37.3455, Books: Consonantal Sound Change in American English: Ahlers (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3455. Wed 21 Oct 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3455, Books: Consonantal Sound Change in American English: Ahlers (2026)

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Date: 21-Oct-2026
From: Ellena Moriarty [rfsupport at cambridge.org]
Subject: Consonantal Sound Change in American English: Ahlers (2026)


Title: Consonantal Sound Change in American English
Subtitle: An Analysis of Clustered Sibilants
Series Title: Studies in English Language
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
           http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Author(s): Wiebke H. Ahlers

Paperback ISBN:  9781009069076 Pages:  246 Price: U.K. £ 22.99
Paperback ISBN:  9781009069076 Pages:  246 Price: Europe EURO 26.83
Paperback ISBN:  9781009069076 Pages:  246 Price: U.S. $ 29.99

Abstract:

Research on sound change often focuses on vowels, yet consonantal
sound change also offers fascinating insights into language
development and variation. This pioneering book provides a detailed
investigation of consonantal sound change in English, by analyzing a
large corpus of specifically designed field recordings from Austin,
Texas. It offers one of the most in-depth analyses of /str/-retraction
to date, drawing comparisons with studies of change in the
distinguishing phonetic features of other varieties of English, and
with studies of /str/-retraction in other Germanic languages. It
further deepens our understanding of sound change by including
qualitative data to position the sound change in the social reality of
Austin, showing that specific sound changes are universally driven by
age, gender and ethnicity. The results provide a testing ground for
models of sociolinguistic and sound change, and highlight the
importance of the social fabric of language in modeling language
change.

Written In: English (eng, stan1293)


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