Canaan Zengyu Lan

“It makes It the Market”

Introduction

“it makes it the market”. Explore food-market speech styles and hawker personae through sociolinguistics. Discover how prosodic variables construct persuasive/aggressive styles, linked to gender, revealing authentic market-ness.

Abstract

Food-market speech is an under-researched area of third-wave variationist sociolinguistic studies. This study addresses the gap by exploring food-market speech styles and hawker personae. Combining descriptive auditory analysis and online questionnaire data, I demonstrate that situated discursive practices of prosodic variables construct both persuasive and aggressive speech styles, and they are stereotypically associated with female and male hawker personae. Furthermore, this paper also explores the ideological construal of hawking as authentic market-ness, further revealing the semiotic saliency and social significance of food-market hawking as not only the language of a speech community but the language of market.

Review

This paper offers a timely and insightful exploration into the under-researched domain of food-market speech within third-wave variationist sociolinguistics. The study effectively addresses a significant gap by delving into the intricate styles and hawker personae prevalent in these dynamic environments. The title, "It makes It the Market," perfectly encapsulates the central argument that the unique discursive practices of market hawkers are not merely incidental communication but are constitutive of the market's very identity and authenticity. The research promises to shed light on a fascinating linguistic ecology often overlooked in traditional sociolinguistic inquiry. The methodology employed, combining descriptive auditory analysis with online questionnaire data, appears robust and well-suited to the study's aims. This mixed-methods approach allows for a comprehensive understanding, linking empirical observation of prosodic variables to broader perceptions and ideologies. The findings are particularly compelling, demonstrating how situated discursive practices contribute to the construction of both persuasive and aggressive speech styles. Crucially, the paper reveals the stereotypical association of these styles with female and male hawker personae, adding a nuanced layer to our understanding of gender and professional identity in this specific context. Beyond its detailed linguistic analysis, the paper makes a significant contribution by exploring the ideological construal of hawking speech as emblematic of "authentic market-ness." This ideological dimension highlights the semiotic saliency and profound social significance of food-market hawking, arguing that it functions not just as the language of a particular speech community, but as the very "language of the market" itself. This conceptualization offers a valuable framework for understanding how language actively shapes and defines commercial spaces, and this research will undoubtedly stimulate further scholarly interest in the intersection of language, culture, and economic activity.

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