Linguistic profiling is the practice of identifying the social characteristics of an individual based on auditory cues, in particular dialect and accent. The theory was first developed by Professor John Baugh to explain discriminatory practices in the housing market based on the auditory redlining of prospective clientele by housing administrators. Linguistic profiling extends to issues of legal proceedings, employment opportunities, and education. The theory is frequently described as the auditory equivalent of racial profiling. The bulk of the research and evidence in support of the theory pertain to racial and ethnic distinctions, though its applicability holds within racial or ethnic groups, perceived gender and sexual orientation, and in distinguishing location of geographic origin. Baugh's theory is distinct from linguistic profiling as defined by Hans van Halteren from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Van Halteren's theory deals with the categorization of linguistic features for the purposes of author identification and verification from a text, not necessarily specifically addressing the socially defined categories within which they are included.
Discrimination An important distinction exists between the many uses of linguistic profiling and the potential for discriminatory treatment. The power to determine origin or racial identity based on speech can be utilized without overt discrimination, as argued in several court cases where voice was used in the prosecution of a suspect. The negative effects of linguistic profiling are seen in the practice of denying housing or employment based on stereotypes associated with dialect and/or accent. Further negative practices are associated with education and general treatment of individuals speaking stigmatized dialects. A more positive view of the practice is found in Baugh's description of expressions of ethnic pride. Though average people have been shown to be well equipped in measuring social characteristics by means of speech, the failings of those unfamiliar with a speech community and the capability of manipulation of speech should be taken into account when determining the unbiased use of linguistic profiling.
Ascribed categories
Race
Between racial groups The primary research done on linguistic profiling was a result of linguist John Baugh's experience searching for housing as an African American. Baugh found a discrepancy between the proclaimed availability of an apartment in a phone interview, in which he utilized Standard American English, and its apparent unavailability upon a face-to-face meeting with the landlord. The changed conception of the housing administrator between auditory and visual cues pointed to overt discrimination based on race. Baugh, Purnell, and Idsardi completed a set of four experiments based on the identification of dialects in American English. The resulting findings were:
Discrimination based on dialect does occur. It is possible for naïve listeners to identify ethnicity through speech. Very little speech is required to make an accurate identification.
Discrimination based on American English dialect The first experiment involved a series of telephone surveys in which a single speaker requested housing in the chosen dialects of Chicano English, African American Vernacular English, and Standard American English. Each landlord selected was subject to three requests in these three dialects, and the correlating negative and positive responses to call-back appointments were shown to favor speakers of Standard American English. Their findings for the percent of call-backs for the two cities of Palo Alto and Woodside, which had African American and Hispanic Americans populations less than 5%, were as follows:
Of the four geographical locations chosen in the study, those with the lowest populations of African Americans and Hispanic Americans were shown to have the greatest bias towards the non-standard dialects.
Distinguishing dialect In order to determine the ability of people to distinguish dialect, a separate experiment was conducted. Fifty undergraduate students, all Caucasian speakers of Standard American English, were asked to identify the ethnicity behind a recording of the word "hello" spoken in either Chicano English, African American Vernacular English, and Standard American English. Respondents were able to identify the correct dialect more than 70% of the time. Chicano English was found to be more easily identifiable than African American Vernacular English.
Within racial groups While much evidence has been collected describing linguistic profiling between racial groups within a speech community, linguistic profiling also extends to members within a racial or ethnic group. This is evidenced by a study conducted by Jaquelyn Rahman describing the perception of middle class African Americans to African American Vernacular English, or AAVE, and Standard American English. She found that subjects associated AAVE with their heritage, while perceiving African Americans who used Standard English as "acting white".
Chinese American and Korean American English speech An intra-racial distinction was researched by Newman and Wu, who conducted a study in which subjects were asked to identify various speakers based on race; the speakers included Latinos, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans, and white speakers. Listeners tended to successfully categorize speakers as Latino, African American, white or Asian; often, they could not discern between Chinese American and Korean American English speakers, although phonetic differences exist. It has been found that Korean American and Chinese American English speakers tend to have a longer voice onset time (VOT), or the length of time between a plosive and voicing, than other speakers of Standard American English. Furthermore, Korean American speakers tend to have a longer VOT than Chinese American speakers. This distinction is apparent when considering the VOT of the phonemes [ph], [kh] and [th].
Another distinction between Korean American and Chinese American English speakers can be found in the timing of spoken syllables, or rhythm. Chinese American speakers (in particular, males), tended to speak with a more regular timing of syllables than Korean American speakers.
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