[en] The general framework of this research is the emergence and the collective structuring of phonological systems. Our main hypothesis is that particular sound systems result from mimetic interactions between individuals (Donald, 1991).
The experiment reported here is an attempt to implement sound change in the laboratory. Our aim is to give rise to modifications of phonetic realizations from speakers exposed to recorded speakers from another French dialect.
The task is to name ideograms when prompted by a computer. Results show that the speakers' productions get closer to the productions they are exposed to, although the instructions are not to imitate or even to listen to the recorded speakers. Based on these results, we try to identify some of the mechanisms involved in the propagation of sound changes within a speech community.
