ABSTRACT
A primary target of sociolinguistic research is the kind of variation that emerges in social spaces. The variants in these spaces are called sociolects. This chapter looks at sociolectal variation, including such phenomena as slang, jargon, registers, styles, and speech codes. The relation between sociolects and dialects is an intrinsic one. Variation occurs simultaneously along the two axes—the geographical and the social—as does the social perception of the variants. Those who have a high level of competence in the standard variety of a language, or the sociolectal norm, generally have implicit social advantages over those who speak dialects, indicating that the type of language used in social interactions is critical.
