The HLVC project applies consistent methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation to a range of languages and dependent variables. This is meant to mitigate the pattern of diverse findings from diverse studies that may partially result from diverse methods. This chapter therefore describes how the corpus is constructed, focusing on the cross-linguistic, cross-generational, and multi-method design, and gives details about recruiting, recording, and transcription of the sociolinguistic interview, the ethnic orientation questionnaire, the picture description task, and the consent procedure. It then describes the workflow for data processing and metadata construction, describing both how the corpus is organized (to be useful to additional researchers) and how we have analyzed variation of a number of variables to date. These include prodrop, case-marking, VOT, and (r) across multiple languages, apocope and differential object marking in Italian, and tone mergers, classifiers, motion-even marking, denasalization (an element of so-called lazy pronunciation, 懶音 laan5 jam1), and vowel space in Cantonese. It details the methods of analyzing ethnic orientation and several proxies for fluency (speech rate, vocabulary size, language-switching measures). Finally, it describes the methods used for constructing and comparing mixed-effects models for cross-variety comparisons in order to distinguish contact-induced change, internal change, and identity-marking variation.

The variables examined in Chapters 5 and 6 show little evidence of being used for identity work. That is, they do not show (consistent) effects of ethnic orientation measures or speaker sex. This chapter explicitly contrasts variables that reflect indexicality (correlation to social factors) in homeland varieties to non-indexical variables. We begin by considering three indexical variables in Italian: (VOT) in unstressed-syllable contexts, (APOCOPE), and (R), illustrating the extent to which indexicality is maintained in the heritage variety. We find increasing use of the more standard variant only in (VOT). Furthermore, we find that younger speakers (both in homeland and heritage) favour the non-standard variant. We then compare the variable (R), the contrast between trill (or tap) and approximant variants, in Italian and Tagalog, where it has indexical value in the homeland varieties, to Russian and Ukrainian, where it does not. Finally, we consider two additional indexical variables: Cantonese denasalization and Korean VOT. We conclude by contrasting the behavior of homeland-indexicals in heritage varieties. The presence of indexical value in homeland varieties does not consistently influence outcomes in the heritage varieties.

This chapter deals with phonological and morpho-lexical phenomena in Romance that are conditioned by prominence or – more generally speaking – metrical structure. Relevant in this respect are synchronic phonological effects on surface forms, in other words, systematic alternations, as well as diachronic effects on underlying representations, that is, on linguistic inventories and systems. Among the phonological effects of prominence treated here are lengthening, well-attested in Italian, and diphthongization of stressed vowels – found in most Romance languages. Of equal interest are effects of non-prominence, such as vowel aphaeresis, apocope and syncope, and vowel reduction. As to phenomena conditioned by constraints on metrical well-formedness, considered here as effects of stress, the chapter deals with the Italo-Romance type of consonant gemination, as well as compensatory lengthening more generally. Adjacent stresses may be subject to clash resolution, a phenomenon that has been described for some, but not all, Romance languages. In the realm of morphophonology, alternations of the verb root often depend on the position of stress, which is particularly evident for diphthongization. The chapter ends with a discussion of how metrical structure shapes the form of words, imposing requirements on the minimal size of lexical entries.

The continental West Germanic dialect continuum roughly encompasses the territory of modern-day Germany, Austria, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the Netherlands, the northern half of Belgium (Flanders), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and South Tyrol, in northern Italy. The dialectal varieties in this region differ and are classified on the basis of phonological, morphological, and lexical distinctions. The varieties of Netherlandish and Frisian represent the northernmost part of the continuum. The remaining area, in which Standard German can be viewed as the high variety, is traditionally divided into subdialects utilizing consonantal and vocalic innovations, e.g., the High German consonant shift. The German dialects also differ in terms of noun case distinctions, plural verb morphology, and lexical variation.