This revised edition of Sociolinguistic Theory brings together the most important descriptive and theoretical findings on linguistic variation and change. Incorporating the latest developments in the field along with updated references, it provides a critical synthesis of language variation, demonstrating how empirical explorations have made it among the most exciting fields in the contemporary study of language. Coverage includes discussion of the linguistic variable and its significance, crucial social variables such as social stratification, sex, and age, and the cultural significance of linguistic variation. This edition also now includes an expanded introduction to social evaluation in terms of attitudes. Written by one of the world's foremost scholars in the field of variation studies, Sociolinguistic Theory offers an ideal synthesis of variation theory.