Pulling Out All the Stops: Referee Design and Phonetic Correlates of Gay Men’s English

Studies of intraspeaker variation and the linguistic indexing of sexual identity have formed an important part of recent research in variationist sociolinguistics. This study investigates patterns of word-final stop release in the speech of a flamboyantly gay television host, Graham Norton. The results indicate a significant correlation between the rate of released word-final stops and the sexual orientation of an absent referee, as defined by Bell (1984, 2001), with a higher proportion of released stops for gay-identified referees. We argue that this pattern demonstrates the linguistic indexing of an ingroup identity, which Norton shares with referees who identify as gay. In this way, the variable of word-final stop release can be considered a ‘building block’ (Barrett 2002:33) in the construction of Norton's sexual identity

Disorder and Lawlessness in Fifteenth Century England:A Cornish Case Study

John Beaumont of Tregonan (1451–ca. 1487), bastard and rebel, played a minor but instructive role in the histories of Devon and Cornwall in the later medieval period. Like his father, Henry Bodrugan of Gorran (ca. 1426–ca. 1503), he was a prominent landowner in these two counties, and, despite being affected by a writ of bastardry in 1468, served frequently on commissions during Edward IV’s reign and represented Cornwall at the Parliament of 1484. He was unswervingly loyal to his father and the Yorkist cause, and this loyalty, ultimately, proved his undoing, for, although he did not join Richard III and his friends at Bosworth on August 22nd, 1485, he subsequently shared in their fate. What follows is an attempt, using recently catalogued manuscripts, to chronicle Beaumont’s turbulent career and fill a gap in our understanding of late medieval and early Tudor society in the far southwest

The future of applications to podiatric medical school in the United States-2024

Background: The number of applications to podiatric medical schools in the United States continues to fall. There are many reasons for this decline, and this article attempts an impartial look at some of the forces at play in potentially affecting students\u27 decisions to apply to podiatric medical school in the first place. Methods: I reviewed the existing literature on the current state of the podiatric medical profession in the United States, with attention to enrollment rates in podiatric medical schools during the past decade. Results: There are limited definitive data, and those displayed herein come from the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine and other organizations. The data suggest a steady decline in applicants to US podiatric medical schools during the past decade. Conclusions: The reasons for this decline are multifactorial and include problems extrinsic to the profession, such as a declining US birth rate, as well as problems within the profession, most of which are now easily discoverable through Internet searches and research. The issue of lack of plenary licensure, the inconsistent salary data, and in-fighting among the various boards that exist within the profession seem to be major factors that may be perceived as negative influences in choosing a career in podiatric medicine

Dey hae a reffelled hesp ta redd

The Shetland dialect is a unique and fascinating dialect, quite unlike many other English dialects. The use of the Shetland dialect has changed considerably over time and a great deal of linguistic research has been undertaken on the changes and its current use. What we are unaware of is if topic has an affect on the use of dialect features by speakers. This paper analyses the use of Shetland dialect features, specifically word initial TH-stopping and production of Shetland dialect lexemes in interview situations (covering a number of different topics). The analysis reveals that an increased rate of use of the considered dialect features is significant when a topic has a relation to Shetland. The effect of topic is analysed from the view that the dialect features can be used to create or maintain a Shetland identity. Also found from the data is the reduced use of dialect features than might be expected of the speakers and this data is analysed through theories of dialect obsolescence