TY - JOUR
T1 - Indexical meanings of [s+] among Copenhagen youth
T2 - Social perception of a phonetic variant in different prosodic contexts
AU - Pharao, Nicolai
AU - Maegaard, Marie
AU - Møller, Janus Spindler
AU - Kristiansen, Tore
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - It is well documented that the same sociolinguistic feature can be used as a sociolinguistic resource with different indexical potentials in different linguistic as well as social contexts. Often, however, indexical meanings of a specific feature are related to or derived from one another. In this article we present the results of a perceptual study of indexical meanings of alveolar versus fronted (s) - [s] versus [s+] - in different registers. The data consist of responses to male speakers' use of [s] and [s+] respectively, in two different registers that may be labelled modern Copenhagen speech and street language. Results show that the [s+] indexes femininity and gayness when it occurs in modern Copenhagen, whereas the (s)-variation has a different and less significant effect when occurring in street language. We discuss the implications for theories of indexical fields and the relation between features and clusters of features in speakers' perceptions. (Indexical meaning, phonetic variation, fronted /s/, perception of sexual orientation and ethnicity, matched guise technique).
AB - It is well documented that the same sociolinguistic feature can be used as a sociolinguistic resource with different indexical potentials in different linguistic as well as social contexts. Often, however, indexical meanings of a specific feature are related to or derived from one another. In this article we present the results of a perceptual study of indexical meanings of alveolar versus fronted (s) - [s] versus [s+] - in different registers. The data consist of responses to male speakers' use of [s] and [s+] respectively, in two different registers that may be labelled modern Copenhagen speech and street language. Results show that the [s+] indexes femininity and gayness when it occurs in modern Copenhagen, whereas the (s)-variation has a different and less significant effect when occurring in street language. We discuss the implications for theories of indexical fields and the relation between features and clusters of features in speakers' perceptions. (Indexical meaning, phonetic variation, fronted /s/, perception of sexual orientation and ethnicity, matched guise technique).
U2 - 10.1017/s0047404513000857
DO - 10.1017/s0047404513000857
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0047-4045
VL - 43
SP - 1
EP - 31
JO - Language in Society
JF - Language in Society
IS - 1
ER -