Hmong secret languages : themes and variations / Martha Ratliff -- Variegated tonal developments in Tibetan / Jackson T.-S. Sun -- Some case studies on linguistic variation and their implications / ...

The study of pragmatics and variation in English language use encompasses an examination of how context, speaker intention, and cultural nuances interact to shape communication. It addresses the ...

Why do languages sound so different, when people across the world have roughly the same speech organs (mouth, lips, tongue and jaw)? Does the shape of our vocal tract explain some of the variation in ...

He laid the foundation for sociolinguistics, and he showed that structures like class and race shaped speech as much as where someone lives. By Clay Risen William Labov, whose innovative research into ...

William Labov, whose innovative research into regional variations in language -- why New Yorkers drink wahtah but Philadelphians drink warter -- won him acclaim as one of the most important linguists ...