Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic Variation and Its Social Significance (review)

This second edition of Chambers’s fine book does not differ significantly from the first edition. Major changes concern §1.3, which has been enriched by a subsection on communicative competence, and §2.9 on individuations and §4.2 on the acquisition of sociolects, which have been rewritten to some extent. Moreover, recent findings have been incorporated at several places in the text. Physically, the second edition is about thirty pages longer, and figures are graphically improved.

For those who have not read the first edition, a general note must first be made. Although the book is entitled Sociolinguistic theory, it confines itself to only a branch of sociolinguistics—variationist (quantitative) sociolinguistics (VS). However, this does not mean that the book’s scope is narrow. Especially in the first and the last chapters, C discusses questions of interest to all sociolinguistic streams.

The book lucidly explicates the conceptual framework of VS. Many examples from empirical research are given to support or illustrate the theory. The reader might appreciate C’s personal input. Description of sociolinguistic methods is largely not included, and methodological issues are dealt with only where the logic of the text requires it.

The book is divided into five chapters. Ch. 1 introduces the reader to the language-society relationship in general and to VS in particular by contextualizing the domain of sociolinguistic study, discussing the concept of the linguistic variable, and outlining the history of overcoming the ‘tradition of categoricity’, which had for a long time precluded the emergence of VS. The following three chapters focus on the three basic independent variables (social class, sex, and age) and a host of issues related to them. Ch. 2 deals with social and geographical distances and their reflection in linguistic structure. Social class, social network, mobility, homogenization, and individuations (individual ‘deviations’) are the main concepts. Methodological issues discussed here are sampling, indexing, and analyses of individuations. Ch. 3 is dedicated to gender-based (social) and sex-based (biological) linguistic variability. Age is the main topic of Ch. 4. After an introductory excursus on the phenomenon of aging, three sections describe separately three ontological phases in the development of linguistic competence: the period of parents’ influence, the period of the influence of peers and friends, and the period of influence from occupation and workplace (the marché linguistique). The final section of the chapter turns the reader’s attention to language change, age-graded variability without change, and the theoretical basis of the study of language change (real-time and apparent-time study). The fifth and last chapter addresses two opposing tendencies in society: the tendency to eliminate linguistic variability and the tendency to enhance it. Finally, the author expresses hope that knowledge of the social significance of linguistic variation will be spread not only among experts but also among the general public in order to eliminate social deprivation, ‘embarrassment, insecurity, and alienation’ based on prejudices, and stereotypes attached to linguistic differences.