Unendangered dialects, endanegred people

by Labov

"The argument of this paper may be outlined as follows:
• African American Vernacular English [AAVE] is not an endangered dialect; on
the contrary, it is continuing to develop and diverge from other dialects.
• The primary condition for such divergence is residential segregation.
• Residential segregation, combined with increasing poverty, has led to a
deterioration of many features of social life in the inner cities.
• In these conditions, a majority of children in inner city schools are failing to learn
to read, with a developing cycle of poverty, crime and shorter life span.
• A reduction of residential segregation will lead to greater contact between
speakers of AAVE and speakers of other dialects.
• If at some future date, the social conditions that favor the divergence of AAVE"

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.