L-vocalisation as a natural phenomenon: explorations in sociophonology

The vocalisation of dark /l/ is widespread and on the increase in particular in those dialects which have developed a clear ∼ dark /l/ allophony. The phenomenon has traditionally been characterised in terms of linguistic diffusion but we claim that, provided the requisite linguistic conditions pertain, this language change is both natural and to be expected. In this sociophonological study we draw on historical, child language and cross-linguistic data to support our claim, in this Optimality Theoretic account, that /l/-vocalisation is a case of ‘the emergence of the unmarked’. In this study we concentrate on dialects of southern Britain and we analyse, in particular, a large number of tokens collected in the Fens, an area where /l/-vocalisation has only fairly recently become established and find that, in line with our expectations, vocalisation is further advanced in those Fenland areas where /l/ allophony has been established for a longer period than in those where it is a relative innovation. We also consider the linguistic contexts which tend to promote or to inhibit vocalisation and offer explanations for the variation found based on phonetic studies.