Stella Takvoryan

"We Pray for Our Nation an(d) Our Worl(d)"

Introduction

"we pray for our nation an(d) our worl(d)". Examines how race and context influence word-final alveolar stops (-/t/, -/d/) in US Inaugural Prayers. Compares African-American and white speakers' articulation for authority vs. familiarity.

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of race, context, and white public space on the extent to which speakers articulate, hyperarticulate, hypo-articulate, or glottalize word-final English alveolar stops -/t/ and -/d/ in the controlled environment of the quadrennial US Presidential Inaugural Prayer. It shows that African-American speakers hyperarticulated and articulated /t,d/ more frequently than the white speaker, who hypo-articulated and glottalized /t,d/ consistently, especially on words like God, Lord, and Christ. These results suggest that the highly formal context required African-American speakers to perform /t,d/ to index themselves as authorities to an unfamiliar, white audience, while the white speaker did not consider race to influence listeners’ judgements of him, allowing him to index familiarity and trustworthiness. 

Review

The paper, titled "We Pray for Our Nation an(d) Our Worl(d)," presents a compelling sociophonetic analysis of word-final English alveolar stops -/t/ and -/d/ within the highly specific context of the US Presidential Inaugural Prayer. The abstract clearly outlines an investigation into how race, context, and the concept of "white public space" influence the articulation, hyperarticulation, hypo-articulation, and glottalization of these sounds. The core finding is significant: African-American speakers appear to hyperarticulate and articulate /t,d/ more frequently, contrasting sharply with a white speaker who consistently hypo-articulated and glottalized them, particularly on salient words like "God," "Lord," and "Christ." This differential phonetic performance is interpreted as a strategic indexing of authority versus familiarity, depending on the speaker's racial identity and perceived audience. This study offers a valuable contribution to the fields of sociophonetics and critical discourse analysis by examining phonetic variation in a controlled, high-stakes communicative environment. The choice of the quadrennial US Presidential Inaugural Prayer provides a rich dataset for exploring how linguistic performance is shaped by social factors and power dynamics. The detailed analysis of specific phonetic phenomena – articulation, hyperarticulation, hypo-articulation, and glottalization – demonstrates a robust methodological approach to capturing subtle yet meaningful variations. The paper's strength lies in its attempt to link these micro-level phonetic differences to macro-level social implications, particularly concerning how speakers manage their identity and perceived authority or trustworthiness when addressing a potentially unfamiliar or racially diverse audience in a "white public space." While the findings are intriguing and well-articulated in the abstract, potential areas for further consideration emerge. The abstract mentions "African-American speakers" in the plural but refers to "the white speaker" in the singular, which raises questions about sample size and the generalizability of conclusions drawn from a single white speaker's performance. Future research could benefit from a larger, more balanced corpus to strengthen these comparisons. Additionally, while the interpretations of "indexing authority" and "familiarity and trustworthiness" are compelling, the abstract doesn't detail how these social meanings are explicitly substantiated beyond the phonetic patterns themselves. Expanding on the theoretical framework for "white public space" and exploring potential listener perceptions of these distinct articulatory strategies would further enrich the analysis. Nevertheless, this paper appears to be a timely and important exploration of how race and context intersect in linguistic performance, offering insights into the performative aspects of identity in formal public discourse.

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