The concept of language variation is central in sociolinguistics.

The English language

varies on individual, regional, national and global levels. Unfortunately, some people
are unaware of various social and regional dialects, and different varieties of English
in the world. Understanding variation within a language is important for every member
of our community, and especially for those who receive a college education.
Sociolinguistics investigates all these language variations.

Different factors affect how a language is spoken within a country. They can be
regional (geographical), ethnic (national and racial), and social (class, age, gender,
socioeconomic status and education). All these factors are interconnected. They are
reflected in every language variety’s pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical
constructions and syntax.

One of the common misunderstandings of speakers of any language is the question of

standard and non-standard varieties of the language. The latter is often called a
dialect, and people who speak it are considered to be inferior to the speakers of the
standard variety.

It is erroneous to believe that the standard variety is the ‘correct’ one. Every language
has dialects, and no dialect is substandard to other dialects. We all speak a dialect
and we all have an accent.

All varieties of a language are systematic in their use, have a large number of speakers
and thus have their right for existence. The term dialect refers to any variety of a
language, and from the point of view of sociolinguistics, all dialects are equally
correct, systematic, logical, and meaningful.

The issue of standard vs. non-standard variety of a language is not a linguistic one, but
political. The standard dialect is associated with prestige in the society. That is why
many people prefer it to other varieties. Some people feel pressured to use the
standard dialect to conform to the rules of the society. However, some speakers of a
non-standard dialect prefer to use it to demonstrate their sense of belonging to their
community or social/ethnic group.

Besides all these variations, there are individual variations of language use that are
called idiolects. We all have unique ways of speaking that reflect our personal
identities. Through our linguistic choices we have an opportunity to express who we
are and where we are from. Our language changes over time as it gets into contact
with various idiolects of people who we interact with. It changes with our life
experiences. There are no two speakers who speak exactly the same way.

However, people are often unaware of their own dialects/accents, and sometimes
they negatively judge those whose ways of speaking differ from their own. Often,
people who speak non-standard dialects are erroneously marked as being uneducated,
not knowing English or having a speech pathology. This can lead to discrimination in
professional and educational settings, and irreversible personal tragedies.

These kinds of linguistic misperceptions are among the reasons why sociolinguistics is
important to everyone in our society. People need to know more about how dialects
work to avoid language prejudice.
The English language varies not only on individual and national levels but also even
more on the global level. It is becoming the language of international communication
and is acquiring the status of a global language. English is a major language because
Great Britain and the United States have been powerful militarily, politically, and
economically for the past two centuries. Crystal (2003, p. 59) observed that English
received its world status due to “the expansion of British colonial power […] and the
emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of the twentieth
century”. It is used worldwide in such areas as business, science, aviation, music,
sport, and now the Internet. In spite of its popularity in the world, we need to
remember that English is not superior to other languages, and the use of other
languages should be respected.

Standard American and standard British English are just two of many varieties of the
language. Many other varieties of English (so called Englishes) can be found in
countries across the world, as well as within each country where it is widely spoken.

Different varieties of English are used throughout the world. Kachru (1985) identified
three concentric circles: (1) the Inner Circle, which includes countries where English is
used as a primary language, such as the U.S. and Canada; (2) the Outer Circle, which
consists of countries where English is used as a second or official language, such as
India or Singapore; and (3) the Expanding Circle, which refers to countries where
English is studied as a foreign language, such as Russia or China. According to Crystal
(2003), non-native speakers of English outnumber native speakers of English.
Therefore, it is important to understand that no variety is superior over another
variety, and develop an increased tolerance for all varieties of English.

The study of sociolinguistics can build people’s awareness of different varieties of

English and help us become more respectful to all other languages and their dialects.

Types of Lects

In addition to the distinctions discussed previously, different types of lects also

echo the types of language varieties:

 Regional dialect: A variety spoken in a particular region.

 Sociolect: Also known as a social dialect, a variety of language (or

register) used by a socioeconomic class, a profession, an age group, or
any other social group.

 Ethnolect: A lect spoken by a specific ethnic group. For example,

Ebonics, the vernacular spoken by some African-Americans, is a type of
ethnolect, notes e2f, a language-translation firm.

 Idiolect: According to e2f, the language or languages spoken by each

individual. For example, if you are multilingual and can speak in
 different registers and styles, your idiolect comprises several languages,
each with multiple registers and styles.

In the end, language varieties come down to judgments, often "illogical," that
are, according to Edward Finegan in "Language: Its Structure and Use":

"...imported from outside the realm of language and represent attitudes to

particular varieties or to forms of expression within particular varieties."

