Linguistic Variation and Morphology
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Abstract
Abstract
Abstract Revisiting Labov’s “fourth floor” paradigm, this study analyzes English syllable coda (r) across 11 socio-spatially stratified Hong Kong malls through production, perception, and rationalization data. Results reveal that rhoticity is driven by social factors (age, occupational role, mall class) over phonological or stylistic (careful/casual) ones, indexing cosmopolitan professionalism within a heterarchical prestige ecology. Perceptually, listeners associate rhoticity with clarity and education, while non-rhoticity evokes Britishness and local authenticity. Three patterns emerge: (1) weak style conditioning in production despite persistent style perception (though minor subgroup variation persists); (2) increased rhoticity in elite service roles alongside continued attachment to non-rhotic prestige; and (3) a partial “de-Americanization” of rhoticity, whereby the American-sounding quality of (r) is reinterpreted through functional and market-oriented meanings of clarity, competence, and global orientation. Findings suggest that, in Hong Kong, (r) operates less as a traditional marker of careful/casual speech and more as a flexible, pragmatic resource driven by the demands of a postcolonial, globalizing, neoliberal marketplace.
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@article{Gonzales2026Revisiting,
title = {Revisiting the fou(r)th floo(r): English syllable coda (r) in Hong Kong shopping malls},
author = {Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales},
journal = {Language Variation and Change},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1017/s0954394526100726},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954394526100726}
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