Do Australians hear ethnicity?

This paper presents the results of the first study within a perceptual dialectology framework in the Greek-speaking community in Cyprus. Thirty participants from three age groups of equal size took part in a sociolinguistic interview. As part of the language module component of the interview, they discussed their beliefs about regional variation in Cyprus and completed the so-called ‘draw-a-map task’. All participants were residents of urban areas of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. The Greek-speaking community in Cyprus is diglossic: Standard Modern Greek is the High variety, while Cypriot Greek—the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots—is the Low variety. The latter is currently undergoing levelling of marked local basilect features and subvarieties. A quantitative analysis of the maps demonstrates that some areas in Cyprus (mainly in the periphery) have a stronger sociolinguistic salience than others. At the same time, the participants’ own way of speaking is perceived as unmarked, neutral and one that enjoys wider acceptance over other regional dialects. This study also shows a clear preference for characterizing a (presumed) dialect area with linguistic characteristics, rather than with evaluative commentary contra many similar studies in the literature and suggests a number of reasons why this may be so. Overall, this research shows how studies on language perception can inform and complement studies on language production in a given community. The participants drew an average of just four regional areas on their maps and viewed the different cities and their districts, or combinations thereof, as the different regional dialect areas they perceive to exist in Cyprus. It is argued in this paper that the small number of areas drawn and the emphasis on urban sites are consistent with regional dialect levelling. Consistent with regional dialect levelling is also the finding that the participants’ linguistic description of regional variation, while mainly accurate, is superficial and lacks detail. Interestingly, many of the participants also seem to be well aware of regional dialect levelling in their community. Other studies in the literature do not really discuss speakers’ awareness of levelling and this should be further explored in future studies.

Brand equity is a valuable intangible asset for companies, yet is increasingly difficult in managing in an era with hard to control social media. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of social media usage characteristics on electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM), trust, and brand equity by dividing the characteristics to personality, social, and information. A survey was administered to 430 respondents who had experience of using airline social media and the collected data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the personality and informational characteristics from social media usage had statistically significant effects on e-WOM. It was found that the e-WOM had significant effects on trust and also on brand awareness. The trust was shown to have a statistically significant effect on brand awareness and brand image. Therefore, this study categorizes social media usage characteristics into three characteristics: personality characteristics, social characteristics, and information characteristics, and each of these usage characteristics present a strategy to improve actual brand equity of airline through e-WOM and trust in empirical methods. The findings of this study are expected to provide fundamental data for the development of strategies related to airline social media. In addition, this study has implications for suggesting to improve brand equity through e-WOM and trust.

Banyumasan is a dialect of Javanese language. It is mainly spoken along the flow of Serayu river. Language as it is used in a speech community can reflect the community itself and so does Banyumasan. Banyumasan which has different linguistic feature compared to its standard Javanese also reflects the way of speaking of its speaker. The way of speaking in Banyumas is commonly known as Cablaka. Cablaka is Banyumasan way of speaking which means that a speaker tend to speak frankly based on the actual fact. However the phenomena shows us different thing. People, sometimes inevitably speak indirectly. Speakers express their thought to their hearers implicitly. What is meant without being said is generally called implicature. On the other hand, explicature happens when what is meant is as what is said. This article intends to redefine the concept of Cablaka as Banyumas way of speaking in the context of traditional selling and buying in Banyumasan. The implicatures found in selling and buying transaction are disagreeing, promising, commanding, requesting, accusing, keeping a secret and forbidding. The functions of implicatures in selling and buying transaction are to show politeness, to show respect, to show carefulness, to show uncertainty, and to keep face.

: Certain demographic and social background factors, notably age and education, tend to have constant relationships to the amount of symptomatology expressed, regardless of variations in environmental conditions. Under the conditions of prolonged group isolation and confinement experienced at Antarctic scientific stations, a number of relationships appeared between social background or personality characteristics and emotional symptoms which were not present under less extreme conditions. We have attempted to demonstrate that susceptibility to emotional disturbances is importantly related to and predictable from specific personal and social characteristics, including occupational role, and that certain relationships only appear after prolonged mild stress.

