Sociolinguistics (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) This new edition of R. A. Hudson's widely acclaimed textbook Sociolinguistics will be welcomed by students and teachers alike. To reflect changes in the field since publication of the first edition in 1980, the author has added new sections on politeness, accommodation and prototypes; and he has expanded discussion of sex differences in language use, and the relationship between language and thought. Over a third of the second edition is completely new, and there is one entirely new chapter, but ample coverage of classic topics such as varieties of language, speech as social interaction, the quantitative study of speech and linguistic and social inequality, remains. Like the first, the second edition of Sociolinguistics is an exceptionally clear and helpful overview of the relationship of language and society. Table of Contents Preface to the second edition Preface to the first edition Introduction Varieties of language Language, culture and thought Speech as social interaction The quantitative study of speech Linguistic and social inequality Theoretical summary Bibliography.