ABSTRACT

Labov has suggested that non-standard varieties are usually represented in stereotypic ways in literature because the author wants to heighten or enrich the local flavor of speech, or because

the author hears this “marked” behavior as invariant when in fact it is variable. The two reasons actually coincide, since it can be stated more simply that people perceive speech in categorical terms, even though they behave in accordance with variable rules, and the novelist’s practice reflects his perception and his intention. On the other hand, there will be unnoticed inconsistencies where the author’s own grammar appears without his realizing it. (1969:62).