Variation and Language: Overview

The past half century has witnessed remarkable growth in the study of language variation, and it has now become a highly productive subfield of research in sociolinguistics. This article considers the locus of variability within language and discusses the linguistic variable as a heuristic construct in the analysis and the description of language variation. It further discusses the nature of systematic language variation, as well the role of structured heterogeneity in language change. Finally, it considers possible claims about representing language capability with respect to language variation and implications for a grammar of language.

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