6 - Sociophonetics, Style and Identity

Summary

Chapter 6 moves from the focus of Chapter 5 on macro level social categories to examine approaches to the study of within-individual variation and the construction of linguistic style and social identity.In particular, the chapter turns to what sociophonetic research, given its ability to examine gradient phonetic shifts, brings to this pursuit.The chapter begins by considering the study of individual variation in linguistics and phonetics more generally and then moves to discuss early approaches to sociolinguistic style and how those approaches evolved to present day interests in language and identity, style and interaction, within the realm of what is referred to as "third wave" research.Focusing in on such third wave approaches, the chapter then examines how sociophonetic studies on sibilant variation have provided an opportunity to explore both the social and cognitive aspects of socio-indexical variation.Finally, the chapter turns to what sociophonetic research, given its ability to hone in on very particular aspects of phonetic features, can bring to the study of linguistic performance, attending to studies that examine sibilant variation and speech perception.