PurposeThis study examines opinion leadership's personal and social characteristics to see which one is more effective in opinion leadership in four different industries: fashion, travel and tourism, wellness and book and literature. The specific subject of this investigation is how largely openness, exhibitionism and competence in interpersonal relationships and status and attitude homophily affect the opinion leadership and the decision-making of opinion leaders' followers.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model was tested with the questionnaire shared via stories featured on Instagram among followers of four micro-influencers in different industries. For the purpose of testing the offered hypotheses of this study, the partial least squares method was used.FindingsThe findings show that openness, exhibitionism and competence in interpersonal relationships have a substantial effect on opinion leadership. It was also evident that status and attitude homophily impact opinion leadership. The model supports the effect of both personal and social characteristics on opinion leadership; however, based on the results, the effect of personal characteristics on opinion leadership is more remarkable, both in a direct relationship and through the mediating role of para-social interaction.Originality/valueThis study is novel in categorizing opinion leaders' attributes in two different extents of personal and social characteristics. The authors defined a model of the effectiveness of each personal and social characteristic on opinion leaders. The model investigates whether the personal or social characteristics have the most effect on opinion leadership, particularly with the mediating role of para-social interaction.

In Malaysia, although youth entrepreneurship is now on the rise and is a topic much discussed and highlighted in the media, what is still lacking is systematic and in-depth knowledge of youth entrepreneurship in Malaysia. The authors feel that greater knowledge about youth entrepreneurship is necessary to provide information to the government to design effective strategies and programmes for improvement in youth entrepreneurship so as to increase socio-economic development. This knowledge is useful to society, particularly to youths, especially in alleviating problems of youth unemployment, and to increase youth participation and interest in entrepreneurship as a form of career path. To obtain such knowledge, the authors embarked on an exploratory study in 2009 on the nature of youth entrepreneurship in Malaysia. The study aims to explore the entrepreneurial characteristics of youth entrepreneurs in terms of personal, social and business characteristics, as well as challenges they faced. Findings from a survey of 531 male and female youths in Klang Valley revealed some commonalities between the youths in terms of entrepreneurial traits, problems and challenges faced by them. Keywords: Youth Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Traits, Personal Characteristics, Social Characteristics, Business Characteristics

Personal circumstances and social characteristics as determinants of landholder participation in biodiversity conservation programs

This article examines the literary representation of contemporary urban vernaculars (CUV) in fiction. It focuses specifically on four Swedish novels published in the last ten years, whose narratives are set in the urban and increasingly multilingual, migrant-rich and class-stratified peripheral areas of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The analysis centers on how they are situated in these urban peripheries, using written representations of spoken, non-standard Swedish CUV as symbolic resources to give authenticity to the narratives. We examine the distinctive linguistic features that are employed to evoke the imagination of CUV, and how these are used to build the fictional characters and to create certain recognizable social personas and practices. We also discuss the linguistic features that are available but are not exploited to represent the fictional characters’ ways of speaking, and possible reasons why this is so. Finally, we examine how the novels exploit contrasts between registers, particularly between CUV and adult second-language speaker styles and between CUV and standard Swedish, and with what effects. The findings are discussed in the context of the broader social discourses about language, migration, CUV and adult second-language speakers in present-day Sweden.

In the development of sociolinguistics, the study of ethnicity was centered on the language of marginalized ethnic groups, while communities of white speakers were treated as unmarked. This chapter contributes to the growing body of sociolinguistic research that seeks to challenge this notion of social categories such as whiteness and masculinity as unmarked, and to investigate them as sites for the linguistic construction of identity. It explores the stylization of ‘white’ ways of speaking by comedians of color, through a qualitative and quantitative analysis of their use of various linguistic features (e.g., intensifiers, technical terms, post-vocalic /r/). The goal is to document some of the features of this style and to show the different ways that ideologies about whiteness can be expressed linguistically. In addition, following the example of Rickford and Rickford (2000a), this study highlights the usefulness of media performances in reflecting and constructing ideas about ethnicity and language.

