Chapter 2

PRESENTATION, ANALYSES, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents, analyzes, and interprets the casual and emphatic speech

utterances of the receptionists from six hotels in Cebu City. The flow of the discussion is

the following: 1.) the differential ranking of hotels based on Labov (1966), 2.) the

phonological variables /ʒ/ and /ᴂ/ used in emphatic or casual speech, and 3.) the forms

of prestige differentiated by Labov (1966, in Mesthrie, 2000) that is reflected in each

hotel.

Class, I cannot discuss here as to how you are going to make your chapter 2

since each of you has your own plan of presenting and analyzing and interpreting your

gathered data. Just make sure to provide a clear and well-detailed explanation of your

tables/graphs, etc.

Suggestions:

You may present your data in sub-headings form, following your research questions.

Modify the research question into a phrasal or paraphrased form. See sample below.

To understand the flow of the sample below, here are the research questions of the

researcher:

1. Which hotels belong to the differential ranking based on Labov

(1966)?

1.1. Highest-ranking

1.2. Middle-ranking
 1.3. Lowest-ranking

2. Based on Labov (1966), how are /ʒ/ and /ᴂ/ used as:

2.1. Casual Speech

2.2. Emphatic Speech

3. What types of prestige differentiated by Labov (1966, in

Mesthrie, 2000) is reflected in each hotel?

3.1. Overt Prestige

3.2. Covert Prestige

DIFFERENTIAL RANKING OF HOTELS

Using the framework of Labov (1966), the data revealed the

differential ranking of six Cebu City hotels. As presented in Tables

1.1 to 1.6, each of the hotels is determined as to what rank it

belongs through its room rates, location, and facilities.

Table 1.1 presents the room rates, location, and facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel A.

Table 1.1
Ranking factors of Hotel A

Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel Rank

Rates
Hotel A Php Near Bathtubs and shower Highest-
4,000- shopping ranked
Php malls
70,000 Telephone and
extension line to the
A business bathroom
park at
the
vicinity Swimming pool
of the
 hotel
Tennis/golf/squash/gym
facilities
Located
north-
western of
the Outdoor area
central
part
Medical service

Business center

Limousine

Hotel A has the highest rates in their tariff. Having room rate

of Php 70,000, the data shows that only clients who have high income

can meet the expense of the most costly suite of this hotel. Its

location is clearly accessible to all the needs of a client,

especially for businessmen. It offers a lot of services and facilities

which can satisfy every guest’s necessities- such as a telephone line

extension into the bathroom, and a limousine.

Table 1.2 presents the room rates, location, and facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel B.

Table 1.2
Ranking factors of Hotel B

Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel Rank

Rates
Hotel B Php Near Bathtubs and shower Highest-
 6,300- shopping ranked
Php 34, malls
400
A business
park at Swimming pool
the
vicinity
of the Tennis/golf/squash/gym
hotel facilities

Located Outdoor area

north-
western of
the Medical service
central
part
Airport transfer

Hotel B has the second highest room rate out of the six hotels

chosen by the researchers which is round Php 34, 400. The location of

the hotel is as near as Hotel A where most of the high-class market

establishments are located. The only facilities not offered by Hotel A

as compared to Hotel B are business centers and a limousine.

Therefore, Hotel B is still a Highest-ranking hotel because of its

slight dissimilarity with Hotel A’s data.

Table 1.3 presents the room rates, location, and facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel C.

Table 1.3
Ranking factors of Hotel C
Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel Rank
Rates
Hotel C Php Near shopping Porter service upon Middle-
1,500- malls request ranked
Php
4,600
Located at Medical service
the corner of
the street
Airport transfer

Business
Centers/shops
at the
vicinity

Hotel C is considered a middle-ranking hotel because of its

facilities offered, difference in the amount of room rates with

highest-ranking hotels which is only around Php 1,500 toPhp 4,600. The

location of Hotel C is as near as Hotels A and B. There is no outdoor

area for this hotel. Gym facilities and other recreational areas are

also not found in Hotel C. Thus, Hotel C is a middle-ranking hotel.

Table 1.4 presents the room rates, location, and facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel D.

