Dialectal Dynamics

The quantitative work in dialectology in the last quarter century enables us to document, analyze and map the distribution of dialectal language variation in unprecedented detail. However, usually we do not know why distributions of variation have taken the form they have. We suspect that progress in this aspect of dialectology is likely to arise in reflection about social and geographical factors together and indeed there is work that points in this direction. The Languages special issue we propose to edit would like to extend and build on this work in two ways. First, we wish to stimulate dialectological theory based on the progress attained in quantitative work. A special focus will therefore be on work that deals with the combination of linguistic and, for example, social, cultural or economic influences in examining the distribution of linguistic variation. Second, we are also excited about the methodologically solid work being done on lesser studied languages and varieties, often in conjunction with language documentation. By encouraging and including research on a broader range of languages and varieties, we hope to avoid the myopia lurking when research is focused too narrowly on well-studied languages and areas.