Research on listener identification of sexual orientation (e.g., Gaudio 1994, Piccolo 2008) has produced conflicting results. I argue that one contributing factor to linguistic perception of sexual orientation is the speaker’s assumptions about gay male ways of speaking American English or about specific linguistic features that the speaker believes listeners will associate with “sounding gay” in American English. Interviews I conducted with eight gay men highlight the ways in which positive and negative attitudes become realized in discourse about sounding gay or gay male ways of speaking and its link to other social practices. I then present results from a language perception study, which suggest that negative attitudes toward sounding gay decrease the possibility that a speaker will use linguistic features associated with sounding gay and will, as a result, be less likely to be perceived as gay than gay men who hold positive attitudes toward sounding gay.

in personal values is indicated by a study of one hundred couples, including samples of both pre-married and married couples. To test the theory suggested by Winch that this homogamy is due to natural limitations of one's field of eligibles, these natural couples are compared to artificial couples which are matched on the basis of similar social characteristics. It is found that such controls account for a significant amount of homogamy, but a substantial degree of homogamy remains unexplained in this manner. H OMOGAMY in social and cultural characteristics is one of the few clear and consistent empirical generalizations to come out of studies of mate-selection. There can be no doubt that persons tend to marry other persons of similar age, residence, race, religion, socio-economic status, and education.' Similarity in personality characteristics, however, is a question which is less settled. Considerable evidence has been presented by psychologists and sociologists in favor of homogamy in attitudes, interests, temperament, neurotic tendency, and a number of other characteristics.2 On the other hand, certain psychoanalysts have emphasized the importance of complementary motivation;3 and recently Winch and his associates have presented empirical evidence for viewing mate-selection in terms of the influence of complementary, rather than similar, patterns of needs.4 * Revision of a paper read at the Midwest Sociological Society, April 1959. The research reported is part of a larger study of patterns in mate-selection by the author (Personality Patterns in Mate-Selection: A Study of Complementary Needs and Homogamy, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kansas, 1959). The writer is indebted to Dr. Lawrence S. Bee for his advice in planning and conducting the study. 1 Ernest W. Burgess, Homogamy in Social Characteristics, American Journal of Sociology, XL (1943), 109-24; August B. Hollingshead, Cultural Factors in the Selection of Marriage Mates, American Sociological Review, XV (1950), 619-27. For further references see Robert F. Winch, Mate-Selection: A Study of Complementary Needs (New York: Harper, 1958), pp. 5-7. 2 Helen M. Richardson, Studies of Mental Resemblance Between Husbands and Wives and Between Friends, Psychological Bulletin, XXVI (1939), 104-20; Ernest W. Burgess and Paul Wallin, Homogamy in Personality Characteristics, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, XXXIX (1944), 475-81. 3 For references see Winch, op. cit., pp. 7-8. 4 Winch, op. cit. Other publications by Winch and associates include; Robert F. Winch, The Modern Family (New York: Holt, 1952), especially pp. 291-433; This content downloaded from 157.55.39.238 on Sat, 02 Jul 2016 05:25:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

