Variation (linguistics)
Variation in language use among speakers or groups of speakers is a principal concern in sociolinguistics. Such variation may occur in pronunciation (accent), word choice (lexicon), or even preferences for particular grammatical patterns.
Studies of language variation and its correlation with sociological categories, such as William Labov's 1963 paper "The social motivation of a sound change," led to the foundation of sociolinguistics as a subfield of linguistics. Although contemporary sociolinguistics includes other topics, language variation and change remains an important issue at the heart of the field.
Read more about Variation (linguistics): Sociolinguistic Variables, Variation Associated With Age, Variation Associated With Geography, Variation Associated With Gender, See Also