This brief introduction to the meth

This brief introduction to the methods and concerns of sociolinguistics may
seem to suggest that these are far removed from those of other types of linguist.
However, in studying variable patterns of language behaviour and the language
change that this variation may reveal, the sociolinguist seeks to uncover universal
properties of language, attempting to address questions such as, Do all languages
change in the same way? We have already met this preoccupation with universals
in our earlier discussion, so we can see that at this level, sociolinguistics exhibits
important affinities with other approaches to the study of language. However, a
fundamental difference remains: the sociolinguist’s questions about universals
require answers in which the structure of society plays an integral part. In this