The Social Stratification Of English In New York City (William Labov, 1966)

What could Labov prove with his study on the Social Stratification of English in New York City?

What did he find out? Labov found a higher use of rhoticity in all social classes when reading the word list as opposed to in an interview. ... From a sociolinguistic point of view, this tells us that rhoticity in New York is an important, useful indicator of social status.

William Labov – New York City - All About Linguistics

What is the fourth floor study?

The “Fourth Floor” is a reference to a very well-known study in the field of linguistics, one of the earliest to study language “in the wild” and its differences with regard to social class. ... The Linguistics Department at the University of Michigan, my alma mater, is on the Fourth Floor of its building.

About | Beyond the Fourth Floor

When did Labov conduct the study reported in the reading?

In a way, then, Singapore English is at the same transitional point today that English in New York City was at when Labov conducted his study in 1966.

Labov and the R | Unravel Magazine

When was Labov's department store study?

In 1962, Labov ([1966] 2006) completed the “New York department store study,” which examined overt prestige involving class, ethnicity, and gender. He investigated the pronunciation of postvocalic /r/ in New York City speech, in the words fourth and floor.

in New York City: Labov's Department Store Study Revisited