T-tapping in Standard Southern British English: An 'elite' sociolinguistic variant?

Alderton, Roy (2021): T-tapping in Standard Southern British English: An 'elite' sociolinguistic variant? In: Journal of Sociolinguistics, Vol. 26, No. 2: pp. 287-298

Abstract

Social class is one of the key axes of sociolinguistic variation, but the speech of those at the top of the class spectrum-the elite-is rarely studied. While T-glottalling has spread widely across British English accents, a competing variant-T-tapping-has attracted little scholarly attention in the United Kingdom. This article presents a study of elite speech by examining sociolinguistic variation in T-tapping among adolescent speakers of Standard Southern British English. Data were collected from interviews with teenagers aged 16-19 at two schools in Hampshire, UK. T-tapping is led by those who previously attended private school and is used more by boys than girls in formal speech. The findings suggest that T-tapping may be used to index a combination of authority and informality, which is invoked by elite speakers to assert themselves from a position of privilege while maintaining an image of openness and approachability.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Languages and Literatures > Department 2
• Subjects: 400 Language > 400 Language
• ISSN: 1360-6441
• Language: English