The volume examines the mutually reinforcing effects of linguistic self-adjustment and integration into a new social environment. It describes the phonetic/phonological changes observed over a period of two years in a group of people moving from Saxony to South-West Germany shortly before and after the Wende in 1989. In addition, it examines the way in which the various processes of integration influence linguistic adaptation. Social integration is charted with reference to the concepts of social networks and attitudes to the cultural environment.