Speech Variation in Contemporary Italian

Dear Colleagues,

The goal of this Special Issue is to showcase state-of-the-art work on phonetic and phonological variation and change in contemporary Italian.

Among the most important sources of variation in speech is geographical variation, which for Italian has long represented and still represents a particularly fruitful and challenging field of study, promoting an understanding of the relationship between national, regional and local varieties in the individual linguistic repertoire. Equally impacting the shapes of contemporary Italian speech are social factors such as the differences in the economic and educational level of the speakers and their participation in social groups defined by age, gender or specific communities of practice. The increasingly massive presence of speakers whose native or heritage language does not belong to the Italo-Romance system introduces another important source of variation, particularly visible in the plurality of foreign accents of Italian, that often intertwines a complex interaction between regional, generational and social differentiations.

Speech variation also occurs within individual speech in relation to stylistic requirements and performative aspects of verbal interaction. Systematic phonetic variations can finally be observed in relation to the grammatical function of words, their frequency of use and the pragmatic function of the utterance in which they appear. Stylistic variation and phonetic variation induced by grammatical and pragmatic factors tend to show recurring but not identical characteristics across languages; a focus on contemporary Italian will thus provide valuable information on these relatively less investigated sources of variation.

We invite the submission of contributions dealing with any aspect of speech variation in contemporary Italian. The framework depicted above should be seen as suggestive of potentially relevant topics, not as a delimitation of the scope of this Special Issue. The analysis of original speech data (or innovative reuse of previously collected data) is essential. Phonetic, phonological, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic approaches are all welcome. Particularly encouraged are contributions dealing with one of the following aspects: perception of speech variation; ongoing sound changes and innovative methodologies for the detection and study of phonetic and phonological change; interface phenomena linking phonetics to (i) other levels of grammar, such as morphology or syntax, (ii) the pragmatics of discourse and (iii) the statistical properties of words and sentences.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. The title and abstract should be sent to the Guest Editor ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

The tentative completion schedule is as follows:

• Abstract submission deadline: 31 July 2023
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 15 September 2023
• Full manuscript deadline: 31 March 2024

Dr. Chiara Celata
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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