Sociolinguistic Variation — Empirical Data

@cite{labov-1966} @cite{labov-2012}

Theory-neutral observations about sociolinguistic variation, specifically the (ING) variable (-ing vs -in') and patterns of style shifting and social stratification.

Style shifting

Intra-speaker variation across contexts: the same speaker uses different variant rates in different situations. The canonical example is Obama's use of (ING) across casual, careful, and formal speech contexts (@cite{labov-2012}).

Social stratification

Inter-speaker variation across social classes: speakers from different social strata use different variant rates in the same context. The canonical example is (ING) in New York City (@cite{labov-1966}).

Both patterns are theory-neutral observations that any account of sociolinguistic variation must capture.

structure Phenomena.SocialMeaning.StyleShiftingDatum : Type

Observed -in' rates across speech contexts for a single speaker. Values are proportions (0–1).

• casual : ℚ
• careful : ℚ
• formal : ℚ

def Phenomena.SocialMeaning.obama_ING : StyleShiftingDatum

Obama's -in' rates across three contexts (@cite{labov-2012}, p. 22): casual (barbecue) ≈ 72%, careful (journalist Q&A) ≈ 33%, formal (DNC speech) ≈ 3%.

Equations

• Phenomena.SocialMeaning.obama_ING = { casual := 72 / 100, careful := 33 / 100, formal := 3 / 100 }

theorem Phenomena.SocialMeaning.obama_ING_monotone : obama_ING.casual > obama_ING.careful ∧ obama_ING.careful > obama_ING.formal

Obama's -in' rate decreases monotonically with formality.

structure Phenomena.SocialMeaning.StratificationDatum : Type

Observed -in' rates by social class in a single context.

• upperMiddle : ℚ
• lowerMiddle : ℚ
• working : ℚ
• lower : ℚ

def Phenomena.SocialMeaning.labov1966_ING_casual : StratificationDatum

(ING) stratification in casual style, NYC (@cite{labov-1966}). Approximate rates from the sociolinguistic interview data. Lower class ≈ 80%, working class ≈ 50%, lower-middle ≈ 40%, upper-middle ≈ 10%.

Equations

• Phenomena.SocialMeaning.labov1966_ING_casual = { upperMiddle := 10 / 100, lowerMiddle := 40 / 100, working := 50 / 100, lower := 80 / 100 }

theorem Phenomena.SocialMeaning.labov1966_stratification : labov1966_ING_casual.lower > labov1966_ING_casual.working ∧ labov1966_ING_casual.working > labov1966_ING_casual.lowerMiddle ∧ labov1966_ING_casual.lowerMiddle > labov1966_ING_casual.upperMiddle

(ING) stratification is monotone: lower class → more -in'.