This volume explores dialect levelling, a process that reduces structural variation in both cross-dialectal and dialectal-standard language dimensions, known in German dialectology as Ausgleich and Abbau. The study is grounded in research on a rural Limburg dialect of Dutch and develops a sociolinguistic model of dialect levelling based on a review of relevant literature. It also proposes a framework for integrating this linguistic change into formal phonological theory, focusing on the syllable's role in phonological processes. After outlining the social history and dialect situation of the research area and detailing the methodology, the work presents descriptions and formal explanations of 21 dialect features. The analysis is primarily quantitative and sociolinguistic, revealing patterns in the levelling processes influenced by both internal and external factors. The findings draw on insights from historical linguistics, dialectology, and phonological theory. A discussion follows, outlining a theory of dialect levelling and addressing the challenges and potential of integrating language variation and change studies with formal linguistic theory.
