Approaching Social Setting when Analyzing Language Change in the Early Republic

Abstract

Any study that concentrates on language change should assess factors such as historical context and social structure. However, approaching the phonetic and phonological changes that took place during the Early American Republic (1776–1861) is a complex task since it was a period of considerable social, political and economic reorganization Additionally, although many biographies and studies on selected issues have been written, the scholarship about the period remains unconnected and fragmented. As such, this article exposes the theoretical and methodological preparation for a research on sound change during the Early American Republic by discussing how to undertake data collection and how to approach data analysis.