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Academic Paper

Title:	The past, present, and future of English dialects: Quantifying convergence, divergence, and dynamic equilibrium
Author:	Warren Maguire
Institution:	University of Edinburgh
Author:	April McMahon
Institution:	Cambridge University
Author:	Paul Heggarty
Email:	click here to access email
Homepage:	http://www.languagesandpeoples.com
Institution:	Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Author:	Dan Dediu
Institution:	Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Linguistic Field:	Phonetics; Phonology; Sociolinguistics
Subject Language:	English
Abstract:	This article reports on research which seeks to compare and measure the similarities between phonetic transcriptions in the analysis of relationships between varieties of English. It addresses the question of whether these varieties have been converging, diverging, or maintaining equilibrium as a result of endogenous and exogenous phonetic and phonological changes. We argue that it is only possible to identify such patterns of change by the simultaneous comparison of a wide range of varieties of a language across a data set that has not been specifically selected to highlight those changes that are believed to be important. Our analysis suggests that although there has been an obvious reduction in regional variation with the loss of traditional dialects of English and Scots, there has not been any significant convergence (or divergence) of regional accents of English in recent decades, despite the rapid spread of a number of features such as TH-fronting.

	This article appears in Language Variation and Change Vol. 22, Issue 1, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST .

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