Dropping the h

Our next variable is called H-dropping.

H-dropping: H-dropping is when the “H” sound in words is not voiced.

H-dropping occurs initially in words like hit, hammer, happy, hedge. It can also (though less frequently) occur medially in words such as Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Tatham.

Word initial h-dropping occurs in RP (Received Pronunciation) and CE (Cockney English), though not in SE (Standard English) or EE (Estuary English)

In most accents of English H-dropping is realized phonetically as [h] (voiceless). Thus we find hall vs. all and heat vs. eat, or sometimes as a glottal stop. This happens in most of the working-class accents.

Not many studies of just H-dropping have been done yet, but it is a major and very common variation among dialects.

Dropping the r or r-lessness—intrusive r—rhoticity

Let’s move on to a different social variation—variations in R.

We will start with RHOTICITY

Rhoticity: is when the R sound in English is fully pronounced.

So in words like:

Car

Guard

Nor

Sore

Par

Fort

Court

You can hear the “r” sound being fully pronounced.

In some varieties of American and British English, however, the English "r", is sometimes not pronounced in surface forms.

This is called R-LESSNESS

R-lessness (“R-dropping”): Not completely pronouncing the “r” sound in some words.

For example, in some varieties of Southern States English and New England English, words such as guard and car are pronounced with a lengthened vowel in place of the "r" (eg. SSE guard and NEE car ). Other words, such as fear or bored, are pronounced with a glided , in place of the "r" (eg. SSE fear ).—fi-ey.

guard = god	par = pa
nor = gnaw	fort = fought
sore = saw	court = caught

Labov’s new york department store

SLIDE: NEW YORK DEPARTMENT STORE (9)

Our father of American Sociolinguistics, William Labov, again conducted some interesting research on R-lessness in the Lower East Side of New York City.

He showed that individual speech patterns were part of a highly systematic structure of social class speech. He studied how often the final or preconsonantal (r) was sounded in words like guard, bare and beer. Saying the “r” in words is considered more prestigious in the speech of New Yorkers because it is closer to Standard English. Most New Yorkers, especially those in the middle and lower classes do NOT fully pronounce the “r” in most words.

The use of “r” can be measured very precisely, and its high frequency in speech makes it possible to collect data quickly.

One part of the research has become particularly well known. It is a very clever study.

The speech of sales assistants in three Manhattan stores, drawn from the top (Saks), middle (Macy's) and bottom (Klein's) of the price and fashion scale was analyzed. Each unknowing sales assistant who worked in each department store was approached and asked a question so that they had to answer - "Fourth floor" - which would or would not contain the (r). i.e. they would say either Fourth floor or Fouth flo’

Pretending not to have heard it got the department sale’s assistant to repeat Fourth floor in a careful, more emphatic style.

Sak’s $$$	Upper Class
Macy’s $$	Middle Class
Klein’s $	Lower Class

The findings were that the sales assistants from Saks used “r” the most, those from Klein's used “r” the least and those from Macy's showed the greatest upward shift when they were asked to repeat—that is they might not have said the “r” the first time, but when asked to repeat “Fourth floor” they made sure to say the “r”.

The results from the department store study show that the use of “r” is considered more prestigious, and saying it varied with level of formality and social class.