A Survey of Sound Change in Progress in North American English

摘要这是一个试验性项目，旨在开发和完善一种合适的调查方法，以调查正在进行中的语言变化的一些关键特征。在过去的两个世纪里，对音变的研究导致了一些关于音变传播的一般原则的制定。尽管在特定社区研究的基础上开发了一些包含这些原则的具体量化模型，但在更大范围内证实这些模型的努力有限。这个试点项目的目的是为收集北美英语的大陆样本奠定基础，目的是对语音变化的四个一般原则进行定量的、实证的测试。试点项目将集中在美国中西部北部的一个地区，包括北伊利诺伊州、爱荷华州、威斯康星州和明尼苏达州。这一地区的语音样本将通过电话访谈获得，结果将通过工具和传统的语音分析技术进行分析。试点项目将检验和完善研究方法，为今后开展更大范围的项目提供基础。

ABSTRACT This is a pilot project to develop and refine a suitable survey methodology for investigating some key features of language change in progress. Studies of sound change over the past two centuries have led to the formulation of a number of general principles governing the spread of sound change. Though some specific quantitative models incorporating these principles have been developed on the basis of specific community studies, efforts to confirm the models on a larger scale have been limited. The aim of this pilot project is to lay the groundwork for collecting a continental sample of North American English, with the aim of a quantitative, empirical test of four general principles of sound change. The pilot project will focus on an area of the upper U. S. Midwest, including Northern Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Speech samples from this area will be obtained via telephone interviews, and the results analyzed by both instrumental and traditional techniques of phonetic analysis. The pilot project will test and improve the research methodology, providing the basis for developing the broader-scale project to be carried out in the future.