Sociolinguistic Theory

The revised edition of Sociolinguistic Theory presents a critical synthesis of sociolinguistics, centering on the study of language variation and change. A revised introduction to sociolinguistic theory by one of the top scholars in the field Provides a critical synthesis of sociolinguistics that centres on the study of language variation and change, now incorporating the latest developments in the field Shows how empirical explorations have made sociolinguistics the most stimulating field in the contemporary study of language Discusses the linguistic variable and its significance, crucial social variables such as social stratification, sex, and age, and the cultural significance of linguistic variation

J. K. Chambers is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Toronto. He is co-editor of The Handbook of Language Variation and Change (with Peter Trudgill and Natalie Schilling-Estes, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002), co-author (with Peter Trudgill) of Dialectology (2nd edition, 1998), and also author of other books and scores of articles. He works extensively as a forensic consultant, and maintains a parallel vocation in jazz criticism, including the prizewinning biography Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (1998).