Sociophonetic Direction in Foreign Linguistics

Abstract

As modern research shows, sociophonetics is a multi-factor research area and its integrating methodological basis enables this section of linguistics to aspire to the role of one of the basic phonetic sciences. This article is devoted to a brief overview of the formation and evolution of the socio-phonetic direction in foreign linguistics, from the pioneers of dialectology of the XIX century to modern theories illustrating a complex spectrum of external factors that have a systematic influence on the phonetic and phonological form.