ABSTRACT
Drawing on a range of data from different corpora, this chapter examines pragmatic variation within a language (in this case English). It is noted that the study of language variation has traditionally focussed on phonological, lexical and syntactical levels, particularly taking an historic view, and that the systematic study of variation at a pragmatic level is a relatively recent development by comparison. This chapter highlights the broadening of the variational focus from phonology, lexis and syntax to variation in social space. Variation in social space can be examined from two different perspectives. We can look at social variation from a macro-social perspective – that is the influence of factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, social class, etc. – and from a micro-social perspective – that is variation influenced by more ‘local’ factors such as the degree of social distance between participants (strangers, friends, family, for example), power (an employee talking to her/his boss) or register. Through sample analyses, the chapter explores pragmatic items such as response tokens, pragmatic markers, vague language and speech acts from a variationist perspective. Throughout the chapter, there is a range of optional tasks to aid understanding and reinforce key concepts. The chapter ends with an annotated further reading list.
