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Suburban Swedish maturing Examining variation and perceptions among adult speakers of Swedish contemporary urban vernacular Nathan Joel Young Department of Linguistics Independent Project for the Degree of Master 30 Higher Education credits General Linguistics Master Programme in General Linguistics (120 credits) Spring term 2014 Supervisor: Kari Fraurud Examiner: Henrik Liljegren Expert Reviewer: Maria Wingstedt Suburban Swedish maturing Examining variation and perceptions among adult speakers of Swedish contemporary urban vernacular Nathan Joel Young Abstract Up to now, adolescent speakers have been the primary focus when researching contemporary variation in the language of Sweden’s urban areas. This study contributes to the growing body of research on the topic by examining and reporting on adult speakers of what is here referred to as förortssvenska (English: Suburban Swedish). This study focuses specifically on formal speech registers of eight young working-class men from Stockholm along with the perception and reception of their speech by two independent native-listener groups. The paper is the first to present quantifiable data on what has been previously referred to as a “staccato” rhythm in Suburban Swedish. Strong correlations are shown between prosodic rhythm as measured by the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) and speech speed to mean listener attitudes (R2=0.9). A strong correlation is also shown for nPVI’s influence on mean listener-projected ethnicity (R2=0.8). Alongside variation in rhythm, we also see phonemic variation that trends toward specific indexes of social identity as revealed by speaker interviews and native-listener assessments. Alongside linguistic variation among speakers, there is also significant variation within speaker peer groups. In addition to identifying specific linguistic features, the study examines social mechanisms revealed in interviews with and qualitative observations of speaker and listener participants. In exploratory fashion, ideas on variation, register ranges, meta-pragmatic stereotyping, and ethnic boundary-making are presented to make a case for treating contemporary urban variation in Swedish as a habitual semiotic extension of speaker identity. Indicators that contemporary urban variation in Swedish may be heading in the direction of sociolectal entrenchment are also discussed. Förortssvenskan på mognadsvägen En undersökning av variation och perceptioner bland vuxna talare av svensk ‘contemporary urban vernacular’ Nathan Joel Young Sammanfattning Hittills har unga talare varit det primära fokus för forskning av aktuell språklig variation i urbana Sverige. Denna studie bidrar till den växande mängden forskning i detta ämne genom att undersöka och rapportera om vuxna talare av det som här kallas för förortssvenska. Studien fokuserar specifikt på formella talregister bland åtta unga män från Stockholms arbetarklass, samt perception och mottagande av deras tal av två oberoende grupper av infödda lyssnare. Denna studie är den första som presenterar kvantifierbar data rörande den i tidigare forskning så kallade stackato-rytmen i förortssvenska. Starka korrelationer finns mellan, å ena sidan, prosodisk rytm mätt med the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) och talhastighet och, å den andra, de genomsnittliga lyssnarattityderna (R2=0,9). Det finns också en stark korrelation för nPVIs påverkan på genomsnittlig lyssnarprojicerad etnicitet (R2=0,8). Vid sidan av variation i rytm ser vi också fonemisk variation som trender mot specifika index för social identitet. Och vid sidan av variation i rytm bland talarna, finns också en stor variation inom kamratgrupperna. Förutom att den identifierar specifika lingvistiska drag, undersöker studien sociala mekanismer som framkommer i intervjuer med och kvalitativa observationer av talardeltagarna och lyssnardeltagarna. På ett explorativt sätt, lägger studien fram idéer om variation, registeromfång, meta-pragmatiska stereotyper och etniska gränsskapande för att framhäva argumentet för att behandla den aktuella förortsvariationen i svenska som en habituell avsiktlig utbyggnad av talarens identitet. Det diskuteras också indikatorer till att den aktuella urbana variationen i svenska kan vara på väg mot sociolektal stabilisering. Nyckelord/Keywords rinkebysvenska, Rinkeby Swedish, förortsslang, förortssvenska, slang, Suburban Swedish, contemporary urban vernacular, normalized pairwise variability index, nPVI, prosodic rhythm, linguistic artifacts, sociophonetic variation, meta-pragmatic stereotypes, prestige forms Acknowledgements This thesis is dedicated to my grandmothers Connie and Grace who were my biggest fans growing up and whom I wish were here today to witness this important milestone in my life. I would like to acknowledge and thank a great number of people who each made contributions, without which I would not have been able to construct this small window into the linguistic situation in Stockholm today. Thanks to listener participants Adrian, Agatha, Ahmed, Alan, Artur, Axel, Camilla, Carl, Claus, Emil, Filippa, Jan, Jesper, Josef, Leif, Malin, Nima, Patrick, Ruth, Tim, Tove, Vicki, Walter and the expert listeners from the Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism who graciously put up with my nagging reminders and delivered such candid responses. A special thanks to listener participants Astrid, David, Ismail and Mikaela who trusted me enough to film their responses and gave me access to their sentiments and their time. This paper would not have been possible, had my speaker informants not bestowed on me the tremendous privilege of partaking in their private conversations and so generously sharing their humor, thoughts, fears, prejudices, aspirations and time with me. So with that, a big thanks to Amina, Alex, Hayder, Loran, Malik, Mateo, Murad, Reman, Samir and Saman (pseudonyms used throughout). This paper would also not have been possible without the mentorship, inspiration and patience of my supervisor Kari Fraurud. From the very beginning of this process, she gave me access to a great deal of her time and entrusted me with her ideas and thoughts, and for that I am honored and grateful. Thanks to my coworkers and boss who showed flexibility and support, and finally, thanks to my adoring parents and siblings who motivated and cheered me on throughout the fieldwork and writing process. Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Literature Review ......................................................................... 1 1.2 Terminology .................................................................................4 1.2.1 Blatte and blattar .................................................................... 4 1.2.2 Rinkebysvenska and brytning ....................................................5 1.2.3 Förortssvenska ........................................................................6 1.2.4 Linguistic artifacts ................................................................... 7 2 Methods and data ............................................................................ 9 2.1 Speaker participants ..................................................................... 9 2.1.1 Recording tools and analysis software ........................................ 12 2.1.2 Elicitation and recording ........................................................... 12 Table reservation .......................................................................... 13 Group conversation ....................................................................... 13 Interview ..................................................................................... 14 2.2 Listener participants ......................................................................14 2.2.1 Sound editing and playback tools; survey construction …............... 15 2.2.2 Listener group 1: projecting Swedishness ................................... 15 2.2.3 Listener group 2: relaying attitudes ........................................... 17 2.2.4 Expert listener comments ......................................................... 17 3 Results: an overview of listener perceptions ................................... 19 3.1 Listener assessments fall along convergent lines ...............................19 3.2 When did the listeners actually make their assessments? ................... 23 4 Analysis part 1: identifying specific Suburban features ................... 25 4.1 Examining prosodic rhythm ............................................................25 4.1.1 Analysis tools ......................................................................... 25 4.1.2 ΔC, ΔC and %V ....................................................................... 26 4.1.3 VarcoΔC and VarcoΔV .............................................................. 28 4.1.4 Normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) ................................30 4.1.5 Correlating nPVI and mean segment duration to listener assessments ................................................................................... 31 4.1.6 Decoding binomialism in listener-projected ethnicity .................... 33 4.1.7 Summary ............................................................................... 34 4.2 Examining other phonological features .............................................34 4.2.1 Hayder and Samir: /y/ on opposite ends of the spectrum ..............34 4.2.2 Indexing the Swedish /r/ .........................................................
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