13 The Social Stratification of (r) in New York City Department Stores William Labov Austere but jar ofthe tong. ithe mos impefet ‘fall the comonants (ain Walker, Principe of El Promaciation, 1791) [Anyone who begins to sty langage in its socal context immediacy ‘counters the css methodolopel proBim te means wed gather th ‘Sa tree with he data tobe tered. The primary means of obtains {lage body of lable data onthe spc of one peron is the dial tape recorded interview. Interview spon is formal spech ~ not by any ‘vole mearure, bu by comparison with the verocaar of everday On the who, the interviow spb pech ~ mono abd controlled in pons to the presence ofan ouude obser. But even win tha {Etta the investigator may wonder i the responses in 8 tapered Itteiw are not espe product ofthe teraction betwee the tei nd the rjc. One way of eontoling for ths ist td the ube in is ‘wn sural soca context ntactng with hs family or pet BOOP (Ciboy, Cohen, Robins, and Lewis 1968) Another way i fo Observe the Doble of language everyny ie apr fom any iter situaon {o vee how poople we lnguage in context when there ss 20 exp Chcration, hi chap i account of te systematic we of rapid and ttonsmows oberon in dy of the songs srctre of the ‘ech community! "Ths chapter dea primaniy with the sosoingisti study of New York cay. The main bse fr tat say (Labov 1968) was a sxonday random ie ofthe Lower East Side But befor the stematic ny wes catiod (vt thee was an exenie seis of preliminary invesions. The “Sars “Te Sec Sencatin f(a New York Gly Deprinest Sor itor, W. (912) Socom Potens Paap, PA. Unies” eayvana Prat) p85 Alo poise in 1978 (Oxford Bas cw) ae Labor 1 ince 70 individual interviews and agent many anonymous observations in publ places. These prelininar tues ed tothe definition of the major ‘honologcalvarabier which were tobe ae, iacading (the presence for absence of consonant [sm postocale position in car, card, ow, Fourth, et. This particu variable appeared tobe exraordinatly sents ‘to any measure of socal or slat suaiBeation. On the bast of the ‘aplortory interviews, it emed posible to carry out an empl tet of two. general nouons frst that the igus variable () i a socal ‘ieremiator inal eves of New York City mpcth, and second, that tapid and anonymous speech events could be tued 34 the bass fOr ‘stematistady of language, The stay of () in New York Cty department ‘Sores which I wl epot here was condaced in November 1962 aa tet these dens "We can hardly consider the sci! distribution of language in New York ‘ity without encountering the patter of soca sratstion which evades theif ofthe ity. This concepts analyzed nse deta in the aor sy ofthe Lower Eat Side: ere me may brief consid he definite ven by ‘Bernard Barber: soca tatication isthe product of oil dierenation and socal evaluation (1957: 1-3. The ute hie trm dee ot tmp any ‘ecietpe of tas or case, but spy that the normal workings of secty Inve produced systematediferenes between cera isituoas or people nd that these dieentiated forms have ben ann stats or prestige ‘eer agreement. ‘We begin withthe general bypoheris sugested by exploratory interviews {any 00 sbarogs of New York Cy sears aré ranked nasal ef sole Straifcation, them they wil be ranked the sae ore bythe diferent te off). TH would be eary to test this hypotteis by comparing occupation! ups, which sre among the mort important indexes of coc eatteation ‘We cul, for example, ake «group of layer, group of le cers, ad oup of fanitors But this would hardly go beyond the indians of the xploatory interviews, and sch an exteme example of diferentation ‘ould not provide very exacting tx ofthe hypothesis I sould be ‘oui to show thatthe hypothesis ao gener, nthe diferent we of (@pervades New York City so thoroughly, tht fine sci ferences wl be ‘retested in the index at wala ron ons therefore seemed best 10 contact very sever text by finding & subie cae of stratification within a single occupational group in thie ‘ase, the sles people of large department sores in Manhatan. If we ‘et thee large depariment stores, from the top, middle, and bottom of ‘he price and fashion seal, we cam expect that the customers wll Se soci sratid. Would we expect the sales