ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the diastratic dimension, and specifically the relationship between grammatical variation and social class in France. It reviews evidence for class-based differences, both qualitative and quantitative, in spoken French grammar, and, in the light of this evidence, outlines some of the fundamental concepts of variationist sociolinguistics. The chapter argues that a quantitative analysis is nevertheless essential in order to discover patterns of social differentiation, and of potential change in progress. The analysis of variation in grammar poses specific challenges, and these help explain the relative paucity of quantitative, sociolinguistic studies of grammatical variation in France. Large-scale variables in grammar often have complex linguistic, discoursal and/or pragmatic constraints that should ideally be taken into account in any quantitative study. It is well known that variationist sociolinguistics has fewer practitioners in France than in anglophone countries, partly because sociolinguists in France have generally preferred qualitative approaches to variation.
