#3372. In the Ear of the Listener: The Role of Foreign Accent in Interethnic Friendships and Partnerships

October 2026publication date
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Journal’s subject area:
Demography;
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous);
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Abstract:
The research examines the association between accented speech and the formation of friendships and partnerships among immigrants and native-born majority residents. We argue that beyond its primary function of understandability, accented speech possesses socially communicative power. Accent transmits signals of an individual’s foreignness and cultural differences and, thus, becomes an additional marker of social distance. Such signals serve as a greater obstacle to more consequential intimate interethnic relations such as partnerships. Our findings extend the scholarly debate on the role of symbolic boundaries in social interactions between ethnic groups by yet another important boundary maker — accent.
Keywords:
interethnic friendship; interethnic partnership; language and accent

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