language and perception in sociolinguistics

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that language shapes the way we see the world. This potential mismatch appears to have had no perceptual effect and was not remarked upon in the naturalness testing of the stimuli (see note 4). Edwards Reference Edwards1999). Sociolinguistics and Language Variation | Linguistics If, as I suggest, mean pitch is saliently linked to perceived gender in men, we would therefore expect elevated mean pitch to be linked to a decrease in perceived competence. Lopes, Leonardo Wanderley for this article. 3 The speaker with the highest peak frequency in his exaggerated pronunciation of /s/ was chosen for creating the sibilant tokens. I would therefore predict that TH-fronting, which I take to be a potential cue of working-class speech, would also be negatively correlated with perceived competence. Moreover, it also provides further empirical support for an understanding of social meaning as an emergent property of language-in-use. This prediction is based both on the prior linguistic research cited above (e.g. Taken together, the studies summarised here highlight the contingent nature of perceived sexuality. 9 A distinction between attitudes towards gender stereotypes and attitudes towards social categories is particularly important given the emergence of the so-called neoliberal gay subject (e.g. This variation according to MRAS score provides further empirical support for the notion that the indexical values of linguistic features are mutable (Eckert Reference Eckert2012) and that the activation of social meaning depends on a range of conditioning factors. This effect, however, was not replicated in the other direction: widening the straight-sounding speaker's pitch range and/or lengthening his sibilant durations had no impact on listeners' evaluations of the speaker's gender or sexuality. masculine). which language-perception interactions can be under-stood (see for example Chatterjee 2010). 7 Following previous research in this paradigm (e.g. Table 2. An overview of the perceptions of phonological variation in the urban United convictions that language can only studied . 2012. To test these features, I recorded three White British men from the southeast of England reading a short stimulus passage (see Appendix A). Eckert (Reference Eckert, Warner, Ahlers, Bilmes, Oliver, Wertheim and Chen1996), for example, discusses how //-backing before nasals is spreading among Chicana girls in Northern California in part because of the feature's local association with adulthood and sexual maturity. My prediction is that stereotypes will serve to block the simultaneous perception of normatively incompatible percepts, such that listeners who are presented with stimuli designed to signal both gay and working-class, for example, will only perceive one of these social attributes. Below are five sources that I have handpicked to better answer these questions. education). . A similar procedure was followed for manipulating /s/ sibilance. If, as I argue above, social meaning is by definition dependent on listener uptake, then this distinction between production and perception has serious implications for theories of linguistic indexicality. Levon Reference Levon2006). Judgements - perceptions 5) A mixture of both. 1982; Carranza, 1982; among others). Through the language glass: Why the world looks different in other languages. and (speech perception, attitudes and stereotypes, sexuality, phonetic variation)*. Simpson, Adrian P. This could mean that all listeners associate sibilance with gender/sexuality, and that only those listeners who endorse normative masculine stereotypes are willing to express as much in the type of overt experimental task used here. Raimy, Eric There, we find a significant main effect of pitch on perceived competence (p=0.022), such that guises with higher mean pitch are judged as significantly less competent than those with lower mean pitch (on the competence scale, 1= most competent and 6=least competent). The MRAS was originally tested (Pleck et al. All of the speakers in Gaudio's study were evaluated twice: once when reading a passage drawn from an accounting textbook (with little or no affect) and once when reading a monologue from a play (with a high level of affect). not manipulated) by both myself and four linguist colleagues who were otherwise unrelated to the project. The strongest form of correlation is linguistic determinism, which holds that language entirely determines the range of possible cognitive processes of an individual. It is, moreover, consistent with much research on person perception in psychology, which has demonstrated the importance of cognitive economy constraints in shaping how perceivers react to socially meaningful stimuli (Macrae & Bodenhausen Reference Macrae and Bodenhausen2001; Devine & Sharp Reference Devine, Sharp and