Table 1.4
Ranking factors of Hotel D

Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel

Rates Rank
Hotel D Php Near a shopping Porter service upon Middle-
2,900- mall request ranked
Php
4,000
Located at the Security
corner of a
downtown street
 Medical service
Business
centers/shops at
the vicinity Airport transfer

Near a
wholesale/retail
store
A university at
the vicinity

Hotel D has room rates of Php 2,900 toPhp 4,000. Its location is

almost the same as the lowest-ranking hotels. It is located at the

downtown area of the city. Its facilities offered is also one of the

factors that made it reach the standard of a middle-ranking hotel.

Hotel B does not have gym facilities which Hotel C offers. But in

general, Hotel D is considered a middle-ranking hotel.

Table 1.5 presents the room rates, location, facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel E.

Table 1.5
Ranking factors of Hotel E

Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel

Rates Rank
Hotel E Php 675- Located at the Room service at Lowest-
Php downtown area selected hours ranked
1,600

Near shopping Porter service upon

malls request

Chinese wholesale
stores at the
Medical service
 vicinity
Airport transfer
Near bar houses

Fastfoods,
carenderias and
cafeterias
outside

A university at
the vicinity

This hotel is offers the lowest room rates of all the six hotels

chosen. Its lowest amount is Php 675 only. Hotel E is located at the

downtown area of Cebu City with surrounding carenderias, bar houses,

and Chinese boutiques. This means that most of the people who go to

this area prefer lesser expenses. In this matter, Hotel E is

considered as a lowest-ranking hotel.

Table 1.6 presents the room rates, location, and facilities, and

hotel rank of Hotel F.

Table 1.6
Ranking factors of Hotel F

Hotel Room Location Facilities Hotel

Rates Rank
Hotel F Php 695- Located at the Room service at Lowest-
Php central part of selected hours ranked
1,900 the city

Porter service upon

Near shopping request
malls
 Near bar houses
Swimming Pool
Fastfoods and
cafeterias
outside Cafeteria

Public and
private schools
for pre-school,
elementary and
highschool

Hotel E ranks second to the lowest of the six hotels. Through its

room rates shown, it also has the second to the lowest amount of room

offered which is Php 695. The location of Hotel F is in the middle

part of the city but not in the main road. There are also bars and

clubs nearby the hotel. Hotel F has a swimming pool which highest-

ranking and middle-ranking hotels are supposed to offer. This is the

only facility that Hotel F offers as the higher class hotels do. But

all in all, this hotel is included in lowest-ranking hotels.

Highest-ranking Hotels. Deluxe class and First class hotels were

considered as Highest-ranking hotels. These hotels have almost the

same features and services offered. Its locality and style have the

distinguishing quality of a luxury and first class hotel of

international standard (Rules And Regulations To Govern The

Accreditation Of Hotels, Tourists Inns, Motels, Apartels, Resorts,

Pension Houses And Other Accommodation Establishments, 1991).

 These hotels have certain services offered that are not found in

the following hotel ranks. Business centers and Limousine are not

found in the second hotel but all other facilities exist. Boonya-aruk

(1973) described this kind of hotels that can provide all the

facilities and personal services needed by guests of the hotel where

there is no need for the guests to make effort to find these services

outside of the hotel. These hotels cater to travelling salesmen and

businessmen from a large market. Hotels in large cities attract many

people for business or pleasure (Joyohoy, 2000). A whole range of

services is offered. In this sense, there is a systematic difference

between institutions or people because of the usual works of society

(Barber, 1957:1-3 in Labov, 1966b).

Middle-ranking Hotels. A Standard class hotel is a middle-ranked

hotel. The architectural features of the building and operation are

suited for a very good hotel of very good standard (Rules And

Regulations To Govern The Accreditation Of Hotels, Tourists Inns,

Motels, Apartels, Resorts, Pension Houses And Other Accommodation

Establishments, 1991).

In Hotel D, there are gym facilities and spa services which are

the only services not found in Hotel C. As seen on Hotel B, a suite

for 30 guests, bathtub, a telephone extension line to the bathroom,

and some recreational facilities such as tennis, golf, and squash are

not offered in middle-ranking hotels. In Boonya-aruk (1973) thesis,

people who prefer middle-ranked hotels seek practicability rather than

luxury. Middle-ranking hotels are neutrally the choice of people

because it has still a presentable setting with affordable price

rates. Cabillada (2001 in Remonde, 2002) claims that the public of a

hotel is considered as its showcase. The imprints about the public

areas formed by potential clients affect their decision to stay in the

hotel in the future or recommend the hotel to friends and colleagues

(Cabillada, 2001 in Remonde, 2002).

