Introduction

The long history of English dialectology has furnished a wealth of information on variation in the language. The most extensive record concerns the geographical distribution of segmental variables. More recently, the pioneering work of investigators such as Labov (1966, 1994, 2001), Trudgill (1974, 2002a), L. Milroy (1987), J. Milroy (1992) and Eckert (2000) has revealed the social constraints on variation. Instrumental methods have further enhanced our understanding of the fine-grained and gradient nature of variation.

It is not possible in the space available in this chapter to provide a comprehensive descriptive survey of phonological variation in English. Instead, our aim is to provide a critical summary of work from the last twenty years or so, since the first edition of this book was in preparation. While our focus is on the English of England, we also draw comparisons with other varieties of English, and indeed other languages, where it is pertinent to do so.

We begin by outlining key developments in methodology and analysis.