Chain Shifts

This chapter provides a summary of the state of the art on chain shift theory. A chain shift is a series of sequential and interrelated diachronic changes that occur in a speech community. The focus of this chapter is vocalic chain shifts in particular, a phenomenon most thoroughly investigated through diachronic and synchronic work on varieties of English, but which is widespread, if understudied, in the world's languages. Recent technological advances have facilitated the study of chain shifts, providing new insights into origins of and motivations for change, as well as directionality and temporality, though these new ways of modeling also present challenges to the field. The goal of the chapter is to summarize the methodological and theoretical considerations taken up in various linguistic traditions, as well as to provide a comprehensive cross‐linguistic description of chain shifts around the world. We hope that this overview will be useful for future scholars.