What Is Sociolinguistics? by Gerard Van Herk is a highly regarded introductory textbook known for its engaging, humorous, and accessible style. It provides a comprehensive tour of how society influences language and how language reflects social identity. Book Overview and Content
The cornerstone of quantitative sociolinguistics, pioneered by William Labov. A is a linguistic feature that has two or more ways of saying the same thing. Example: The pronunciation of the "-ing" suffix in "walking" can be [ɪŋ] (standard) or [ɪn] (vernacular, as in "walkin’"). Van Herk uses hilarious examples (e.g., Canadian raising in about vs. a boat ) to show how variables stratify by class, age, and region.