Sociophonetic variation in Vancouver

Abstract

This study of Vancouver English using instrumental procedures suggests the following sociophonetic generalisations: (1) the speech of men and women differs systematically in the particular vowels that function as social indicators, (2) individual vowels differ systematically in quality between working class speech and middle class speech, (3) class-based differences in vowel quality are realised as superimposed secondary articulations representing prosodic shifts in vocalic phonology, (4) classbased differences in speech extend to consonant articulation as an acoustic result of choice of habitual voice setting, and (5) subtle shifts in voice setting, which affect the acoustic realisation of vowel and consonant articulations, function as salient social indicators and potential markers of style. English in Vancouver is consistent with the general characteristics of heartland Canadian English as far as the urbanised and relatively uniform social structure of its anglophone residents is concerned (Chambers 1979: 190). There is considerable representation of other varieties of English as well as other languages including German, Cantonese, Punjabi and Vietnamese, to the extent that up to 40–50 per cent of students in many school districts do not speak English as a first language. Varieties of English from the British Isles are in strong evidence and play a large role in the way people in Vancouver think about speech and its prestige value. The status of English as a second language also holds a place in how people think about language, in social interaction and in political rhetoric.

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