This chapter introduces the theory of sociolinguistics using concepts such as variation, inherent variability, social meaning, real and apparent time, and the S-curve. We argue for the importance of a sociolinguistic approach to language history, and introduce key concepts used in historical sociolinguistics such as literacy and the bad data problem. We also dicuss the need for sociohistorical baseline evidence to reconstruct social orders and hierarchies in the past. Two case studies are discussed, which illustrate the applicability of sociolinguistic theories and methods to historical data by demonstrating the social embedding of ongoing changes in historical English, and the role of social mobility and social aspirers in these changes.

This chapter first discusses to what extent we can find attitudes in historical contexts. Whereas explicit attitudes can be culled from metalinguistic texts, implicit attitudes may be reconstructed on the basis of variation in language use, for example, in the use of pronouns versus full noun phrases. Such discursive patterns are signs of indexicality, which can be seen as the linguistic form of more intangible language ideologies. The chapter then introduces main concepts from language ideological theory, such as erasure and iconisation. Distinguishing between language myths and language ideologies, we discuss a range of examples, such as the myth of polite language and the standard language ideology. A number of case studies, including purism in the German metalinguistic tradition, linguistic debates about antiquity and ethnicity in Early Modern Spain, and the establishment of Luxembourgish as a national language, are used to further illustrate key concepts and approaches.

Traditional language histories have often focused narrowly on formal printed texts, produced by educated elite men from urban social elites, largely neglecting the everyday language practices of ordinary people. This chapter introduces the perspective of language history from below, where we shift our focus to these often-overlooked voices, in order to arrive at a fuller and more complete understanding of historical language variation and change. We discuss the challenges faced by investigations of the everyday language of ordinary people, including difficulties in determining actual authorship and interpreting texts produced through delegated writing. Based on case studies and examples from a range of different historical and linguistic contexts, we show how examining ego-documents such as private letters and diaries from lower social ranks can reveal valuable insights and complement and at times even correct our existing view of language histories.

This chapter is intended for readers who have not had any experience of linguistics and provides the necessary background for studying the history of English. It introduces the nature and structure of language in general, but with an emphasis on English. There are sections on phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexis, semantics, and pragmatics. The terminology required for the study of language is defined and explained throughout. To illustrate historical change in English, the chapter concludes with the comparison and discussion of extracts from translations of the Bible going back from the twentieth to the eleventh centuries.

Changes in social structure often lead to mobility and migration. Urbanisation is one important outcome of mobility and migration. Mobility, migration and urbanisation lead to dialect contact, that is, between speakers of mutually intelligible varieties. This chapter first introduces general concepts such as diffusion and supralocalisation, and then moves on to discuss sociolinguistic models developed for the analysis of dialect contact, including the theories of koineisation and new-dialect formation, based on principles such as accommodation and salience. Case studies are taken from medieval Spain, Early Modern New Mexico and twentieth-century Norway. The chapter also addresses the role of new speakers in contact situations, based on an example from sixteenth-century Tuscany, and ends with a short discussion of sociolinguistic typology.

Different texts have different characteristics. In this chapter, we first explore the concepts of register, genre and style, which are, in the tradition of Biber, linked to communicative functions and situational characteristics. The co-occurrence of register features and dimensions are introduced as the linguistic indicators of communicative functions. A particularly useful approach to register centres around keyness, which we demonstrate with historical Portuguese data. We then introduce discourse traditions as a historical-linguistic concept closely related to genre and register. We use French literary examples to explain stylistic differences and the link with the Labovian distinction between indicators, markers and stereotypes. This leads to a discussion of indexicality and indexical fields more generally, for which we draw on ancient Greek plays. The chapter continues the discussion of the literary representation of language variation on the basis of English texts comprising dialect, and explains the important concept of enregisterment.

This chapter discusses standardisation as a major factor in sociolinguistic history. After a brief dicussion of basic concepts such as diglossia, Ausbau, Abstand and diaglossia, we introduce the Haugen model, including the key concepts of selection, codification, elaboration and acceptance. We go on to argue that the later introduced concept of implementation is crucial in analyses of the interaction of norms and language use in the language community. Focusing on this interaction, and based on case studies from English and Dutch, three scenarios are distinguished: prescriptive influence, prescriptive delay and concurrent prescriptivism. The chapter ends by situating the interaction of norms and usage into the wider framework of the total linguistic fact as developed by Silverstein.

This chapter examines the Old English period, outlining some of the key historical developments from the settlement of Germanic-speaking groups in England through to the Norman Conquest. The key features of Old English are discussed, including phonology and orthography, inflexional morphology, syntax, and lexis. The discussion also deals with Old English dialects, the impact of Old Norse on the development of English during this period, the preservation of textual material in Old English, and the West Saxon Schriftsprache. The chapter concludes with two specimen passages of late Old English prose and verse, accompanied by commentary on key linguistic features of the passages.

This chapter looks at changes in the first quarter of the twenty-first century and discusses possible future developments. The role of social media, migration, and travel in the rapid global spread of new features is discussed, as is the levelling of local and regional varieties and the rise of multicultural varieties in large cities. The Oxford English Dictionary is used to illustrate patterns of lexical innovation and changes of meaning in this period. Recent changes in the nature and status of Received Pronunciation are outlined. Sections devoted to recent changes in pronunciation and grammar are followed by discussion of possible future trends.