Linguistics & Language · Sociolinguistics
A topic within Sociolinguistics, itself one of 10 topics in that field and part of Linguistics & Language.
2 works
William Labov
Argues that Martha's Vineyard fishermen exaggerated a vowel pronunciation to assert local identity against summer visitors, locating the trigger for a sound change in social meaning rather than in geography or contact alone.
link checked 17 Sept 2026James Milroy & Lesley Milroy
Argues that a wave model of linguistic change spreads only as far as a community's social network structure allows it to travel, and proposes network density and multiplexity — not social class membership alone — as the mechanism that explains why some speakers readily adopt an incoming change while others resist it.