William Labov, a pivotal figure in linguistics known for his research on regional language variations, died on December 17 at his home in Philadelphia. He was 97 years old.
His wife, Gillian Sankoff, stated that the cause of death was complications from Parkinson's disease.
Labov (pronounced luh-BOEV) is widely recognized as the founder of sociolinguistics, a discipline that examines how social factors such as class, gender, and race affect language use. His approach emphasized fieldwork and interaction, accumulating thousands of hours of recorded interviews to analyze differences in speech patterns.
In a notable study, Labov visited three department stores in New York City—Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, and S. Klein—to explore how accent varied by socioeconomic status. His findings indicated that the New York accent was influenced not only by geography but also by class, with salespeople at higher-end stores using more pronounced 'r's.
Labov's groundbreaking work in the late 1960s and early 1970s included research on gang members in Harlem, revealing that their speech was not merely slang but a dialect with its own grammatical structures. His insights contributed to significant discussions about education and linguistic diversity within the Black community.
Born on December 4, 1927, in Rutherford, New Jersey, Labov's early life experiences fostered his interest in language. He graduated from Harvard in 1948 and worked as a chemist for a decade before pursuing linguistics. He earned his doctorate from Columbia University in 1964 and published his influential book, 'The Social Stratification of English in New York City,' in 1966.
Labov joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1971 and received numerous accolades, including the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2013 and the Talcott Parsons Prize in 2020. He is survived by his wife, five children from his first marriage, and additional family members.
Labov's work demonstrated that dialects and accents continue to evolve, particularly in the context of residential segregation in the United States. He argued, 'People aren't influenced by passive interaction,' emphasizing the importance of personal engagement in language use.