Dialectology

When first published in 1980, Dialectology broke new ground by integrating urban dialectology (sociolinguistics), dialect geography and spatial variation into a cohesive discipline. In this second edition, the authors take account of the renaissance of dialect research in the last twenty years. They offer new sections on dialectometry and mapping variability, a revised section on dialect geography as well as updates of other recent developments. A reliable textbook for over seventeen years, this new edition will continue to serve the needs of undergraduates and individual scholars with its comprehensive coverage of methods, models and findings in the study of language variation and change.

• Revised edition of the first comprehensive survey of dialect variation, giving an integrated account of the social and regional aspects of dialectology • Invaluable textbook for undergraduates as well as pointing individual scholars towards new and stimulating research areas • New sections on dialectometry and mapping variability, as well as updates of recent developments

Preface to the second edition; List of maps; List of figures; List of tables; The International Phonetic Alphabet; Part I. Background: 1. Dialect and language; 2. Dialect geography; 3. Dialectology and linguistics; 4. Urban dialectology; Part II. Social Variation: 5. Social differentiation and language; 6. Sociolinguistic structure and linguistic innovation; Part III. Spatial Variation: 7. Boundaries; 8. Transitions; Part IV. Mechanisms of Variation: 9. Variability; 10. Diffusion: sociolinguistic and lexical; 11. Diffusion: geographical; 12. Towards geolinguistics; Bibliography; Index.

‘The book can, and without doubt will, serve as a valuable introduction to the field of dialectology, its basic notions, methodology and lines of future development to numerous students of disciplines related to either linguistics or social studies.’ The Linguist