2009/11/01 by Kara Becker · 120 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Anthropology #Art #Collective identity #Ethnography #Gender studies #Identity (music) #Law #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Linguistics #Meaning (existential) #Multilingual Education and Policy #Phonetics and Phonology Research #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Social group #Social identity theory #Social science #Sociology #Variation (astronomy) #White (mutation)
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9841.2009.00426.x
published in Journal of Sociolinguistics 13(5), 634-658 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2009/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper argues that a group of white residents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan use a New York City English (NYCE) feature – non‐rhoticity in the syllable coda – in the construction of a place identity, one aspect of identity tied to localness and authenticity. A quantitative analysis confirms that the change in progress towards rhoticity in NYCE ( Labov 1966 ) continues to advance slowly, so that non‐rhoticity remains a resource for New Yorkers, imbued with local social meaning. Ethnographic observation of the Lower East Side reveals conflict among residents, which motivates one group to highlight their place identity by using non‐rhoticity. These Lower East Siders utilize micro‐variation of /r/ in stretches of interview talk, increasing non‐rhoticity when discussing neighborhood topics. Results support a social practice approach to stylistic and sociolinguistic variation, where Lower East Siders use /r/ in constructing a place identity in order to present themselves as authentic neighborhood residents.