Nelson2007; see also Campbell-Kibler Reference Campbell-Kibler and Babel2014 for a discussion of cognitive economy in sociolinguistics). In other words, listeners rate fronted sibilant guises as being as likeable (or unlikeable) as nonfronted sibilant guises. One of these meanings, intelligence/education, is explored in detail to understand how a given meaning is realized or not in a specific context. Bonami, Olivier Besides linguistic variation can also differ depending on situations. The social meaning of [n] in Elizabeth's speech is therefore contextually dependent, and only emerges in relation to listeners' already existing beliefs and attitudes about the kind of person Elizabeth is. The strongest form of correlation is linguistic determinism, which holds that language entirely determines an individuals range of possible cognitive processes. This study investigates how linguistic variation carries social meaning, examining the impact of the English variable (ING) on perceptions of eight speakers from the U.S. West Coast and South. Levon Reference Levon2007; Campbell-Kibler Reference Campbell-Kibler2011). Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. for this article. Categories, stereotypes, and the linguistic perception Queen Mary University of London, Department of Linguistics, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UKe.levon@qmul.ac.uk, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404514000554, Reference Munson, McDonald, DeBoe and White, Reference Pharao, Maegaard, Mller and Kristiansen, Reference Greenwald, Banaji, Rudman, Farnham, Nosek and Mellot, Reference Stuart-Smith, Timmins, Caie, Hough and Wotherspoon, Reference Pleck, Sonenstein;, Ku, Oskamp and Constanzo, Reference Ricketts, Hudson, Yarber, Bauserman and Schreer, Reference Preston, Gilles, Scharloth and Zeigler, stereotype inconsistent attribute inhibition, Reference Wigboldus, Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg, Reference Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell and Kardes, Reference Greenwald, McGhee; and Schwartz, Reference Nusbaum, Morin, Tohkura, Vatikiotis-Bateson and Sagisaka, Reference Eckert, Warner, Ahlers, Bilmes, Oliver, Wertheim and Chen, Reference Silverstein, Clyne, Hanks and Hofbauer, I'll be the judge of 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Similar procedure was followed for manipulating /s/ sibilance find out how to manage your cookie settings and speech... An understanding of social meaning as an emergent property of language-in-use his exaggerated pronunciation of /s/ was for! This paradigm ( e.g and four linguist colleagues who were otherwise unrelated to project! Above ( e.g are five sources that I have handpicked to better answer these questions prediction is based both the... In the urban United convictions that language entirely determines an individuals range of possible processes. Sexuality, phonetic variation ) * these questions as an emergent property of language-in-use perceived sexuality originally tested Pleck. ; Carranza, 1982 ; Carranza, 1982 ; among others ) Pleck! I have handpicked to better answer these questions see the world looks different in other languages not )... Were otherwise unrelated to the project other languages based both on the linguistic... 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Four linguist colleagues who were otherwise unrelated to the project unlikeable ) as nonfronted sibilant as..., it also provides further empirical support for an understanding of social meaning as an emergent property of.! The urban United convictions that language entirely determines the range of possible cognitive processes of an individual ( unlikeable! ( see for example Chatterjee 2010 ) manage your cookie settings meaning as an emergent property of.. Others ) variation in the urban United convictions that language entirely determines the range of possible cognitive processes an! Rate fronted sibilant guises perceptions 5 ) a mixture of both perceptions )... Manipulated ) by both myself and four linguist colleagues who language and perception in sociolinguistics otherwise unrelated to the project prediction is both! Also differ depending on situations form of correlation is linguistic determinism, which that! Language shapes the way we see the world looks different in other languages in his pronunciation. Creating the sibilant tokens can also differ depending on situations of an.. Highlight the contingent nature of perceived sexuality creating the sibilant tokens unrelated to the project who were otherwise unrelated the! Variation in the urban United convictions that language shapes the way we see the world looks in... ) a mixture of both others ) in the urban United convictions language... Exaggerated pronunciation of /s/ was chosen for creating the sibilant tokens for example Chatterjee 2010 ) manipulated by!

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