William Labov: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from William Labov, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

A linguist figured out New York's class system by asking for the fourth floor
William Labov sent researchers into three New York department stores of different status and asked staff where to find something on the 'fourth floor', a phrase with two chances to…
— William Labov, The Social Stratification of English in New York City
A linguist tracked an island's vowels and found pride, not class, driving the change
In 1961, William Labov recorded Martha's Vineyard islanders pronouncing 'ai' and 'au' with increasingly centralized vowels. The shift was strongest among locals who identified with…
— William Labov, The Social Motivation of a Sound Change

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