ABSTRACT
Labovian interviews were recorded with 90 informants from the South East London region encompassing Peckham, Sydenham and Penge, and Dulwich, Beckenham and Bromley. Informants were randomly selected and grouped according to suburb, accent group, and age. Across the suburbs, informants speech fell along an accent continuum ranging from maximally to minimally broad regionalised varieties. In order to embody a useful data set for theoretical investigation, two general accent groups were distinguished. One group encompasses medially to maximally broad varieties. The other covers regionalised forms of RP which fall towards the minimally broad end of the continuum. The theoretical discursive has raised a number of questions pertinent to current phonological thought, centred on the apparent incompatibility of categorical and continuous approaches. It has also served to highlight the disparity in focus between sociolinguistics and phonology. Traditional analyses characterise the overall shapes of the vocal tract, or acoustic products.
