Volume VI Special Issue I January 2026

Name of Author : Anupama T

Title of the paper : The Accent of Hospitality: Sociophonetic Variation among Tourism Workers in Kerala

Abstract: This paper examines how tourism workers in Kerala particularly guides, receptionists, and taxi drivers modify their pronunciation and overall speech styles when communicating with interstate and international tourists. Grounded in sociophonetic theory, the study focuses on phonetic convergence as both a communicative strategy and an economic necessity in a multilingual service environment where clarity and customer satisfaction directly influence employability. The research involves field recordings collected at major tourist destinations and listener perception surveys that evaluate how diverse tourist groups receive these speech shifts. Analytical attention is given to changes in vowel quality, rhythm, intonation, and segmental substitutions influenced by English and other contact languages. Findings indicate that workers speech adaptations enhance intelligibility, reduce perceived social distance, and help construct an image of professionalism and global awareness. These shifts also reflect the broader linguistic politics and aspirations of Keralas tourism sector, revealing how everyday speech becomes a site for negotiating identity, power, and upward mobility in a rapidly globalising economy.

Keywords : sociophonetics, tourism communication, phonetic convergence, accent adaptation, Kerala

DOI :

Page Number : 126-135