Age, race/ethnicity and gender are three key determinants of language use. Age determines the lexical choices we make, and it can determine the use of HRT (High Rising Terminal) , a feature of some English accents in which statements have a rising intonation pattern in the final syllable or syllables of the utterance. Race and ethnicity are also determinants of language use because each regional variety of a language has a slightly different lexicon, and this is key to identifying the specific ethnic group.
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