Sociophonetics: Implications for Phonological and Phonetic Theory

This book provides a critical overview of sociophonetic research and considers how the findings of this field illuminate and problematize a range of central issues in phonetics and phonology. The core argument of the volume is that research carried out under the aegis of sociophonetics is uniquely positioned to address core questions in phonetic and phonological theory; to raise new questions for research; to improve theories of how the sounds of language are represented, structured, produced, and perceived; and to discern the relationship between the linguistic system and the social context in which speech production and perception occur. The chapters address three key areas of impact for sociophonetic research - linguistic structure, the relationships between perception, production, and social representations, and language change - and outline further opportunities for interdisciplinary synergy. The book will appeal to researchers interested in questions surrounding phonological and phonetic representations and processes, and to scholars whose focus is the social patterning of phonetic variation; it also provides valuable suggestions for the design of future studies and the re-analysis of existing data.

Jennifer Nycz, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Lauren Hall-Lew, Professor and Personal Chair of Sociolinguistics, University of Edinburgh

Jennifer Nycz is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on accent change in mobile speakers of English, the phonetic and phonological impacts of new dialect input on vowel systems, and how place identity influences the way people use language.

Lauren Hall-Lew is Professor and Personal Chair of Sociolinguistics at the University of Edinburgh. She specialized in phonetic variation and change, with particular interest in the analysis of socioindexical meaning and its potential role in language change.