ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on youth, criminal and colloquial language practices and discusses why they occur. It describes the study of youth language practices, in part due to the significant role that youth play as heterogeneous, core social actors in a number of societies and in view of their concordant reach into a variety of communities. The book examines the research on and data from diverse language varieties and social collectives, it is not seeking to establish sociological, linguistic or other universals, or to draw conclusions about the development of language and society or society’s writ large. It explores that context has no role to play in determining how and why linguistic forms associated with a particular variety may be used for different ends. The book also presents designed using a structure commonly found in analyses of youth, criminal and colloquial language.
