Emma Moore's monograph, Socio-Syntax: Exploring the Social Life of Grammar (SS hereafter), constitutes the first comprehensive, book-length discussion of the connections between syntactic variation and social identity in the English language. The work contributes to the field of English grammar by integrating ethnography with variationist sociolinguistics, and aims to explore how individuals make grammatical choices to construct and convey social meanings within their speech communities. The essential research questions that guide the study are ‘How do we adapt our grammar to communicate social detail?’ and ‘Do all working-class people have a local dialect, or are we free to use language in ways that transcend our place in the social hierarchy?’ The book presents an innovative approach to studying language in social contexts, challenging traditional perceptions of standard English, and stressing the expressive potential of non-standard syntactic configurations. In this way, Moore's research illustrates the impact of linguistic options on social stratification and personal identity. SS is structured into eight self-contained chapters.

Chapter 1 addresses the book's central concern, that is, the impact of grammatical variation – differences in the way language is structured across social contexts – to enact social identity. It explores how different grammatical choices can help speakers navigate and negotiate their social worlds. The chapter emphasises the significance of recognising syntactic variations as sociolinguistic variables. However, the author also notes that grammatical features are often less immediately noticeable (yet no less significant in conveying social meaning) than phonetic or lexical ones, overshadowing the complex relationship between grammatical variations and social meanings. In addition, Moore introduces in this chapter the theoretical frameworks that underpin the analyses that will follow. Chapter 2 presents an ethnography of 27 girls at Midlan High School in Bolton, North-West England, outlining four distinct social groups: the pro-school Eden Village clique, the pragmatic Geeks, the independent Populars and the rebellious Townies, each with its own norms, clothing, interactions and linguistic repertoires. And indeed, a significant portion of the chapter is dedicated to describing these various social groups that exist within the school, including fieldwork notes and extracts from conversations with students. The choice of the study site is in part strategic, as it provides a microcosm of broader social interactions, allowing for the observation of how the social groups play out in language use. The chapter offers insights into the social behaviours of these groups and also reflects on the limitations of this data, noting that it is inevitably shaped by the context in which it was collected.

Chapter 3 sets out the tools and concepts that will be applied throughout the remainder of the book, discussing key sociolinguistic concepts such as ‘indexicality’, ‘enregisterment’ and ‘stance’. SS emphasises that understanding grammatical variation requires more than just identifying different grammatical forms; it also involves understanding the social significance that speakers attach to these forms. The book identifies three main types of meaning: (1) meanings that are rooted in the semantics of the variant itself; (2) meanings that are derived from indexical associations with particular character types; and (3) meanings that emerge from sound symbolism. Each of these types plays a different role in how speakers use grammar to navigate their social worlds. Chapter 4 begins by discussing the acquisition of local dialects, focusing on how children adapt to the grammatical norms of their community. This process is shaped by various factors, including peer influence, social class and the broader socio-economic environment in which they live. A significant portion of this chapter is dedicated to analysing ‘levelled were’ (e.g., She were funny), a feature that falls between word-level variations (it involves a choice between specific forms, was vs. were) and grammar rules (it affects how the verb aligns with subjects of different numbers and persons). SS examines how this feature is distributed among different social groups (commonly associated with being working class) at Midlan High, considering factors such as social class, parental background and community of practice. All in all, the analysis suggests that while individuals have some freedom to vary their grammatical usage, this freedom is constrained by the social meanings attached to different linguistic forms.

Chapter 5 analyses negative concord (e.g., I didn't do nothing), a stigmatised grammatical feature in which multiple negative forms are condensed in a single clause. It is noted that the frequency and context of negative concord usage vary significantly across different social groups within the school, and the book argues that the use of negative concord at Midlan High reflects the students’ awareness of its social stigma, as well as their ability to exploit such stigma for social purposes. The chapter also explores the concept of ‘ideological crystallization’, where the frequent use of a linguistic feature by a specific social group leads to its strong association with that group's identity, ‘independent’ and ‘worldly-wise’ in the case of the Townies. Chapter 6 examines right dislocation (e.g., She's lovely, her mum), a syntactic construction more prevalent in the speech of working-class groups. Differences in frequency of use among the school's communities reflect the strategic use of syntax to achieve specific social meanings and pragmatic effects. Such usage, however, is not uniform across speakers, and Moore is particularly interested in how this variation correlates with social factors like group affiliation. The use of right dislocation among the Townies, for instance, is particularly interesting in that it seems to function as a tool for asserting individuality, reflecting the group's broader social practices. The discussion here extends to the interactional functions of right dislocation, exploring how it is used in conversation to manage relationships and convey social meaning; the author also suggests that future research should continue to explore ways in which different social groups use grammar to navigate their social worlds.

Chapter 7 examines how syntactic, lexical and phonetic elements combine to generate social meanings, using tag questions (e.g., He were bad, though, weren't he?) as a case study. Moore's research shows that tag questions are not used uniformly across groups; for instance, the Populars and Townies employ them in different contexts with varying degrees of assertiveness. The chapter also explores how tag questions differ in form; for example, the use of question tags by Eden Villagers reflects their non-confrontational style. Additionally, SS considers how phonetic features like /h/-dropping interact with tag questions to reinforce social identities, such as the Townies’ rebellious persona. Tag questions are a prime example of how syntax, phonology and morphology can work together to create rich, socially embedded meanings. Finally, chapter 8 is framed around the idea that grammar should be viewed not as a rigid set of rules but as a fluid resource that individuals use creatively to navigate their social worlds. The fluidity of grammar and the creativity of speakers in using it can lead to a deeper appreciation of the linguistic diversity within communities like Midlan High.

Overall, the main objective of this volume is ‘to understand how people adapt their use of grammatical variables to communicate social detail’ (p. 210). The volume presents grammatical variation not merely as linguistic deviation, but as a fluid, flexible semiotic resource for making meaning. The volume skilfully combines theoretical insights with empirical data, illustrating how grammar serves as a dynamic social tool. Structured around diverse case studies, SS offers a groundbreaking approach by integrating ethnographic methods with variationist sociolinguistic analysis, which allows for a deeper understanding of how grammatical variation functions within specific social settings. Unlike previous studies, in which grammar has often been treated as fixed and detached from everyday social interactions, this work demonstrates how speakers use grammar as an adaptable social resource. It challenges traditional perspectives that focus solely on phonetic and lexical variation by exploring how grammatical features, such as ‘levelled were’ or tag questions, carry complex social meanings and are used to negotiate social hierarchies and identities among speakers. The volume also opens up new avenues for sociolinguistic research, particularly for those interested in the social role of syntactic variation. Its depth and clarity make it an indispensable resource for sociolinguists, syntacticians, and, more generally, anyone interested in understanding the relationship between language and society. Furthermore, it serves as a valuable complement to other recent works on socio-syntactic variation, such as Beaman et al. (Reference Beaman, Buchstaller, Fox and Walker2020) and Christensen and Jensen (Reference Christensen and Torben–Juel2022), by extending our understanding of how grammar can both reflect and construct social realities.