Language variation

It is probably futile to seek a full understanding on the part of the person emerging in the realm of sociolinguistics without first introducing them to some key notions in the sphere. By far the most important is that of variation.

Language variation presupposes that we have at our disposal a range of means allowing to speak about the same things in a variety of ways. Two important points have to be made in this respect: that variation can occur at different levels of language system and that it can be determined by different factors.

A number of terms need to be introduced. A v ariable is p rincipally an abstract representation of the source of variation. Realised by two or more variants.

Variant is the actual realisation of a variable. Analogous to the phonetic realisations of a phoneme.

A variety is a relatively neutral term used to refer to languages and dialects. Resorting to this term help to avoid the problem of drawing a distinction between the two, and to avoid negative attitudes often attached to the term dialect.

The study of language in use with a focus on describing and explaining the distribution of variablesis called variationist sociolinguistics. It is an approach strongly associated with quantitative methods in the tradition established by William Labov.