Linguistic behavior and religious activity

•We compare Mormons who are active religiously, those who aren't, and non-Mormons.•We examine the groups' vowel systems.•There are significant differences between the groups for some vowels.•The inactive Mormons are more different from active Mormons than non-Mormons.•Researchers should elicit measures of religious activity along with affiliation.

Studies have found that Mormons and non-Mormons in Utah exhibit significant linguistic differences. We break this down further by investigating whether there are also differences between Mormons who actively participate in the religion and those who do not, and find significant differences with a medium or larger effect size between the groups for multiple variables. We conclude that when investigating the linguistic correlates of religious affiliation in a community, it is vital to elicit not just respondents' religious affiliations, but also their level of participation within that religion.