New collaborative PhD opportunity at the British Library: ESRC studentship on Continuity and Change in Spoken British English

We are delighted to work together with the Department of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London to support an ESRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship on the theme of '100 Years of Continuity and Change in Spoken British English'. Funding (fees and stipend) will be provided by the new London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP). The studentship is a 1+3 award, for a 1-year MRes in Linguistics followed by a 3-year PhD. Application deadline: 12 April 2017.

Published date:

14 February 2017

This collaborative doctoral project will compile a diachronic corpus of sound recordings from the historic holdings of the British Library Sound Archive, an unparalleled collection of natural British speech spanning over a century. The corpus design will aim for a balanced selection across region, register and demographic factors while maximising time depth. Using this unique corpus, the project will investigate a fundamental theoretical challenge in the study of language change: What is the relative importance of linguistic factors, frequency and social factors in changes observed in British English over time?

This question has been difficult to address fully so far due to the lack of audio archives with sufficient time depth. Recent historical corpora have begun to remedy this, leading to some unexpected findings regarding the role of frequency in phonetic change (Hay et al. 2015) and intensifying the debate over the relative role of frequency in large-scale dialect change (Labov 2010; Kiparsky 2016). A substantial diachronic corpus will also permit deeper investigation of related themes such as vernacular stability, social factors in change (age, demographics, gender, class) and co-variation in change.

As this is a 1+3 studentship, the student and the supervisory team will refine the scope of the project during the first year. Alongside a range of research skills, the successful candidate will acquire expertise in archival and library sciences and experience working in a major public institution. The project will also incorporate public engagement activities including reports to schools, to the British Library and to the general public.

Supervisors: Devyani Sharma and Esther de Leeuw (Queen Mary University of London), and Jonnie Robinson (British Library).

Funding (fees and living stipend) will be provided by the new London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership.

The Linguistics Department at QMUL is a vibrant research community that currently includes 17 research and teaching staff and 25 PhD students. The department was top-ranked in REF2014 and RAE2008. For further details, see the department website.

Interested candidates should consult the LISS website for further details of how to apply. Please check eligibility guidance carefully. Students should have a first-class/equivalent BA in Linguistics or a merit/equivalent MA in Linguistics or a closely related field.