Scobbie, James M.Brown, Keith2018-06-292018-06-292006Scobbie, J. (2006) (R) as a Variable. In: Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, Second Edition vol. 10, pp. 337-344. Oxford: Elsevier.https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/2177OxfordAll sounds are variable, but some are more variable than others. Does hyper-variation mean a greater disposition for sociolinguistically relevant conditioning, or, alternatively, a tendency for relatively greater noisiness in the distribution of unconditioned variants? Whatever the case, there should clearly be a special interest in the sociolinguistic systemization of those sounds that are so unusually prone to variation that it is difficult to capture them within a simple articulatory and acoustic definition. Such is the case with the sociolinguistic variable (R).337-344SociophoneticsRhoticbook_section