On the influence of coronal sibilants and stops on the perception of social meanings in Copenhagen Danish

TY - JOUR

T1 - On the influence of coronal sibilants and stops on the perception of social meanings in Copenhagen Danish

AU - Pharao, Nicolai

AU - Maegaard, Marie

PY - 2017/9/26

Y1 - 2017/9/26

N2 - Previous studies have shown that the same sociolinguistic feature can be used as a sociolinguistic resource with different indexical potentials in different linguistic as well as social contexts. In this paper we present the results of a perceptual study of indexical meanings of fronted and palatalized variants of /t/ in combination with fronted /s/ in different registers of Copenhagen Danish. The data consist of responses to male speakers' use of the two variants of /t/ in two different registers that we label "modern Copenhagen speech" and "street language." Results show that the palatalized /t/ affects the indexicality of fronted /s/ with respect to perceived femininity and gayness when it occurs in "modern Copenhagen," where fronted /s/ has previously been shown to index these traits. However, the variation has a different and less significant effect when occurring in "street language." Furthermore, the effect is only found in "modern Copenhagen" if the speaker has not previously been heard to produce a fronted /s/. We discuss the implications for theories of the relation between features and clusters of features in listeners' perceptions.

AB - Previous studies have shown that the same sociolinguistic feature can be used as a sociolinguistic resource with different indexical potentials in different linguistic as well as social contexts. In this paper we present the results of a perceptual study of indexical meanings of fronted and palatalized variants of /t/ in combination with fronted /s/ in different registers of Copenhagen Danish. The data consist of responses to male speakers' use of the two variants of /t/ in two different registers that we label "modern Copenhagen speech" and "street language." Results show that the palatalized /t/ affects the indexicality of fronted /s/ with respect to perceived femininity and gayness when it occurs in "modern Copenhagen," where fronted /s/ has previously been shown to index these traits. However, the variation has a different and less significant effect when occurring in "street language." Furthermore, the effect is only found in "modern Copenhagen" if the speaker has not previously been heard to produce a fronted /s/. We discuss the implications for theories of the relation between features and clusters of features in listeners' perceptions.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0024-3949

VL - 55

SP - 1141

EP - 1167

JO - Linguistics

JF - Linguistics

IS - 5

ER -