He also found differences in race, gender, and what floor of the store he was on.

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