Personal variation

People affect a language, in the sense that an individual’s conscious and unconscious choice and preferences can result in distinctive and even unique style. Such variations in self-expression are most noticeable in those areas of language use where great care is being taken, such as in literature and humour. But the uniqueness of individuals, arising out of differences in their memory, personality, intelligence, social background, and personal experience, makes distinctiveness of style inevitable in everyone.

Temporal variation

Time affects a language, both in the long term and short term, giving rise to several highly distinctive processes and varieties. Long term: English has changed throughout the centuries, as can be seen from such clearly distinguishable linguistic periods as Old English, Middle English, and Elizabethan English. Language change is inevitable and continuing process, whose study is chiefly carried on by philologists and historical linguists. Short term: English changes within the history of a single person. This is most noticeable while children are acquiring their mother tongue, but it is also seen when people learn a foreign language, develop their style as adult speakers or writers, and, sometimes, find that their linguistic abilities are lost or seriously impaired through injury or disease. Psycholinguists study language learning and loss, as do several other professionals, notably speech therapists and language teachers.

Regional variation

Geography affects language, both within a country and between countries, giving rise to regional accents and dialects, and to the pidgins and creoles which emerged around the world whenever English first came into contact with other languages. International regional varieties have been observed within English from its earliest days, as seen in such labels as ‘Northern’, ‘London’, and ‘Scottish’. International varieties are more recent in origin, as seen in such labels as ‘American”, ‘Australian’, and ‘Indian’. Regional language variation is studied by sociolinguists, dialectologists, and others, the actual designation depending on the focus and emphasis of the study.

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