Style Shifting and Code Shifting

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Style Shifting and Code Shifting
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Style Shifting

• Variation in speech style is as pervasive as
  regional, social class, ethnic, and gender-based
  language variation.
• Style Shifting refers to speech variation within
  individual speakers.
• There are no single-style speakers. While it may
  vary, everyone displays a considerable amount of
  style shifting in their speech.

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Types of Style Shifting

• All style shifting exists on a continuum. The
  types of style shifting outlined below are not
  discrete but often move along a continuum.
  Different types also overlap from time to time
  depending on the speech context.

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Types of Style Shifting

• 1. Casual to Formal Shifts of this kind occur in
  specific contexts and may be marked by a
  reduction in the percentage use of certain casual
  speech features such as the pronunciation of the
  ing ending, the elimination of non-standard
  speech features (such as double negatives) and
  the use of slang or taboo words.

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Types of Style Shifting

• In addition, speakers may ADD features which they
  consider to be more formal such as Latinate words
  (smart gt erudite) or overuse of what they believe
  are signals of formal speech, such as whom and
  shall.

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Types of Style Shifting

• 2. Formal to Informal or Casual this type of
  shift is characterized by an increase in casual
  speech features and a decrease in formal speech
  features. Use of certain informal markers (for
  example, aint) are often use to signal
  informal speech. Thus the informal speech may be
  a widespread speech shift OR selective features.
• Both formal and informal shifts may be evident at
  the level of phonology, grammar, lexicon (word
  use), semantics (meaning) and pragmatics (group
  interaction)

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Types of Style Shifting

• 3. Shifts in dialect This involves more
  widespread patterns of shifting from one
  regional, ethnic, or social variety to another.
  Quite often it overlaps with the formal to
  informal continuum outlined above.
• The reasons speakers shift from one dialect to
  another can be quite complex. In positive terms,
  it may be a way to indicate that the speaker
  identifies with or is familiar with a particular
  speech community or its values.

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Types of Style Shifting

• From a negative perspective, it is often used to
  mock or demean a speech community through
  employing speech stereotypes or as a source of
  humor. This is often employed in media texts
  (such as television shows) OR in ethnic jokes.

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Types of Style Shifting

• 4. Another type of shifting occurs when speakers
  shift from one recognized speech register to
  another.
• A REGISTER is a readily identifiable speech
  variety that individuals use in specific and
  well-defined speech situations.
• Baby-talk or Motherese Legalese robot talk
  academic discourse, etc.
• Register shifts can overlap with the formal to
  informal continuum.

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Types of Style Shifting

• 5. A slightly different type of speech register
  is PERFORMANCE SPEECH. This register is
  associated with a speakers attempt to display for
  others a certain language or language variety,
  whether their own or that of another speech
  community. We can think of this as performing a
  particular dialect or speech style.

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Types of Style Shifting

• Sometimes Performance Speech occurs when a dying
  variety is reduced from the primary vehicle of
  daily communication to a mere object of curiosity
  which is performed for outsiders or as part of
  cultural rituals within the speech community.
• Speakers will sometimes put on their unusual
  dialect for the benefit of tourists or language
  investigators.

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Types of Style Shifting

• Most often, these Performance speech shifts are
  not accurate or complete. Speakers will use a few
  select features or develop rote phrases that
  highlight a number of the features of the archaic
  speech or dialect.

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Hypercorrection

• Many of these style shift types involve
  HYPERCORRECTION gt The extension of a language
  form beyond its regular linguistic boundaries
  when a speaker feels the need to extremely
  standard or correct dialect forms.
• Statistically, the lower-middle class and the
  upper-working class are more prone to
  hypercorrection than members of other
  socio-economic classes. Because they are often
  more concerned with raising their status than
  members of other class groups.

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Hypercorrection

• Another form of Hypercorrection involves the use
  of variants which are not typically found in a
  speech variety at all, such as the pronunciation
  of salmon or often. These are called spelling
  pronunciations (pronunciation based on the exact
  spelling of a word).

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Hypercorrection

• STRUCTURAL Hypercorrection involves the use of a
  linguistic feature in a context where you dont
  expect it.
• For example, Whom is it? or She is going with
  you and I.