Abstract:

While recent studies have provided pivotal insights into the use of a range of
sociolinguistic va r i a bles by speakers of Hexagonal French, this paper aims to
illuminate how their usage may dive rge / conve rge in the spoken language of the
media. Based on a quantitative study of liaison realisation, /l/ deletion, and ‘ne’
deletion, the paper compares a number of trends behind their usage by journ a l i s t s
with those prev i o u s ly identified in that profession and among the general publ i c .
Results suggest that sociolinguistic variation is by no means a uniform phenomenon
among journalists, but rather a number of (socio)linguistic factors impinge on such
variation, just as in the case of the public. The results are discussed in terms of the
differences and similarities that emerge across the variables, such that the specificity
of the sociolinguistic variable in itself is seen to impact significantly on its use.

Author: Martin Howard