TITLE: LANGUAGE AS A SOCIAL MARKER: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LABOV’S 1963 AND 1972 SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDIES
Keywords:
sociolinguistics, linguistic variation, social class, style-shifting, William Labov, variationist approach, language and society, post-vocalicAbstract
This article examines William Labov’s influential sociolinguistic studies from 1963 and 1972, which pioneered the variationist approach in linguistics. Labov’s 1963 study demonstrated a clear correlation between the pronunciation of the post-vocalic "r" and social class in New York City department stores, establishing that linguistic features can function as social markers. His 1972 work broadened this investigation to include various linguistic variables and emphasized the influence of speech context and formality on language use. Through comparative analysis, this paper highlights how both studies underscore the systematic relationship between language variation and social structure, advancing our understanding of language as a socially embedded phenomenon.
References
Labov, W. (1963). The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Center for Applied Linguistics.
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic Patterns. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A., & Leap, W. L. (2009). Introducing Sociolinguistics (3rd ed.). Edinburgh University Press.