people 10 show Comparable satfcauon? Sach n postion woud” depend upon two forrlatons: between the stats ranking ofthe sores aad te aching of170 Social Sirtifcaton of (7) in New York Department Stores all jobs in the thre stores; and betwen the jobs and the behave of the perios who hold those jobs. Thee are not unfeasonable assump ‘ions C: Weight Mil pins out that slg n np department sores tend to bottow peng fom thst cuomery or at east make an ert fin that direction It appears that a pesou's own oerupaion tt more lowly correlated with his nguinie Behavior for thot’ worag ‘ively than any other single socal chraceiie, ‘The cident ‘resented hee indiatr thatthe stores ae abjtively iferntted in 2 fue order, and that jobs in tho ores are evusted by employes in hat order. Since the product of sca diferent and elution, no mater how minor ix socal satiation ofthe employes inthe thee flores, the hypothess wll prdict the following rel tlespopl a the highestraned store wil have the highest vals of (thew m the middleranked store will have inermedate valor of (ad thowe fa the lowestranked store wil show the lowest vals tis rest hols teu, the hypothesis wil have recived confimation in proportion to the seveity ofthe tes. "The tte stores wich wee sted ae Saks Filth Avenue, Macy's nd '. Klein, The ferential eaking of then stores maybe sated m many ‘ways. Thi lcation are one important pot Highest ranking Saks Fifth Avene AU Sikh St and Sth Ave, ear the center ofthe high fashion shopping “ist, alongwith other high-peige stores sch as Boowit Tell ead Bendel, Lord and Taylor Middle anking: Macys ‘erald Square, Sih Stand Sith Ave. near the garment ditt, along with Gimbels and Sash St, other middlerange ores pre aod Presi Lowesceanking: S Kiki ‘Union Saute, 14th St and Broadway, nota from the Lower Bast Sis ‘The adversng and price polices of the stores are very laly strated. Peps no other clement of cas ebavion i 0 sharply diferent’ a [New York City ax that of the newspaper which people read: many saves Inve shown tht the Dai New i the paper read ft and foreson by ‘workings peopl, while the New York Timer de ite renders from the middleclass The two newspapers were examina for he adveisng ‘copy in Ocober 24-2, 1962 Saks and Macy's averted in the New York Times, where Kins was represented aly by 3 very small em nthe News, however, Saks does not appear ata, while both Macy's and Kline are ean advertises item Labor m Me 3 Ps Skee ta 0 We may alo consider the price ofthe goods advert during thos four ays, Since Saks usually does nat ist prices, we can only compare pices or Ail tree stores on one item: women's cous, Saks $90, Macy's $7995, Kicins: $23. On four tems, we exn compare Kiss and Macys ame s095 5500 farcus Sing io Soasses Stas fous news SH99S-56495 h00-55600 ‘The emphasis on pies sls dierent. Saks cher doesnot mestion pies, ‘or brs the figure in small ype atthe foto the pag. Macy’ feature the ‘ices in large type, but oflen adds the slogan, "You get more than low ‘ries! Kiet, onthe other hand often content oe he pes speak for {hemslves, The form ofthe pri also dierent: Sake ges prices {ound figures, sucha $120; Macy's alway show few ents off the dolar ‘18.95 Kens usually pecs ts good in round mms a dst etal ‘ice whichis always much higher, and shown in Macys syle "$25.0, arked down from $13.95, “he pysial plant ofthe stores also serves to diferente tha, Saks is ‘he most spacious, expecially on the upper Hors, with he east amount of svodsdiplaye Many of the Boos are carpeted, snd on some of the, ‘ceptions is stationed fo get he cstomers. Klint he ther exe, [Sa muz of annexes, doping concrete Noor, low ealngs,t hay the ‘maximum amount of goods csplayed at the lest pose expense “The principal string fle wpon the employes ithe preg of the sore, ad the working conons. Wages do ot say the employes in {he same order. On the contrary, thee every indication tht high-petge ores sch as Saks pay lower wags than Macy's Saks sa non-union str, andthe gneral wage ruts mot a mater cf public record However, conversion witha numberof men and women ‘who have worked in New York deparent storey, including Sake and172 __ Social Srtifeaton of () in New York Department