ABSTRACT
This chapter examines if—and how—usage of word-final slit-t (a fricated variant) is related to emphasizing the epistemic status of the speaker. Analysis suggests that instances of the usage of slit-t is often found in discourse when the speakers are speaking from a position of knowledge or authority. Section 1 presents the statistical analysis, which examines the correlation between variation in the consonant response variable and three types of predictors (linguistic, social attributes, and interactional variables). This highlights the patterns and trends of variation that deserve more attention and interpretation, before qualitative analysis focuses on how interviewees display knowledge or assert expertise. I examine the interactional meanings pursued by participants, and how these contribute to identity construction. The stance commonalities of discourse functions of the slit-t variant include indicating a speaker will adopt a sociopragmatic position, introducing a point of sociopragmatic weight, ‘doing’ sociopragmatic work with a pause, and to emphasize a point. The conclusion summarizes the findings, and how they relate to theories of sociolinguistic variation.
