ABSTRACT
Sociolinguistics is a plural discipline aimed at describing linguistic practices within a language community with the consideration of various social factors. This chapter presents the evolution of research in the discipline for Arabic language communities, analysing the theoretical frameworks and analytical tools used to study the patterns of variation and linguistic change within Arabic-speaking contexts. The sociolinguistic situation of each Arab country varies according to different variables which have different outcomes within each language community. It is therefore difficult to extrapolate specific results from one to another though it is possible to consider some general trends in the patterns of variation and linguistic change within the various Arabic-speaking communities. Patterns affected by levelling include several variation paradigms depending on the language community, as the variety considered prestigious by each community is not always the same.