BackgroundPrimary healthcare services must respond to the healthcare-seeking needs of persons with a wide range of personal and social characteristics. In this study, examined whether socially vulnerable persons exhibit lower abilities to access healthcare. First, we examined how personal and social characteristics are associated with the abilities to access healthcare described in the patient-centered accessibility framework and with the likelihood of reporting problematic access. We then examined whether higher abilities to access healthcare are protective against problematic access. Finally, we explored whether social vulnerabilities predict problematic access after accounting for abilities to access healthcare.MethodsThis is an exploratory analysis of pooled data collected in the Innovative Models Promoting Access-To-Care Transformation (IMPACT) study, a Canadian-Australian research program that aimed to improve access to primary healthcare for vulnerable populations. This specific analysis is based on 284 participants in four study regions who completed a baseline access survey. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to explore the effects of personal or social characteristics on the abilities to access care; logistic regression models, to determine the increased or decreased likelihood of problematic access.ResultsThe likelihood of problematic access varies by personal and social characteristics. Those reporting at least two social vulnerabilities are more likely to experience all indicators of problematic access except hospitalizations. Perceived financial status and accumulated vulnerabilities were also associated with lower abilities to access care. Higher scores on abilities to access healthcare are protective against most indicators of problematic access except hospitalizations. Logistic regression models showed that ability to access is more predictive of problematic access than social vulnerability.ConclusionsWe showed that those at higher risk of social vulnerability are more likely to report problematic access and also have low scores on ability to seek, reach, pay, and engage with healthcare. Equity-oriented healthcare interventions should pay particular attention to enhancing people’s abilities to access care in addition to modifying organizational processes and structures that reinforce social systems of discrimination or exclusion.

One of the most cited features of the supposed migrant “ethnolect” in Australian English is the pronunciation of word-final -er. This article presents data from sociolinguistic interviews that support the view that there is a pronunciation difference between Anglo and non-Anglo speakers in Sydney, and that this difference is most pronounced in Greek and, to a lesser extent, Lebanese speakers. The variant the Greek and Lebanese speakers tend to use more than the Anglo speakers is backed and lengthened, and commonly used in words with final High Rising Tone (HRT). There is some evidence that Greeks are leading a change to a more backed variant. I show that length, backing, and HRT make up a style of speaking that I call “new (er)”. This style is indexical of being Greek for some, but more basically creates a stance of authoritative connection. These findings are significant for understanding the spread of new linguistic features, and how the meanings of some linguistic variables contribute to linguistic change.

Discussions of folklinguistic accounts of language use are frequently focused on dismissing them because of their limitations. As a result, not a lot is written regarding how such accounts are done and how they “work.” This article examines how folklinguistic evaluations are achieved in interaction, particularly through appeals to semiotic registers (Agha 2007). It describes how in explaining their beliefs regarding linguistic variation, speakers frequently produce voicings with varying transparency. These rely on understandings of the social world and bring large collections of linguistic resources into play. They offer rich insights if analytic attention is given to their details because even when evaluating a single variant, whole ways of speaking, and even being, may be utilized. The paper explores in turn how analysis reveals the inseparability of variants, understandings of context and audience, the relationship between linguistic forms and social types, and the performance of social types via the evaluation of semiotic resources. In each section, discussion is grounded in extracts from interviews on Australian English with speakers of this variety of English. Cumulatively they show the primacy of semiotic registers in ethno‐metapragmatic accounts.

This paper examines the discourse quotatives of Australian English (AE) found in sociolinguistic interviews with adolescents. The investigation focuses on a description of the types and linguistic conditioning of the discourse quotatives and a documentation of the discourse meanings and contexts of their realization. Results indicate that the innovation be + like is located in the discourse quotative system of AE but faces opposition from go, say and the null/zero (Mathis & Yule 1994) form. A comparative analysis of AE with North American, Canadian and British English shows that go and null/zero discourse quotatives are prominent in the data, realized with minimal tense variation, i.e. the Historical Present (HP) dominates. Further, the trajectory of be + like in the AE data confounds the typical accessibility pattern for grammatical person. The form has a relatively limited distribution but appears to be grammaticalized for the third person. Analysis of the discourse context highlights the saliency of oppositional experiences, i.e. 'me and them' tales including voices expressing solidarity with the teller's position. The HP successfully captures both meanings--the enduring ongoing voices of 'others' and the chorus of support from their peers. These meanings effectively exclude the innovation be + like. The AE adolescents appear to be embracing the be + like innovation but its implementation in the system is constrained by the discourse role of the voices, expression of solidarity and the continuing 'other', and the propinquity of null/zero forms.