Embedding sociophonetics in grammar: aspects of structural complexity in Southern Bolivian Quechua

International audienceSouthern Bolivian Quechua (SBQ) shows a very strong phonological and morphological homogeneity, which may explain the absence of systematic dialectological previous works and the limited place given to variability in existing grammars, dictionaries and textbooks. Nonetheless, the diversity of territories, local and regional identities, along with deep socioeconomic changes in Bolivian society, do have an impact on the complexity of social and sociolinguistic profiles of the individuals and the language communities, since the second half of the 20th century . This ecological and sociological intricacy seem propitious to the presence of sociophonetic variations, actually only available through a fine-grained observation of allophonic microvariations, embedded in grammar. In this work, we are wondering how these variations represent a challenge for the description of SBQ, and we make an attempt for the understanding of patterns of structural stability and change, through sociophonetic variation, from the standpoint of linguistic ecology