scholarly journals Yorkshire Assimilation: Exploring the Production and Perception of a Geographically Restricted Variable

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-248
Author(s):  
Kate Whisker-Taylor ◽  
Lynn Clark
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Production Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Phonological Rule ◽  
Over Time

This paper investigates a process referred to by Wells (1982) as “Yorkshire Assimilation,” which is a process of assimilation in which voiced obstruents become fully devoiced when followed by a voiceless segment. The process is thought to occur only in Yorkshire, England. There is very little existing literature on Yorkshire Assimilation and, when it is discussed, it is described as a phonological rule, i.e., it is thought to be used categorically by those speakers who display the feature (Wells 1982:367, 148). This paper presents the first empirical account of Yorkshire Assimilation. Using both historical and contemporary speech data from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, we explore the extent to which Yorkshire Assimilation is indeed variable, how its use has changed over time, and how it is constrained by both linguistic and social factors in speech production. We also couple this production study with a small perception experiment designed to tap into the social meaning of Yorkshire Assimilation in Huddersfield.

Domestic Integration and Suicide in the Provinces of Canada

Crisis ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoon A. Leenaars ◽  
David Lester
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Birth Rates ◽  
Marriage Rates ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
The Social ◽  
Divorce Rates ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Over Time

Canada's rate of suicide varies from province to province. The classical theory of suicide, which attempts to explain the social suicide rate, stems from Durkheim, who argued that low levels of social integration and regulation are associated with high rates of suicide. The present study explored whether social factors (divorce, marriage, and birth rates) do in fact predict suicide rates over time for each province (period studied: 1950-1990). The results showed a positive association between divorce rates and suicide rates, and a negative association between birth rates and suicide rates. Marriage rates showed no consistent association, an anomaly as compared to research from other nations.

Citizen sociolinguists scaling back

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Betsy Rymes ◽  
Gareth Smail
Keyword(s):  
Social Meaning ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Multilingual Communication ◽  
The Social ◽  
Linguistic Practices ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis paper examines the different ways that professional experts and everyday language users engage in scaling practices to claim authority when they talk about multilingual practices and the social significance they assign to them. Specifically, we compare sociolinguists’ use of the term translanguaging to describe multilingual and multimodal practices to the diverse observations of amateur online commentators, or citizen sociolinguists. Our analysis focuses on commentary on cross-linguistic communicative practices in Wales, or “things Welsh people say.” We ultimately argue that by calling practices “translanguaging” and defaulting to scaled-up interpretations of multilingual communication, sociolinguists are increasingly missing out on analyses of how the social meaning of (cross)linguistic practices accrues and evolves within specific communities over time. By contrast, the fine-grained perceptions of “citizen sociolinguists” as they discuss their own communicative practices in context may have something unique and underexamined to offer us as researchers of communicative diversity.

scholarly journals Sociolinguistic Variation in Athenian Suburban Speech

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Theodoropoulou
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Northern Area ◽  
Friendship Group ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
Western Area ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

This article focuses on the description and interpretation of the social meaning of sociolinguistic variation in Athenian suburban speech. A descriptive statistical and a Varbrul analysis of the syntactic variable Verb and presence or absence of Prepositional Phrase (V +/– PP), as it is used by native northern and western suburbanites of Athens, suggests that primarily the area (northern and western suburbia) and, to a lesser extent, the sex of the speakers are statistically significant macro social factors constraining variation. In an effort to tease out the social meaning of the variation, a further analysis of some micro factors within each area, including the group of speakers, the topic, and the stance towards the rivalry between the aforementioned suburban areas, suggests that variation in both areas is interactionally constrained, but in the northern area it tends to be more friendship group-constrained, while in the western area it is more education-constrained. In light of these findings, the sociolinguistic implications of the study translate into the analytical need to account for the relationship between interactional and social factors in the description of variable grammars.

scholarly journals Theoretic bases for the reflection on the social meaning of theoretical famous and less famous people in television

Comunicar ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Lamuedra-Graván
Keyword(s):  
Social Meaning ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Siglo Xx ◽  
Medios De Comunicacion ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Sobre Todo