The language varieties, or lects, that people speak often serve as the basis for
judgment, and even exclusion, from certain social groups, professions, and
business organizations. As you study language varieties, keep in mind that
they are often based on judgments one group is making in regard to another.
The term linguistic variation (or simply variation) refers to regional, social,
or contextual differences in the ways that a particular language is used.

Variation between languages, dialects, and speakers is known as interspeaker

variation. Variation within the language of a single speaker is
called intraspeaker variation.

Since the rise of sociolinguistics in the 1960s, interest in linguistic variation

(also called linguistic variability) has developed rapidly. R.L. Trask notes that
"variation, far from being peripheral and inconsequential, is a vital part of
ordinary linguistic behavior" (Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics,
2007). The formal study of variation is known as variationist
(socio)linguistics.

All aspects of language (including phonemes, morphemes, syntactic

structures, and meanings) are subject to variation.

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

 Language Variety

 Lect

 Accent

 Dialect and Dialectology

 Diglossia

Examples and Observations

 "Linguistic variation is central to the study of language use. In fact it

is impossible to study the language forms used in natural texts without
being confronted with the issue of linguistic variability. Variability is
inherent in human language: a single speaker will use different
linguistic forms on different occasions, and different speakers of a
language will express the same meanings using different forms. Most of
this variation is highly systematic: speakers of a language make choices
in pronunciation, morphology, word choice, and grammar depending on
a number of non-linguistic factors. These factors include the speaker's
purpose in communication, the relationship between speaker and
 hearer, the production circumstances, and various demographic
affiliations that a speaker can have."
(Randi Reppen et al., Using Corpora to Explore Linguistic Variation.
John Benjamins, 2002)

 Linguistic Variation and Sociolinguistic Variation

"There are two types of language
variation: linguistic and sociolinguistic. With linguistic variation, the
alternation between elements is categorically constrained by the
linguistic context in which they occur. With sociolinguistic variation,
speakers can choose between elements in the same linguistic context
and, hence the alternation is probabilistic. Furthermore, the probability
of one form being chosen over another is also affected in a probabilistic
way by a range of extra-linguistic factors [e.g. the degree of (in)formality
of the topic under discussion, the social status of the speaker and of the
interlocutor, the setting in which communication takes place, etc.]"
(Raymond Mougeon et al., The Sociolinguistic Competence of
Immersion Students. Multilingual Matters, 2010)

 Dialectal Variation
"A dialect is variation in grammar and vocabulary in addition to sound
variations. For example, if one person utters the sentence 'John is a
farmer' and another says the same thing except pronounces the word
farmer as 'fahmuh,' then the difference is one of accent. But if one
person says something like 'You should not do that' and another says 'Ya
hadn't oughta do that,' then this is a dialect difference because the
variation is greater. The extent of dialect differences is a continuum.
Some dialects are extremely different and others less so."
(Donald G. Ellis, From Language to Communication. Routledge, 1999)

 Types of Variation
"[R]egional variation is only one of many possible types of differences
among speakers of the same language. For example, there are
occupational dialects (the word bugs means something quite different to
a computer programmer and an exterminator), sexual dialects (women
are far more likely than men to call a new house adorable), and
educational dialects (the more education people have, the less likely
they are to use double negatives). There are dialects of age (teenagers
have their own slang, and even the phonology of older speakers is likely
to differ from that of young speakers in the same geographical region)
and dialects of social context (we do not talk the same way to our
intimate friends as we do to new acquaintances, to the paperboy, or to
our employer). . . . [R]egional dialects are only one of many types
of linguistic variation."
(C. M. Millward and Mary Hayes, A Biography of the English
Language, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2012)
 Linguistic Variables
- "[T]he introduction of the quantitative approach to language
description has revealed important patterns of linguistic behaviour
which were previously invisible. The concept of a
sociolinguistic variable has become central to the description of speech.
A variable is some point of usage for which two or more competing
forms are available in a community, with speakers showing interesting
and significant differences in the frequency with which they use one or
another of these competing forms.
"Furthermore, it has been discovered that variation is typically the
vehicle of language change."
(R.L. Trask, Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. Routledge,
1999/2005)
- "Lexical variables are fairly straightforward, as long as we can show
that the two variants--such as the choice between soda and pop for a
carbonated beverage in American English--refer to the same entity.
Thus, in the case of sodaand pop, we need to take into account that for
many U.S. southerners, Coke(when used to refer to a beverage and not
the steel-making fuel or the illicit narcotic) has the
same referent as soda, whereas in other parts of the U.S., Cokerefers to a
single brand/flavour of the beverage . . .."
(Scott F. Kiesling, Linguistic Variation and Change. Edinburgh
University Press, 2011)