Competing norms, heritage prestige, and

In this paper we argue that an understanding of the role of sociolinguistic norms in the spread of sound change needs to be able to model competing norms, and the indexical meanings of variants that drive them. Our argument is based on an analysis of /aw/-monophthongization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. (aw) is above the level of awareness, to the point that it is often used to represent localness in the media in this region. Our data are based on a 50-speaker random telephone survey of the Pittsburgh metropolitan standard area. The survey indicates that monophthongization is retreating, with men lagging behind women, and city-born residents lagging behind rural and suburban-born residents. We argue that the contraction is due to a change in norms: Those younger speakers who continue to use monophthongization are not being nonconformist, but rather are orienting to a local norm. Many other younger speakers are beginning to orient to a regional or national norm. Our findings have implications for how we understand norms in language change.