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Abstract:
Self-perception and hetero-perception among Romanians from distinct geographical areas of Romania have not been an object of study for sociolinguistics so far. Instead, the topic of regional cultural stereotypes has been treated in press articles seeking easy topics and sensationalism, or, when specialists came into play, it has been treated mainly from the perspective of social psychology, paying attention mostly to cognitive schemes and behavioral patterns among all Romanians and less among inhabitants of different regions of the country. However, both the non-specialized and specialized approaches are very early to tackle the role of language in perceiving and representing the “difference”. The real deal here is the scientific analysis of the relationship between “how we/the others speak” and “how we represent ourselves/the others”. I will propose a new approach to the linguistic dimension of Romanian regional stereotypes, based on a sociophonetic experiment on a subnational scale, which will check out and deepen the relationship among the most recognizable linguistic features of regional speeches and cultural values, such as progress, education, wealth, urbanity, modernity, beauty, competence etc.