Sociophonetics – the interface of sociolinguistics and phonetics – is a field that has expanded rapidly in recent years. A subject that requires both methodological and theoretical assessment for study, sociophonetics has never before been presented in a way that ties these fundamental strands together so successfully. This comprehensive and user friendly introduction seamlessly marries the dual cores of sociophonetics into one accessible text. In a methodical and structured approach, Sociophonetics: An Introduction:* Provides detailed analysis of phonetic variables, discussing consonants, vowels, prosody and voice quality* Includes clear and thorough explanations of how to measure linguistic phenomena and conduct acoustic analyses and perception experiments* Contains almost 200 illustrations of phonetic processes and 'field marks' for the examination of sociolinguistic variables* Covers a variety of theoretical approaches, including exemplar theory and cognitive sociolinguistics* Examines, through theoretical issues, how sociolinguistics, phonetics and cognitive linguistics are linkedThomas' innovative and friendly introduction to sociophonetics presents both a guide for advanced beginners as well as a basis for further development of professional research.