This article aims to set a theoretical framework for a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the actual way in which celebrities are portrayed in Spanish television. This work deals with how fame has been present in several societies over time. The phenomenon of celebrity is placed in a context that includes the USA and Britain. The piece introduces the idea, argued by a relevant number of Anglo-Saxon authors, that fame and democracy have walked and developed together in a number of countries.q Si hay un tipo de televisión que no queremos es la que se conoce como «televisión basura». Se trata de un concepto complejo, que el Consejo Audiovisual de Cataluña (CAC) ha definido con gran habilidad. No alude, según el CAC, a un género televisivo específico, ni se limita sólo al entretenimiento, sino que se produce cuando determinados programas degradan determinados géneros vulnerando los derechos fundamentales de terceras personas o por el atropello de valores democráticos o cívicos. A continuación el consejo considera que la telebasura se encuentra básicamente concentrada en la programación denominada «del corazón», aunque matiza que el género en sí no ha de caer irremisiblemente en los despropósitos propios de la telebasura y, de hecho, reconoce que no siempre lo hace. Este trabajo aborda de manera esquemática la evolución de la fama en nuestras sociedades, y se concentra en las circunstancias socio-económicas que han hecho posible su expansión. Tal material nos permitirá proceder a una breve reflexión acerca de la representación mediática de la fama hoy en día. Precisamente porque «el corazón» no es irremisiblemente telebasura, ni debemos permitir que los despropósitos en materia cívica propios de la telebasura secuestren las potencialidades positivas del género, que las tiene. Como el propio filósofo Emilio Lledó reconoce en una entrevista con Juan Cruz sobre la fama (Cruz, 1999). En la idea de la fama hay siempre ago positivo: la lucha por el reconocimiento que es una forma peculiar de compañía y solidaridad, y de «progreso» y «movimiento de tu ser». Aunque claro está, Lledó se refiere fundamentalmente a una fama que insta a aquel que la desea a ser mejor y superarse con el propósito de ser querido. En estos últimos años la importancia de los famosos en los medios de comunicación se ha intensificado. Esto, desde luego, es perceptible en España, pero está vigente en toda Europa, incluyendo los países nórdicos (Sparre, 2003), EE.UU, América Latina, y de manera progresiva, otras zonas del globo. En el texto completo de la comunicación se ofrecen razones contundentes que ilustran la proliferación del fenómeno de los famosos en el Reino Unido, EE.UU y otras áreas del mundo como se argumentará en el texto completo de la comunicación. El interés que despiertan los famosos y la destacada presencia de éstos, sobre todo en las sociedades occidentales permite establecer cierta vinculación entre los famosos y una serie de cambios sociales económicos y culturales propios de la era moderna, democrática y capitalista. Varios investigadores ligan el progreso de ‘la cultura de la celebridad’ en el siglo XX a la democracia. Entre ellos están Leo Braudy, Victoria Price, Richard Dyer, David Marshall y Chris Rojek. La fama en sí siempre ha existido, y el deseo de celebridad también, que Leo Broudy ya achaca a Alejandro Magno varios siglos antes del nacimiento de Jesucristo. Pero para que la fama y los famosos alcancen el grado de influencia y expansión actual han de producirse una serie de cambios sociales que se han sucedido desde el desarrollo de la fotografía y las agencias de noticias. La expansión de la fama es un fenómeno de la modernidad ilustrada, así como algunas perversiones de la fama pueden analizarse como síntomas de un desequilibrio entre valores democráticos y valores mercantilistas. En resumen, la comunicación que se propone trata la fama en un contexto social y económico amplio que puede aplicarse a Europa y Estados Unidos y describe los cambios más importantes del último siglo en la forma de entender este fenómeno. Todo ello tiene el objetivo de ofrecer una perspectiva amplia desde la que reflexionar acerca de la forma actual en la que los famosos aparecen en televisión en España, y en concreto acerca de la mercantilización de la fama y de la aparición de famosos que lo son por su relación con otros y no por motivos meritocráticos.

Constraints on the social meaning of released /t/: A production and perception study of U.S. politicians

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Podesva ◽  
Jermay Reynolds ◽  
Patrick Callier ◽  
Jessica Baptiste
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
Equal Effectiveness ◽  
Do So

AbstractPrevious studies on released /t/ collectively suggest that the linguistic feature is associated with intelligence and education, social meanings that can be recruited in constructing articulate personas. This study examines the production of released /t/ by six prominent U.S. political figures, as well as the social meanings listeners attribute to the variant. Employing a matched guise technique facilitated by digital stimulus manipulation, we find that the social meanings associated with released /t/ are constrained by linguistic and social factors. Regarding the former, word-medial /t/ releases carry stronger social meanings than those appearing word-finally. With respect to social factors, listener interpretations vary according to the identity of the speaker and knowledge of how frequently particular speakers produce /t/ releases. Thus, even though conventionalized associations between linguistic forms and meanings can be drawn upon to construct articulate personas, not all speakers can do so with equal effectiveness.

Hedges in Japanese conversation: The influence of age, sex, and formality

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizuka Lauwereyns
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Variables ◽  
Single Sex ◽  
The Social ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Casual Speech ◽  
Two Age Groups

Hedges in Japanese conversation are discussed in relation to three social variables: age, sex, and formality. In the present study, hedges are defined as expressions of uncertainty, possibility, or tentativeness, all of which convey a sense of vagueness. I quantified the use of 26 Japanese hedges (e.g., toka ‘or something’, kana ‘I wonder’, nanka ‘like’, and tabun ‘probably’). Three hypotheses were posited to investigate the effect of the social variables: hedges are used (1) more often by younger speakers than by older speakers; (2) more often by women than by men; (3) more often in casual speech than in formal speech. Data of 20 single-sex dyads were collected from two age groups and from both sexes. The data supported hypotheses (1) and (2), but not (3). Most notably, younger female speakers use hedges often. Social factors of the speaker as well as context play an important role in the use of hedges in Japanese conversation.

Social transmission bias and the cultural evolution of folk-economic beliefs

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hirshleifer ◽  
Siew Hong Teoh
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Social Transmission ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Economic Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Beliefs ◽  
Over Time

AbstractEvolved dispositions influence, but do not determine, how people think about economic problems. The evolutionary cognitive approach offers important insights but underweights the social transmission of ideas as a level of explanation. The need for asocialexplanation for the evolution of economic attitudes is evidenced, for example, by immense variations in folk-economic beliefs over time and across individuals.

Comparing the Impact of Religious Discourse on HIV/AIDS in Islam and Christianity in Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sloane Speakman
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

In examining the strikingly high prevalence rates of HIV in many parts of Africa, reaching as high as 5% in some areas, how does the discourse promoted by the predominant religions across the continent, Islam and Christianity, affect the outlook of their followers on the epidemic? This question becomes even more intriguing after discovering the dramatic difference in rate of HIV prevalence between Muslims and Christians in Africa, confirmed by studies that have found a negative relationship to exist between HIV prevalence and being Muslim in Africa, even in Sub-Saharan African nations. Why does this gap in prevalence rates exist? Does Islam advocate participating in less risky behavior more so than Christianity? By comparing the social construction, epidemiological understanding and public responses among Muslim populations in Africa with Christian ones, it becomes apparent that many similarities exist between the two regarding discourse and that, rather than religious discourse itself, other social factors, such as circumcision practices, contribute more to the disparity in HIV prevalence than originally thought.

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