5 - The linguistic variable

Summary

How do you find a linguistic variable? This chapter will discuss the key construct in the variationist paradigm – the linguistic variable. It will detail the definition of a linguistic variable, describe what it is, how to identify it and how to circumscribe it.

DEFINING THE LINGUISTIC VARIABLE

The definition of a linguistic variable is the first and also the last step in the analysis of variation. It begins with the simple act of noticing a variation – that there are two alternative ways of saying the same thing.

(Labov to appear)

The most fundamental construct in variation analysis is the ‘linguistic variable’. The quote above is the most recent one I could find from Labov himself; turning back to the original definition of the linguistic variable you find something a little more complicated. In 1966, Labov (1966/1982: 49) says the linguistic variable must be ‘high in frequency, have a certain immunity from conscious suppression … [be] integral units of larger structures, and … be easily quantified on a linear scale’. Furthermore, the linguistic variable was required to be ‘highly stratified’ and to have ‘an asymmetric distribution over a wide range of age levels or other ordered strata of the society’ (Labov 1972c: 8). In this chapter, I shall ‘unpack’ what all this means. At the outset, however, the most straightforward and simple definition of the linguistic variable is simply ‘two or more ways of saying the same thing’ (Labov 1972c, Sankoff 1980: 55).