“I can't see myself ever living any[w]ere else”: Variation in (HW) in Edinburgh English

Abstract

AbstractSociolinguistic research across Scotland in recent decades has documented an erosion of the phonemic contrast between /ʍ/ (as inwhich) and /w/ (as inwitch). Based on acoustic phonetic analysis of 1,400 <wh> realizations produced by eighteen Edinburgh women born between 1938 and 1993, I argue that in the context of Edinburgh this is best understood as a complex sociolinguistic variable (HW) encompassing (at least) six fricated and fricationless variants. Realizations vary in type and relative duration of frication, voicing, and glide quality. Bayesian statistical analysis suggests that choice and realization of variants is conditioned by speaker's social class, style, and phonetic context. Unlike some prior work, I do not find evidence of ongoing (apparent-time) change or an effect of contact with Southern British English. Fricated variants are most prevalent in formal speech styles and in the speech of middle-class women, while working-class speakers favor fricationless variants.