Keywords

sociophonetics–dialectology convergence, interwoven social, phonetic, and dialectal strands, standard Italian mid-vowel variation

Abstract

In this chapter we explore how the investigation of phonetic detail in speech seen through a sociolinguistic lens can inform and enhance our understanding of dialectal variation in languages. We begin by examining how sociophonetics can be considered an offshoot of dialectology, later to mature into a free- standing discipline during the late twentieth century. We next discuss the reconvergence of sociophonetics and dialectology as it became clearer that the two approaches to the study of language variation are, in combination, greater than the sum of their parts, even if their agendas may place different emphases on what should be studied, and how. We then carry out a three- part review of relevant literature, focusing first on the “socio- ” element of sociophonetics, then on the “phonetics” part, and finally on “dialect,” to see how these three strands have been interwoven. They lay the ground for discussion of a case study, which maps variation in the mid vowels of Standard Italian. This represents an excursion into sociophonetic dialectology outside the United Kingdom and United States, on which most of our discussion and review otherwise focus. We finally offer a reflection on where we currently stand regarding research at the meeting point of sociophonetics and dialectology, and some speculative projections about where we appear to be heading.

Original Publication Citation

Dominic Watt, Margaret E. L. Renwick, & Joseph A. Stanley. “Sociophonetics and dialectology.” In Strelluf, Christopher. Routledge Handbook of Sociophonetics, 263–284. Routledge, London. 263–284.