Revisiting the fou(r)th floo(r): English syllable coda (r) in Hong Kong shopping malls

Abstract

Abstract Revisiting Labov’s “fourth floor” paradigm, this study analyzes English syllable coda (r) across 11 socio-spatially stratified Hong Kong malls through production, perception, and rationalization data. Results reveal that rhoticity is driven by social factors (age, occupational role, mall class) over phonological or stylistic (careful/casual) ones, indexing cosmopolitan professionalism within a heterarchical prestige ecology. Perceptually, listeners associate rhoticity with clarity and education, while non-rhoticity evokes Britishness and local authenticity. Three patterns emerge: (1) weak style conditioning in production despite persistent style perception (though minor subgroup variation persists); (2) increased rhoticity in elite service roles alongside continued attachment to non-rhotic prestige; and (3) a partial “de-Americanization” of rhoticity, whereby the American-sounding quality of (r) is reinterpreted through functional and market-oriented meanings of clarity, competence, and global orientation. Findings suggest that, in Hong Kong, (r) operates less as a traditional marker of careful/casual speech and more as a flexible, pragmatic resource driven by the demands of a postcolonial, globalizing, neoliberal marketplace.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Language Variation and Change, 2026 · DOI ↗