Developing a “real me” in the political sphere: Using Lectal Focusing in Interaction to analyze Peninsular Spanish Regional Variation
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-5350-5147
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Sociolinguistics, Phonetics
Location
MBSC Council Room 306
Start Date
17-10-2024 12:30 PM
End Date
17-10-2024 1:00 PM
Abstract
All speakers engage in style-shifting between prestige and non-prestige variants as a part of their identity construction process (e.g., Eckert 2008); however, politicians in particular also use language to reflect social position and appeal to voters. This study uses a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology to track Lectal Focusing in Interaction (LFI) by measuring regional variation among Peninsular politicians. The concept of tracking LFI, proposed by Sharma and Rampton (2015) and based in concepts of indexicality (e.g., Silverstone 2003), aims to bridge group and individual analyses by plotting style shifting over time to visualize changing linguistic behavior and indexical meaning.
Twelve politicians were selected from the moderate-left PSOE, moderate-right PP, and far-right VOX parties. A selection of seven phenomena associated with the Andalusian variety of Spanish served as the focus of the study, contrasting with Northern Central Peninsular Spanish variants. Differing productions of variable phenomena, including coda /s/ and intervocalic /d/ reduction, opacity and neutralization of liquids, ceceo, and seseo, were identified through acoustic signatures and audible differences in over 80 total minutes of speech. Timestamps for tokens were plotted to show how variation changed over time. Qualitative analysis was then performed where regional production peaked, identifying topic shifts and changing linguistic goals that could suggest a reason for variable use.
This study found that liberal politicians emphasized working-class solidarity in moments of regional peaks, while conservatives performatively conveyed solidarity and friendliness in these moments, and populists focused on agrarian topics and underserved rural voters. These results, when considered alongside other recent research, suggest that rising support for populist political ideals in Spain comes alongside a divergence in linguistic motivations and goals between the center-right and far-right. Although VOX only split off from the PP in 2013, the stance these politicians are developing diverges from that of their former colleagues, as well as from PSOE politicians. In the process of setting up their political agenda, all of these speakers rely on what Sharma (2018) refers to as a “real me,” agentively using familiar variants to show deeply held opinions and beliefs.
Developing a “real me” in the political sphere: Using Lectal Focusing in Interaction to analyze Peninsular Spanish Regional Variation
MBSC Council Room 306
All speakers engage in style-shifting between prestige and non-prestige variants as a part of their identity construction process (e.g., Eckert 2008); however, politicians in particular also use language to reflect social position and appeal to voters. This study uses a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology to track Lectal Focusing in Interaction (LFI) by measuring regional variation among Peninsular politicians. The concept of tracking LFI, proposed by Sharma and Rampton (2015) and based in concepts of indexicality (e.g., Silverstone 2003), aims to bridge group and individual analyses by plotting style shifting over time to visualize changing linguistic behavior and indexical meaning.
Twelve politicians were selected from the moderate-left PSOE, moderate-right PP, and far-right VOX parties. A selection of seven phenomena associated with the Andalusian variety of Spanish served as the focus of the study, contrasting with Northern Central Peninsular Spanish variants. Differing productions of variable phenomena, including coda /s/ and intervocalic /d/ reduction, opacity and neutralization of liquids, ceceo, and seseo, were identified through acoustic signatures and audible differences in over 80 total minutes of speech. Timestamps for tokens were plotted to show how variation changed over time. Qualitative analysis was then performed where regional production peaked, identifying topic shifts and changing linguistic goals that could suggest a reason for variable use.
This study found that liberal politicians emphasized working-class solidarity in moments of regional peaks, while conservatives performatively conveyed solidarity and friendliness in these moments, and populists focused on agrarian topics and underserved rural voters. These results, when considered alongside other recent research, suggest that rising support for populist political ideals in Spain comes alongside a divergence in linguistic motivations and goals between the center-right and far-right. Although VOX only split off from the PP in 2013, the stance these politicians are developing diverges from that of their former colleagues, as well as from PSOE politicians. In the process of setting up their political agenda, all of these speakers rely on what Sharma (2018) refers to as a “real me,” agentively using familiar variants to show deeply held opinions and beliefs.