The Significance of Linguistic Variation in the Speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Abstract

Although Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eloquence as a speaker is widely recognized and his rhetorical strategies have been extensively studied, no analyses have been conducted on his language variation in different speech settings. This article examines a set of variable structures in King's speech to determine how it indexes his regional, social, and ethnic identity as he accommodated different audiences and interactions. The use of unstressed (ING), medial and final /t/ release, postvocalic nonrhoticity, coda-final cluster reduction, copula/auxiliary absence, the vowel system, and syllable timing are considered for four different speech events: the “I Have a Dream” speech (1963), the Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1964), a conversation with talk-show host Merv Griffin (1967), and the “I've Been to the Mountaintop” speech (1968). The analysis indicates stability across speech events for some variables and significant variation for others based on the speech event. His indexical profile indicates that he consistently embodied his Southern-based, African American preacherly stance while fluidly shifting features that indexed performance and formality based on audience, interaction, and intentional purpose. His language embraced ethnolinguistic tradition and transcended linguistic diversity, modeling linguistic equality in practice.

Linguistic Employment Niches: Southern Dialect across Industries

“…Likewise, language serves as a salient marker of group membership and culture in the context of interactional performance (Schwalbe and Shay 2014). Nonwhite speakers can strategically deploy features of both white and nonwhite dialects depending on audience or social context (Alim and Smitherman 2012; Wolfram et al 2016), and language use seen as incongruent with group membership can result in peer censure (Fordham and Ogbu 1986). In short, examining dialect features across social groups requires a sensitivity to intersectional complexities in both structure and identity, especially with regard to race and ethnicity.…”

Stylistically coherent variants: Cognitive representation of social meaning / Variantes estilisticamente coerentes: representação cognitiva de significados sociais

“…Prior sociolinguistic work on /t/ variation and social meaning has primarily focused on characteristics of /t/ release (BENOR, 2001;PODESVA et al, 2015;WOLFRAM et al 2016), which has been associated with meanings such as intelligence and articulateness. Hence, /t/ releases were expected by Campbell-Kibler (2012) to co-occur with -ing.…”

Visibly invisible: The study of middle class African American English

“…Despite early calls from researchers such as Hoover (1978), Taylor (1983) and others to broaden our definitions of AAE beyond the working-class vernacular, a survey of the literature on middle-class AAE points to only a small number of studies, focussed on themes such as social stratification (e.g., Jones & Preston, 2011;Nguyen, 2006;Wolfram, 1969), intraspeaker variation (e.g., Debose, 1992;Grieser, 2014;Hay et al, 1999;Holliday, 2016;Kendall & Wolfram, 2009;Linnes, 1998;Rickford & McNair-Knox, 1994;Rickford & Price, 2013;Scanlon & Wassink, 2010;Wolfram et al, 2016), performative language practices (e.g., Alim & Smitherman, 2012;Britt, 2011aBritt, , 2011bKendall & Wolfram, 2009;Weldon, 2004;Wolfram et al, 2016), and attitudes and perceptions (Garner & Rubin, 1986;Koch et al, 2001;Rahman, 2008). Perhaps the most comprehensive treatment to date, Weldon (2021) attempts to build on these foundational efforts by providing a broader look at the use and evaluation of AAE by middle class speakers (see also Britt & Weldon, 2015).…”