This document provides an overview of sociolinguistics from a lecture by Professor Dr. Neal R. Norrick. It discusses key topics in 3 paragraphs or less:
1) It defines sociolinguistics as the study of language in relation to society, and examines how language varies between social groups and contexts.
2) It outlines the history of the field and how early linguistics focused only on abstract language systems, ignoring social aspects of language use. Developments in the 1960s brought more social considerations into linguistics.
3) It discusses types of linguistic variation like differences between dialects, sociolects, and registers. Variables that reflect social contrasts are important for sociolinguistic study. The
This document provides an overview of sociolinguistics from a lecture by Professor Dr. Neal R. Norrick. It discusses key topics in 3 paragraphs or less:
1) It defines sociolinguistics as th…