Perceptions of class-based language variation in Finland-Swedish

Authors

• Saara Haapamäki Åbo Akademi University, Swedish language
• Sarah Wikner Åbo Akademi University, Swedish language

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23997/pk.121408

Keywords:

Finland-Swedish, folk linguistics, indexicality, language variation, social class, sociolinguistics

Abstract

Social class has been a significant extra-linguistic factor in classical Labovian sociolinguistics,
and many variation studies have shown a correlation between language variation and social
stratification. There is, however, still a lack of studies focusing on people’s perceptions of
class-based language variation. The current article aims at filling a part of this research gap. By
adopting a folk linguistic approach, the study examines perceptions of class-based language
variation in Finland-Swedish. The data consist of an online survey answered by a total of 182
informants of different social backgrounds and ages, and from different regions in Finland
with a Swedish-speaking population.

The results show that the perceptions of the relation between language variation and social
class are fluctuating. Most of the informants perceive a class-based language variation in
Finland-Swedish, but views about what the crucial language features are differ. To gain deeper
knowledge about the indexical relationships between language variation and social class,
other methods are needed in future studies.