Characterizing Urban Youth Speech Styles in Utrecht and on the Internet

Abstract

In the past decade there is a growing interest in Urban Youth Speech Styles (UYSS). In this article Dutch UYSS is the focus of attention. The basic question to be addressed is whether the identifying characteristics and functions of spoken UYSS can be used and recognized in written form on the Internet as well. There is no standardized form of UYSS and the use of it is restricted to members of specific subcultures, not necessarily linked to specific ethnic groups. First, linguistic and functional characteristics of UYSS as they are used in the Netherlands will be described. Linguistically, a distinction is made between lexical, grammatical and phonetic/prosodic aspects. Furthermore, a closer look will be taken at the use of UYSS on the Internet (mostly through rap) and examples of the use of UYSS in written comments on the rap videos will be presented and compared to the spoken varieties. It will be shown how written clues are used for identification purposes that are usually non-linguistic in oral encounters (i.e. classification of speech partners on the basis of what they look like, how they sound, etc.). Most of the analysis is based on a rap video by Relschoppers, a group of young Utrecht based Moroccan- and Turkish-Dutch rappers, and the comments on their video. In a separate section some attention is paid to Flemish participants in the Internet-discussions. They seem to use UYSS in a way that differs from their Dutch peers. Finally a short conclusion and outlook is given, showing that the question asked in the beginning can be answered affirmative: identifying characteristics and functions of UYSS can be used and recognized in written form on the Internet as well.