Lowest-ranking Hotels. The environs and features of an economy

class hotel are counted in as features of a low-ranking hotel. Its

approaches and facilities are of good standard. (Rules And Regulations

To Govern The Accreditation Of Hotels, Tourists Inns, Motels,

Apartels, Resorts, Pension Houses And Other Accommodation

Establishments, 1991).

There are a number of services offered in Hotel F which Hotel E

does not offer. Instead of a dining room, Hotel E has only a

cafeteria. There are no swimming pool, parking area and medical

services in Hotel E. Although a swimming pool is commonly found only

in highest-ranking and middle-ranking hotels, Hotel F has a pool on

their sixth floor. Clients who prefer lowest-ranking hotels are those

who find cheaper accommodation for a day or hours only (Boonya-aruk,

1973).
 TYPES OF SPEECH

Casual speech reduces articulation, thus helping the speaker more

than the hearer. If the informant develops a response into a personal

narrative, that narrative becomes category in casual speech. Emphatic

speech enhances the acoustic properties of the speech signal, thus

helping the hearer more than the speaker.

 The phonological variables used in this study are the

consonant /ʒ/which cannot be found in Cebuano phonology and the high

front tense vowel /ᴂ/ which is absent and unmatched in the native

sound system.

The data gathered from the six Cebu City hotels showed the causal

and emphatic speech uttered by the random receptionists on the said

hotels. For the phonological variable /ʒ/, the researchers used the

word ‘massage’ while for the /ᴂ/ variable, the word ‘manager’ was

used. The interview or conversation was made as spontaneous as

possible. The researchers asked questions that would let the

respondents utter the words ‘massage’ and ‘manager’ and in order to

get the emphatic response, the researchers would pretend that they

didn’t hear what they said so that the receptionist would repeat the

word. They also asked specific questions that would let the

respondents utter the word ‘manager’ again.

Tables 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3 show the transcribed words uttered by the

receptionists, may it be casual or emphatic speech.

Table 2.1
Casual & Emphatic Speech of the receptionists from the Highest-ranking
hotel.

Highest-ranking Casual Speech Emphatic Speech

Hotel

/ʒ/ /ᴂ/ /ʒ/ /ᴂ/

Hotel A m∂saƷ mᴂnədƷɚ m∂sadƷ mԑnədƷɚ
Hotel B m∂saƷ mԑnədƷɚ m∂saƷ mᴂnədƷɚ
 Table 2.1 shows that receptionists in hotels A & B correctly

pronounced the word m∂saʒ in casual speech but hotel B’s receptionist

wrongly pronounced it in the Emphatic speech. Emphatic style must be

conceived as dynamic, relational, interactional accomplishments

(Selting, 1994). Styles are flexible entities which are used to signal

interactionally relevant meanings and contextualizations like

“emphasis”. Only hotel B’s receptionist pronounced the word ‘manager'

in emphatic speech correctly.

Table 2.2
Casual & Emphatic Speech of the receptionists from the Middle-ranking
hotel.

Middle-ranking Casual Speech Emphatic Speech

Hotel

/ʒ/ ᴂ /ʒ/ /ᴂ/

Hotel C məsadƷ m^nədƷɚ məsad∫ m^nədƷɚ
Hotel D məsadƷ manədƷɚ məsad∫ manədƷɚ

Table 2.2 Receptionists in hotels C & D were not able to

pronounce the words ‘massage’ and ‘manager’ correctly. Hotels C & D

pronounced the word massage [məsaʒ] in the emphatic speech as [məsad∫]

mainly because the fronto-palatal sibilant /∫/ is formed in somewhat

the same manner as /ʒ/but instead of the apex, the blade front of the

tongue is used to direct a somewhat major stream of air against the

alveolar ridge rather than the teeth (Bulabog, 1970). Casual speech,

on the other hand, seemed to be constrained as phonetically natural.

Certain vowel reductions in some extreme cases can be explained as the

inevitable result of increasing speech: the articulators simply cannot

achieve their targets in the time available (Lindblom, 1963).

Table 2.3
Casual & Emphatic Speech of the receptionists from the Lowest-ranking
hotel.

