Dialectología tradicional, sociolingüística laboviana y geolingüística trudgilliana: tres aproximaciones al estudio de la variación

Abstract

Traditional Dialectology, Labovian Sociolinguistics and Trudgillian Geolinguistics represent in themselves three different approaches to the same concern: variation phenomena and linguistic change. Although sometimes the renewing impetus of some scholars provoked extremely discrediting positions against some linguistic studies from the past—particularly against those related to dialectological work—, in a new era of co-operation, integration and synthesis in the field as the one that dominates the studies in Language and Society nowadays, these three approaches to 'variationism' can be considered as complementary, regardless of the extent of sophistication they enjoy or might have enjoyed. The aim of this paper is to provide a general view of Traditional Dialectology, Labovian Sociolinguistics and Trudgillian Geolinguistics, discussing the nature of their relationships.