While Researching a Language That Linguists Have Not Catalogued Before

question 38

Multiple Choice

While researching a language that linguists have not catalogued before, you discover that there are very strong accents within it. In a paper presenting a hypothesis about the origin of the accents, you use Bill Labov's research in the United States to corroborate your hypothesis. Your hypothesis is most likely:

• A) The inherited physical traits of each group's vocal tracts lead them to produce slightly different sounds, giving them an accent.
• B) When people move into a new area, they develop an accent that propagates better in that environment, based on its acoustic features.
• C) Identifying with an esteemed, yet otherwise threatened, subset of the population can motivate speakers to signal that identity by an accent.
• D) Subsets of a population that value education less will acquire an accent out of sloppiness.

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