On 22 November, Dr George Bailey (University of York) delivered the seminar 'Beyond the social: When variationist sociolinguistics meets phonological theory'. He presented three intriguing case studies of (socio)linguistic variation in British English dialects, with a focus on the language of the North-West of England: variation and change in /ng/ and the life cycle of phonological processes, frequency effects over time in /t/-glotalling, and the phonetic motivations of /s/-retraction. He showed that the three case studies highlight the value in paying due regard to phonological theory in sociolinguistic studies of sound change, that it is important to consider how internal factors constrain patterns of variation and change, and that the relationship between sociolinguistics and phonological theory is mutually beneficial.
