Editing Sociolinguistics (section)

== <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">Understanding</span> ==
Language is a social marker. Every time you speak, you are providing "clues" about where you are from and who you want to be.

'''The Variable and the Variant''': William Labov, the father of modern sociolinguistics, showed that language variation is not random.
* '''Variable''': The linguistic feature (e.g., the 'r' sound at the end of 'car').
* '''Variant''': The different ways that feature is realized (e.g., pronouncing the 'r' vs. dropping it).
Labov's famous New York City study showed that people in higher-end department stores (Saks) used the 'r' more often than those in lower-end stores (S. Klein), proving that "correct" pronunciation is often just "upper-class" pronunciation.

'''Identity and Solidarity''':
* '''Overt Prestige''': Moving your speech toward the "standard" to gain status or authority (e.g., in a job interview).
* '''Covert Prestige''': Moving your speech toward a "non-standard" or local dialect to show loyalty or "coolness" within a specific group (e.g., teenagers using slang to distinguish themselves from parents).

'''Language and Power''': Sociolinguistics explores how language is used to exclude or include people. The "Standard" version of a language is usually the dialect of the group with the most political and economic power. Calling a dialect "broken" or "slang" is often a way of delegitimizing the people who speak it.
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