When Vowels Speak: A study of Social Meaning and Phonetic Variation in Greek

Standard Modern Greek (SMG) is the official language spoken in Greece and one of the official languages in Cyprus. Despite its standardized form, substantial regional variation exists within mainland Greece, and scholars have proposed various classifications based on the regions (Trudgil, 2003). Standard Language Ideology (SLI), well documented in sociolinguistic research, views the standard variety as more correct and prestigious than non-standard varieties. Previous attitude studies employing the Matched Guise Test (MGT) (Lambert et al., 1960) have shown that SLI is prevalent in different sociolinguistic contexts, for various languages. In the case of Greek, MGT research has primarily emphasized Cypriot Greek (CG) speakers’ attitudes toward SMG (Standard Modern Greek) and CG. However, the MGT has not been applied to explore the attitudes of native Greek speakers on regional phonetic variation occurring within mainland Greece. Prior research on Greek dialects has demonstrated that...Show moreStandard Modern Greek (SMG) is the official language spoken in Greece and one of the official languages in Cyprus. Despite its standardized form, substantial regional variation exists within mainland Greece, and scholars have proposed various classifications based on the regions (Trudgil, 2003). Standard Language Ideology (SLI), well documented in sociolinguistic research, views the standard variety as more correct and prestigious than non-standard varieties. Previous attitude studies employing the Matched Guise Test (MGT) (Lambert et al., 1960) have shown that SLI is prevalent in different sociolinguistic contexts, for various languages. In the case of Greek, MGT research has primarily emphasized Cypriot Greek (CG) speakers’ attitudes toward SMG (Standard Modern Greek) and CG. However, the MGT has not been applied to explore the attitudes of native Greek speakers on regional phonetic variation occurring within mainland Greece. Prior research on Greek dialects has demonstrated that characteristics associated with the Northern Greek varieties (Trudgil, 2003) are salient and socially marked. Among the most frequently discussed features are unstressed high-vowel deletion and unstressed mid vowel raising (Lengeris, 2016; Pappas, 2017; Topintzi & Baltazani, 2012). The present study employs the MGT to investigate how native Greek speakers evaluate phonetic variation within SMG. Specifically, this research examines, first, whether listeners' evaluations differ across guises that adopt the features of SMG, vowel deletion (/i/ deletion), or vowel raising (/e/ raising), assessing whether phonetic variation carries distinct social meanings and, second, the extent to which listeners' interpretations reflect awareness of SLI and stereotypes on regional variation. Participants heard 2 passages for each of the three conditions: (i) No Change Condition from SMG (No Change), (ii) Unstressed High-vowel deletion- /i/ deletion (Deletion), (iii) Unstressed Mid-vowel raising- /e/ raising (Raising). They evaluated each voice recording on a series of polar traits, using a 7-point Likert scale. In addition, participants completed open-ended questions about the speaker’s perceived origin and provided justifications for their responses. Regarding the first research question, results revealed that the No Change guise received consistently more semantically positive ratings than both Deletion and Raising guises. Specifically, it was evaluated as more attractive, dependable, educated, and modern. When the conditions No change and Deletion were compared, the speaker was judged as more intelligent as well. With respect to the second research question, the results indicated that SLI is prevalent within the context of mainland Greece as well. This is evident by the participant’s tendency to associate the No Change guise with traits revealing higher prestige and competence, while they give less favourable evaluations for the Deletion and the Raising guise. Quantitative analysis did not indicate any significant difference between the Deletion and Raising conditions. Qualitative analysis, however, revealed that Deletion was associated with provincial speech, whereas Raising was linked at a high percentage to Athens. Taken together, the results demonstrate that Deletion is more heavily stigmatized, while a complex pattern arises about Raising. Lastly, the results are discussed within the framework of third-wave sociolinguistics (Eckert, 2012), showing how phonetic variation carries social meaning, following Silverstein’s (2003) theory of indexicality.Show less

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When Vowels Speak: A study of Social Meaning and Phonetic Variation in Greek