Lowest Ranking Casual Speech Emphatic Speech

Hotel

/ʒ/ /ᴂ/ /ʒ/ /ᴂ/

Hotel E m∂sad∫ m^nədƷɚ m∂sad∫ m^nədƷɚ
Hotel F m∂sad∫ m^nədƷɚ m∂sadƷ m^nədƷɚ

Table 2.3 Hotels E and F’sreceptionists didn’t pronounce the

words ‘massage’ and ‘manager’ correctly. Hotel E had the same

pronunciations in both casual and emphatic speech. Instead of /Ʒ/ in

‘massage’, the receptionist pronounced it as /d∫/ and instead of /ᴂ/

in ‘manager’,it was pronounced as /^/which hotel F had the same

pronunciation in the casual speech as Hotel E but alters /d∫/ to /dʒ/

in emphatic speech.

Casual Speech. Casual speech is fast, and stylistically intimate

and informal. This can be reflected in the notion of the speaker’s

vernacular where the speech is spoken in the most natural way, before

an overlay of correction and when the speaker is not monitoring the

speech (Eckert and Rickford, 2001). The processes are inhibited to be

phonetically natural and are usually “euphonic” which serve ease or

brevity (Zwicky, 1972).

“Sample 1 /Ʒ/ (Hotel B)”

 “naai in-house massage[məsaƷ] perolahiang in charge ana.”

“Sample 2 /ᴂ/(Hotel E)”

“ay, I kuannalangnininyo ma’am, to the manage—to the manager
[m^nədƷɚ]lang”

The transcribed word shows that the receptionist pronounced the

word massage [məsaƷ] correctly. /Ʒ/ is fronto-palatal sound which has

alveolar articulation together with a simultaneous raising of the main

body of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth. Its distribution is

limited in English, it occurs only medially and finally. There are

only two monosyllabic words with /ʒ/ (Gleason, 1961). The word

‘manager’ is supposed to be pronounced as [mᴂnədƷɚ] but the

receptionist from this sample pronounced it as [m^nədƷɚ]which is

incorrect. Casual speech processes that are already familiar from

native speech, however, are easy to adapt to; indeed, our results even

suggest that it is possible for subtle differences in their occurrence

patterns across the two languages to be detected, and to be

accommodated in second-language listening (Cutler&Tuinman, 2011).

Emphatic Speech. Emphatic speech is an expression and/or

manifestation of a speaker's heightened emotive involvement, which is

expressed and signaled bylinguistic cues, be this for reasons of high

contrast or unexpectedness, high positive or negative emotional load,

“animatedness”, etc. Emphatic style is used to highlight any

particular activity or any particular kind of emotive expression with

which it occurs. It suggests and triggers interpretive frames of

“emphasis” or“emphatic involvement”.The interpretation of emphasis is

contextualized and induced by the speaker'schoice of a style-shift

within the same speech event from an unmarked “normal”style to a

contextually and sequentially “marked” style (Selting, 1994).

“Sample 3 /Ʒ/ (Hotel E)”

“Wala man ta’y massage [məsad∫] room.”

“Sample 4 /ᴂ/ (Hotel A)”

“General Manager [mԑnədƷɚ].”

The voiced fronto-palatal /ʒ/ is formed like /∫/ with the

addition of voice making it a seldom mistake of pronunciation for

speakers just like the sample. The orifice is similar to that of /ᴂ/

but is slightly bigger in size. Because of the similarity of the two

phonological variables, the / ᴂ / is often mispronounced as /ԑ/. The

phoneme /ᴂ/ is absent and unmatched in Cebuano phonology thus making

it hard for the respondent to pronounce it correctly (Bulabog, 1968).

Cebuano-Visayan is spelled as sounded – each phoneme (vowel as well as

consonant) corresponds to a particular grapheme (letter of the

alphabet), hence the alphabetic spelling system is the most

appropriate, observationally and descriptively adequate powerful

linear description of its orthography in correspondence to its

phonology (Pesirla, 2006).

 FORMS OF PRESTIGE

The prestige of Cebuano language is its conformation to the

English language. In terms of work, the principal stratifying outcome

upon the employees and their working conditions in the same order is

prestige, not their wages (Labov 2009:43 of Mather). In this sense,

prestige is a high standing achieved through success for the sense of

belonging to a community. In this study, the casual and emphatic

speeches of the informant were analyzed in order to determine the

prestige adopted by the receptionist, generally by the hotel, as it

trains the staff in their allocated job. Eckert &Rickford (2001)

further gave an explanation to this, mentioning that Labov

characterized each speaker’s speech style in relation to two ends.

