@cite{labov-2012} — Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of #
Language Change
University of Virginia Press, 2012 (Page-Barbour Lectures for 2009). ISBN 978-0-8139-3326-9.
Obama's (ING) style shifting (Ch. 2, Figure 3) #
The centerpiece example of the "hidden consensus" on (ING): even President Obama adjusts his -in' vs -ing rate across contexts. Labov observed Obama in three situations of increasing formality:
- Casual: a Father's Day barbecue on the White House lawn, chatting with chef Bobby Flay about barbeque technique. 72% -in'.
- Careful: the Father's Day ceremonies that followed, asking and answering political questions. 33% -in'.
- Formal: scripted acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. 3% -in'.
(p. 13): "on figure 3 registers an -in' percentage of 72% for this occasion. [...] His percentage of -in' falls to 33%. The most formal context shown is his scripted acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, where we see only 3% -in'."
The monotone decrease (72% > 33% > 3%) is a textbook illustration of
intra-speaker style shifting along the formality dimension. The data
connects to the SMG model in Burnett2019.lean, which derives the
directional pattern (cool-guy prefers -in' in casual context, -ing in
careful context) from Bayesian pragmatic reasoning.
Three-context style-shifting observation: proportion of -in' usage in casual, careful, and formal speech contexts.
- casual : ℚ
- careful : ℚ
- formal : ℚ
Instances For
Obama's (ING) rates across three contexts (@cite{labov-2012}, Ch. 2, Figure 3): casual (barbecue) ≈ 72% /in/, careful (journalist Q&A) ≈ 33%, formal (DNC speech) ≈ 3%.
This illustrates intra-speaker style shifting — the same speaker adjusts variant rates with contextual formality.
Equations
- Labov2012.obama_ING = { casual := 72 / 100, careful := 33 / 100, formal := 3 / 100 }