Stores Macy's show general grecment onthe destin of the wage diferent” Some of the incidents rect a willnges of sles peopl to accept much lover wages ffom the store with greater pretige. ‘The exces of the reste sores pa «peat deal of ettenton to employee stony and ake ‘many usual measures to ensure that the ale people el th thy share a the general prestige ofthe stor* One ofthe Lower Ea Sie informant who worked at Sake was hi impresed withthe fat that she could buy Sala clothes ata 25 percent dicount A snlarconcesion fom a lower: reste store would have been oft interest to her, From the point of view of Macys employes, ob in Klein wel blow the horizon. Working conditions and wages ae general comstered to be ‘worst andthe prestige of Klein ir very low ined. As we wil se, the ie composition of the store employee ret thee diferences Gute "A socioeconomic index which ranked New Yorkers on cccuption ‘would show the employe ofthe three ores tthe same lvl an income ‘eile would probably Bod Macy's employee tomewtat higher than the ‘tiers; eduction is the only objeive See wich might ferent {he groups inthe sme order a he prose ofthe stores, though thee ‘0 evidenee on this point However, the working conditions of sls Jobs im the tne stores stay thom inthe order: Saks, Macys Kids; the ‘resi ofthe stores ads 1 a soil evasion ofthese job inthe sme fSrder Thus the two aspects of rca satfeton~ dierentition and af tobe seen inthe Felton ofthe tee ores and thee “The nora! approach tos wrvey of department ore employee egies ‘atone enumerate the salespeople of each sore, draw rom saps a tach store, make appointments to speak wid each employee thom, Interview the respondents, then apreante the native New Yorker, aly tnd resample the nonrespondents, and so on This an expensive and ine eonsuming procedure, bu or mos purposes teeta shoe ut which {ve scare and reliable rel In hr ae a smple eto which es “poo the extreme genera ofthe inguicbeaior of the subjects wa Ud wo gather a very ited pe of data. Tie method is dependent upon the sstemate smpig of castal and anenymour ech events, APB 2 poorly deine environment, cha method sop to many ies and it ‘would be el wo any what popultion had been studied, In his cose, Population is welldeined at the salespeople (or more general ax) Employee whose specch might be iar by a cotomer) im tee specie Stores ato speci time. The esl wil bea view ofthe role that spesch ‘woul playin the overall social pra ofthe employes pon the caster. 11s surpising that ts simple and economical approach achive res wih ahh dere of constency and regulary, and allows sto test the gal Bypothans is mamber of rub ways ‘THE METHOD ‘The application ofthe study of casual and anonymous spcch events to the department-store sition was rlaivey simple. The incrienet ‘approached the informant in the roe of customer asking for decom to particular deparnent. The departneat was one which was lasted on the fourth for. When the nteewer asked, ‘Excite ie, where are the \wome's shoes? the answer would normally bo, Fourth Noor “The interviewer thea leaned forward aod sid, "Excuse me He would ‘nally then obtain angtheruterance, ‘Fourth lr: spoke in cart Se Under enphati rene The inteviewer would then move along the sis ofthe sore to a point immediately beyond the informants view, and make 4 writen ate ofthe ‘ts The following independent variables were included” the sore oor within the ore? ‘estimate in uit off years) ‘xepaton oorwaler, sl, cahier,sockhoy) Forign of rponal accent, if any “he dependent variable isthe we of (in fou ocurenses casual: fourth Soor ‘mph: forth floor ‘Thus we have prcontonantal and fin posiion, in both casual and tempat styles of speech. In atonal other wer of (bythe informant ‘et ote, om remarks overheard or contained in the intcrnew For each Plainly constricted vale of the variable, (1) was entre, for unconstited sha, lengthened vowel ot no representation, (0) was entered, Doubtful ‘as or part constiction were symbole dad were ot wedi the al tabulation, ‘Also noted were instances faints o stops wedi the word owt for he final consonant, and any other examples of nonstandard (0) varans ‘wed by the peer ‘This method of interviewing