First, the “prestigious” end is the result of more formal, careful

speech. Second, the “stigmatized” end is the result of more casual,

unmonitored speech.

There are two forms of prestige shown in Labov (1966) study on

the social stratification of /r/ in New York City department stores.

First, overt prestige is about seeking prestige by conforming to the

standard. The other one is covert prestige, which is about choosing to

differ from the standard. As mentioned, standard is the linguistic

pattern of a speech community (Mather, no year).

Overt prestige in Labov (1966) was manifested the employees from

Saks used rhotic /r/ most, showing that this form of prestige in New

York City favored rhoticity. As to the case of this study conducted,

the data gathered showed that the proper use of /ʒ/ and /ᴂ/ in the
words ‘massage’ and ‘manager’ is only revealed in Hotel A’s

receptionist’s casual speech and the word and ‘massage’ in Hotel B’s

receptionist’s casual and emphatic speech and ‘manager’ in emphatic

speech. Hotels A and B has showed the overt prestige.

Covert prestige, as described by Labov (1966), is showed from

those of Klein’s. The employees used it least since they identified

more with their working-class clientele. As researched, Hotels C, D,

E, and F used this form of prestige because the receptionists did not

pronounce the /ʒ/ in massage and /ᴂ/ in ‘manager’ correctly.

Table 3 presents the forms of prestige that the hotels ranked

adopt, either overt prestige or covert prestige.

Table 3
Forms of Prestige

Hotel Rank Overt Prestige Covert Prestige

/ʒ/ /ᴂ/ /ʒ/ /ᴂ/

Highest-ranking Hotels 3 2 1 2
Middle-ranking Hotels 0 0 4 4
Lowest-ranking Hotels 0 0 4 4

The frequency presented in the table is based on the number of

the two words spoken in two types of speeches. Highest-ranking hotels

got the highest number of correct pronunciation of ‘massage’ and two

pronunciations of ‘manager’─ one for casual speech, and one for

emphatic speech.
Overt Prestige. This is a positive or negative assessment of variants

or of a speech variety in accordance with the dominant norms of public

media, educational institutions and upper-middle class speech (Labov,

1966).

“Sample 5 (Hotel A)”

“General Manager [mᴂnədƷɚ], ma’am”

“Sample 6 (Hotel B)”

“no, we only have a massage [m^saʒ]”

Hotels A and B are highest-ranking hotels. These hotels showed an

adoption of overt prestige. Hotel A’s receptionist only pronounced the

word ‘manager’ correctly and the word ‘massage’ only in the casual

speech. Whereas, receptionist in Hotel B pronounced ‘massage’

correctly both in casual and emphatic speech. The receptionists spoke

the words partially correct and so they manifested prestige in their

linguistic pattern.Wardhaugh (2010) claims that the situation becomes

more formal, the linguistic usage of a speaker becomes closer to the

standard usage of the language, and the higher the social class, the

more standard too is the behavior of the individual.

Covert Prestige. This form is a set of differing values implied in

lower and working class lifestyles, which do not appear in

conventional subjective-reaction tests (Labov, 1966).

“Sample 7 (Hotel D)”

“bastamaosiyagihapon.. to the manager [m^nədƷɚ] na lang.. ha?”

 “Sample 8 (Hotel E)”

“naata’ymassage [məsad∫]”

Middle-ranking and lowest-ranking hotels showed a covert form of

prestige. Receptionists of Hotel D and Hotel E did not pronounce the

words correctly in how it is used in the standard pronunciation of

English language. In this matter, the middle-ranking and lowest-

ranking hotels did not adopt the language of the higher status

society.Panakrama (1995 in Jenkins 2003) argues that the standard

language discriminate those who don’t conform, and has systematically

worked against the under-class. Differing from standard is said to

have covert prestige. It signals that those who use the nonstandard

forms have no hesitation in identifying with the local community

through putting assertion to local dependability(Wardhaugh, 2010).

A social stratification in the hotels can be distinguished if

there is a presence of these both forms of prestige. As shown in the

results, overt prestige is adopted by highest-ranking hotels and

covert prestige is applied by middle and lowest ranking hotels. With

this, it can be determined that the standard language is only used

mostly by the high class society.