Sociophonetics

Abstract This chapter provides a broad overview of the field of sociophonetics, and argues that sociophonetic research provides a crucial empirical basis for theories of phonetics and phonology in several ways. First, sociophonetic research can uncover the range of variation that exists between varieties and speakers, which is important for positing constraints and evaluating typologies. Second, the study of within-speaker variation reveals implicational facts and other statistical regularities which should inform accounts both of individual grammars and of what a possible grammar looks like. Finally, observing both linguistic and social factors affecting variation can shed light on perception and production processes as well as the representation of linguistic units. This chapter will also introduce the remaining chapters of the book, which 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.