Abstract

This thesis is a language attitude survey which investigates the way in which the accents of Louisiana are perceived by the residents of the state, and what prestige, if any, is attached to each accent. To explore this topic, I recorded speech samples from speakers of different accents throughout the state. I then played these samples for a second group of respondents and asked them to evaluate the speakers in several attributes, and to guess where each was raised and how much education she had completed. I then : compared these evaluations and explored the perceptions of the respondents toward each ! I speaker and toward groups of speakers with similar accents.