Sociolinguistic variation in speech communities

de Suzanne Romaine

This volume draws together some of the most interesting recent work in sociolinguistics. Its scope is the use and function of language and linguistic variation in particular speech communities, with special emphasis on the methods of analysis used in dealing with data. The papers raise in particular the problem of defining the speech community. The volume is representative of post-Labovian work in sociolinguistics in a primarily European setting, and the contributors emphasize the difficulties various sociolinguists have had in trying to apply Labovian methods and models in other communities. The papers suggest not only extensions and modifications of existing methodology, but also some important innovations in sociolinguistic theory and analysis.