Linguistic variation and change provides a view of sociolinguistic variation and change that serves to illustrate past research and facilitate understanding of ways to conduct current research on variation. This textbook, designed for young linguists having completed at least an introductory linguistics course, is heavily influenced by the works of William Labov and variationist research conducted in and around Pittsburgh. Primarily focused on theory (but related to variationist methods as well), the text is divided into four sections and ten chapters: Part 1, with three chapters devoted to questions and methods of variation; Part 2, with four chapters devoted to variation and social relationships; Part 3, with two chapters on variation, change, and linguistic structure; and Part 4, a single chapter conclusion.
In the introductory section, Ch. 1 begins the book with an introduction to broad questions about language and variation with a focus on its historical origins in comparative method and moving to the present day. Ch. 2 then explains linguistic variables at all levels of linguistic analysis from phonetics to pragmatics. Ch. 3 uses the previous definitions and historical understandings to outline methods in variationist linguistics, instructing readers of how to both discover and describe patters of variation and change, including technological and ethical considerations.
In Part 2, variation is discussed in terms of social categories and identities. Ch. 4 addresses interspeaker variation and differentiation through several studies, beginning with Labov's canonical work on stratification through the use of the variable (r), and continuing through an introduction to dialect studies and more recent challenges to canonical understandings of variation in sociolinguistics. Ch. 5's focus on intraspeaker variation includes discussions on many common concepts in sociolinguistic research, including Erving Goffman's framework, Dell Hymes's ethnography of communication, and more contemporary work on stance and identity. Ch. 6 expands on these issues through a discussion of meaning and social patterns, including the importance of indexicality. Part 2 then concludes with Ch. 7's attention to acquisition of variation in both children and adults.
Part 3 expands the discussion of variation from primarily internal factors to also consider variation and change in larger linguistic structure. Ch. 8 explains structural effects in phonology and morphology, with discussions of changes in progress, vowel chain shifts, and morphological structural variation. Part 3 then concludes with Ch. 9, which addresses larger structural patterns in syntactic, lexical, and suprasegmental variables, including articles, intensifiers, and prosodic contours with attention paid to gendered uses of such variables.
Finally, Part 4 provides a single chapter conclusion, with Ch. 10 providing a brief consideration of the sources, spread, propagation, and completion of language change including current questions in the field and continuing directions for variationist sociolinguistics.
As a whole, the textbook provides a clear and concise introduction to variationist sociolinguistics, useful for undergraduates with prior experience in basic phonetic and phonological study. Instructors and teacher's assistants may also find this textbook useful for augmenting portions of other sociolinguistic courses that draw on or address issues of variationist theory.
