Basic Concepts in Sociolinguistics: The Social Correlates and Language Variation

Basic Concepts in Sociolinguistics is a book series that will introduce learners to the basic concepts of sociolinguistics. The series consists of three books. Book I will introduce the learners to sociolinguistic variation. It will discuss the motivation for language variation and the different linguistic levels at which variation occurs, that is, lexical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic. Book II will discuss the linguistic outcomes of multilingualism and language contact. It will introduce the concept of a linguistic repertoire and the functional distribution of varieties in the repertoire. It will also introduce the concepts of code-switching, pidgins, creoles, diglossia, and language shift. Book III will look at the social correlates of language variation, such as social class, gender, networks, and communities of practice (CosP). It will also introduce linguistic politeness and ethnolinguistic vitality. The book series includes: Illustrations and graphics that will enable the learners to understand the concepts easily and through multiple examples, exercises after every section, explanation of the keywords, a theme-based division of the three-volume series, a jargon-free discussion of concepts and themes, topics that can be easily understood by beginners. Some of the topics discussed in the series, which are also key terms, are sociolinguistic variation, lexical variation, phonological variation, morphological variation, syntactic variation, language choice, vitality, regional dialect, social dialect, politeness, diglossia, shift, code-switching, pidgin, and creole. This is a zero-level course that is meant for learners without any background in linguistics and/or sociolinguistics.