Mapping language ideologies in multi-ethnic urban Europe: the case of Parisian French

Abstract

Although the modern multicultural European metropolis has brought previously disparate groups into close contact, little research has focused on the effect of these shifting demographic patterns on language attitudes and ideologies. This is probably due to the sensitive nature of issues relating to immigration which may evoke contexts of socio-economic stratification, ethnic strife and even urban violence. To mitigate this sensitivity, this study examines socio-geographic representations of linguistic prestige, not attitudes towards speakers, in the Paris region. In a web-based survey, 136 Parisians evaluated the desirability, reputation and linguistic correctness of 21 cities in the Paris region. Responses indicate that perceptions of linguistic prestige are most closely connected to cities’ reputations, suggesting a close relationship between standard language ideology and spatial stereotypes. Five cities received the lowest reputation and linguistic correctness ratings and, thus, probably constitute exemplars of the poor, multi-ethnic Parisian suburbs popularly identified with a Parisian urban youth vernacular. Evaluations of the French of these five cities are shown to be related to subjects’ age, gender, socio-economic status and level of anti-immigrant bias. This study indicates that socio-geographic segregation may be driving perceptions of sociolinguistic stratification in the Paris region.

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