William Labov Theory Summary
William Labov (b. ... Labov's research demonstrates that linguistic variation is pervasive and highly structured, revealing regular patterns of co-occurrence between language forms, such as the pronunciation of a particular vowel, and social categories, such as socioeconomic classes.
What did William Labov believe?
Labov said he looked forward to receiving the Talcott Parsons Prize and making it an opportunity to share his fundamental belief that “The study of language as it is used in everyday life shows that all languages and dialects have the capacity to describe the world as it is.”
Pioneering Sociolinguist William Labov Receiving Social ...
The central ideas of variationist sociolinguistics are that an understanding of language requires an understanding of variable as well as categorical processes, and that the variation witnessed at all levels of language is not random.
Variationist Sociolinguistics - Oxford Handbooks Online
Labov believed that the higher the social class of a speaker, the more frequent the occurrence of rhotic /r/ in speech. Labov's sample of participants included a variety of social classes.
William Labov – New York City - All About Linguistics
Who is the founder of sociolinguistic theory?
William Labov, a Harvard and Columbia University graduate, is often regarded as one of the founders of the study of sociolinguistics. He focuses on the quantitative analysis of variation and change within languages, making sociolinguistics a scientific discipline.
Sociolinguistics - Wikipedia