was applied in each sil on the for as ‘many times as possible before the spacing ofthe laformants became 0 oat ‘hat was noted that the same question bd boon asked before Each Boor ofthe tore was investigated in the sume way. On the fourth ocr, the form ofthe question war nessa dierent "Eee me, wha Boor is hi194 Socal Siratifcaton of (7) New York Department Stores Following this method, 68 itrvws wee obtained in Saks 125 in Macy's and I Ks Ttalncrvcnng tine forthe 268 aes wat sie 65 how “PRC ths pow we might conse the mae of thi 264 itr in more general ens. Thy wer psc events which had etl iret {a gine forthe two prtipat. Av fr atthe formant at Ceocermt the cchings vas t nora tetnat-cstomer nao, ‘thon flow tc ll st Conuiou steton, in which rnons of the Speake wee so canal tn anonymous tht they may hal have bee Sa ts have mt Thi temsour alsiosip was he tina intron ‘pon the bata ofthe subject ngnge andthe se of lingua net Sparel aca From the point of view of hintervewer, the echang was systemaic cision of he cat fom equ, the dared coment, he deed ‘Ser, and with he dened conta of 3 OVERALL STRATIFICATION OF (©) “The rts of the study showed ler and consent srascaon of a {he thee stores. In Figure 13 the we of) employers of Saks, Mary's fod Klsns compared by mean of bar pap Since the data for mor formants const of ony Tour item, we ill not tre 2 contauous ‘mumercal index for (), but ratbersivide all iaformants Jato three sstepores al (those whore record show only (1) and no (0) tome (1 those whose records show at kas ne (1 and one (0) to el) thse whore records showed ony (0) PM = e 2 awe 12.15 Onl sation of) yar. Sade r= al — 1) (Sibanded ara Se snme(e~ Ih (tensa Nou umber ese ns Ba 38 we 152: Pecentag fal =I) by Horr oar ons (Se Saks, MMe, Ke Ke) From Figure 13.1 we se that a otal of 62 perent of Saks employees, 51 percent of Macy's, and 20 percent of Kiss wed allo some (1. ‘The satiation is even sharper for the percentages of all ei). As the hypothesis predsed, the proops ae Tunkel by their diereial tse of (1) in the some order st ther eratieation by exralngustic ‘ctor. "Net, we may wish to examine the ditrbution of) in ech ofthe four standard postions, Figure 13.2 shows ts ‘ype of daplay, wher once ‘an, the ores are difeeniated inthe same order, and foreach postin ‘There is a considerable difeence between Macy's and Kiss at cach postion, but the diference between Macys and Sak vai. In etphatc ‘ronusciation of the final (), Macys employees come very close tothe ‘ark se by Saks It would som that rpronanition ithe norm at which ‘majority of Macy employees aim, yet not the one they We most ete. In ‘Seis we se a silt heen cata and emphatic promancation, but i fact hat Kiens employes alo priate in the same pltern of sync ‘aration of (a5 the other store. The percentage of -prouncation fs At Kien fom 5 to 18 percent as the context becomes more empha 2 ‘much eater in pereentage than inthe other stores, and more regu Increase aswell Iwi important o beatin iad ha th ade that (G1) the mos appropiate pronunciation for emphatic speech is shared by at eat some speakers nal thee stores. “able 131 shows the data in deta, with be number of instances obtained for each ofthe four postions o (fo each sore It maybe ote hat he ‘numberof occurrence inthe cond pronunciation of four x conser ‘ue, primal as esl of some speakers tendency o answer second tine, Fourth”176 Social Srtifetion of (in New York Deparment Stores Tile 1.) Dette sion of) by Howe and word poston Theo daa’ capry for Macys shows wae) gh wales wader he eit ater Tis deine de oe fc that he prose for ‘Seen he tn een pan fog’, ned aur for enplaesepns were at repay biased. The ‘uso te nck Tale 12 where only ample Peps Me Since she numbers in the fourth postion are somewhat smaller than the second might be pected tha hone who ws [in Saks and Macy's end {0 give filer responses, ths giving Hse fo a spunous impression of increase {in (values in hove potions. We can check thi point by comparing only those who gave acomplci response. Ther responses ca besybozed By & fourdigt number, repeecting the pronunciation in each of the four postions repecuel ie Tee 13.2). "Thus we se that the pater of diferent