ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the site where the data was collected, the general characteristics of the speakers involved, and methods used for collecting the data. It provides examples of conversational excerpts with individual speakers in order to illustrate how this coding took place in practice. Milroy gives an explicit account of how male peer networks can constrain speech by preserving conservative, local norms whereas women's broader network ties facilitate their mobility as innovators. The indexical appropriation involves, for example, the use of individual Mandarin variables including nonmainland 'full tone' as the speech style used by young managers in Beijing's wealthy elite 'yuppies'. As Durham language learners keep track of how these effects intersect, then they learn speech norms in the community. In this sense, the words around them—their local, everyday linguistic experience—is absolutely critical to becoming a member of the Durham speech community as a 'repertoire' that is accessible to all speakers regardless of ethnicity.