anking in the se of () preserved in this subgroup of complete responses, nd omission ofthe fal "ot by some respondents Was nts factor fa this pater. Tae 182 Disb of for compite exposes Soft oper o St Mays 5. Kee a rr Seep ort O10 tee Nowy 0000» 2 NOTES: 1 Lam indeed Fak Anse ant Mana Maverick Hai for refence to ‘tinting repcatons ot say Alen 19 Har 10, Nah A rie Yn Od Unity Pra 156.9.173 the p24: The tend owt eopleto bro st fest tones song tht thas car ovo sch cna euro ‘SewokpiceSakpeplin depart tres Geen ten aough ‘fen utc, to brow pipe fo hl cnt win cae ad cath tn among woe calegus a we fen if to. oe the gil who works on sh Steet cannot crn nt ah prep 8s tte on he wort on Pith Aven or Sin Se ‘This semen fl conned by answer to 2 getion on newspaper ‘sadn inte Motiznton for Youth Surey fhe Lower Fast Se Toe ‘ear ofthe Day News sn Daly ra io Sto’) onthe on han dhe New Yr Time at Heral Tram (ite te bd ns complenentary fe istbuon ty scl se. ‘Mac's enploes arrested by Seong shor ain, whi Sas ot sion. One former Macy's pone conse in mat of common owes hat Sa wapr mere ower thin Macy aod te prs of he ‘tore to mall tonto oon Bonar al ier ems te ‘sitter te pure Tapper att ore itt ot oune po ‘ajo at Saba than at Macy Tha ats ar move ew hn poses, {nthe endef the store al to set pi wo peak inca wa) {sl ply apr the sction of puget wl oe aust ae By the employes to thar sation Ro ifr comer To Petes ‘taxon, Crista several ets pA he wa shopping a Lad snd Tas ch ‘be present of the company atl te oun eer sna shag de ‘rit evry eapoyee When set er flaw epost Macys abe is ‘en the mot commons remark ms, How ee So ou pt sooo word for ‘tatind of money One ann hat ot nl 8 the employe of pr staar ‘orto pb fm spo“ a Saeed 6 Th treweri l css wat my Twa red i miles ye, with ‘ict, site tnd, aod ad ny norma ponnsaton at Sep dnd atin of New Jeu ponscng 7 Notes wer ao made ont eprint a WH he cpap wa ct a the umber for loan eprint are nt ge cog toa come REFERENCES, ‘Aen, F196 Vesa i the Spec of New Yorks in Deparment it ‘Unpublish paper SUNY: Stony Bol).178 Social Sraifetion of () in New York Deparment Stores ‘ber, B95) Sac Ssieation (Now Yor: Hae, ta). {tor Wi) The ca Satan Bg er Ta ly Washam 1 Cnr aed Lega stn Wan a ev 1A yo eons iho nop snd Pesto Rasa Spice Nee Yar Gy, Pal apo, 204 N. 35th St Philadelphia 19104). a Se " ae, (9) Pcs of th Pract, 14 The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich Peter Trudgill MEASUREMENT OF CO-VARIATION (One ofthe chit sims of this work i to investigate the co-aiation of ‘tnnolgial and socolgil variable. In order to measure this type of eration, a ecord was ist aken of ach ocarence ofl the variables in {Be four conte syler foreach informant. Index scores for each fnfomant in each se coal then be developed, ad, subsequently. the mean index score for each socal oop caclated. [The following ‘Trvatons are wad inthis chapter in ration to the soil and stylish Sontietion of the varable (ng LWC lower workinglasy, MWC — middle working cass UWC— upper working-class LMC lower mile Sas, MMC™ "middle midilecnes WLS word sts RPS reading mses FS formal tye, CS— casual style Eds) By means of thee Sores we are able) to ives the mature ofthe correlation between Tetlsaions of phonologea!varabls snd socal cs, soial comet. abd {x to ducer which vaabls ae sje o soi css ilerentiaon {ed which ost alton; and (it nd out wich variables ae mo ‘porn in signaling the socal conte! of some linguistic interaction, ths socal as fa speaker “The methods we ee wing of eaculting and porayng individual und pmup phonologa! indices were inialy developed BF Labov (1960). In ane rapt, however, the present work repens & development of [Gbov’s techniques in that we ir made of phonological adios for Investigating problems of sree phonemic contrast, and for sdying {ipets of what ual termed ‘phonology Tex ts ake as an ctample, the phonologial variable (ng) the ‘ponuniaton of the raft sng. This x wel Ksown ass variable in many ‘trent types of Engl sd teens tly to provide a good example of fell cla and style diflereatiaion, ‘Sure “Te Covaraion of Ponologal Vrs wth Sool Param a ‘ig, (190) The Socal Digoratation of Exgah Neri (Came GinbpeUnerty Pre) wp. 90-5 ve