Integrative approach to language variation. A book review: Isakova L. D. Abundance of languages in their variation. Moscow: Prospect Press, 2022. 176 p.

The monograph offers an indepth analysis of linguistic variability in the framework of an integrative approach. The author emphasizes that variation is an integral characteristic of all modern languages and, therefore, requires an urgent comprehensive study. In this context, L. D. Isakova views not only the languages themselves but also their idiolects as well as pidgins, metalanguages of professional fields and computer sublanguages. Considering variability as a complex phenomenon, the author convincingly proves that not only the languages themselves are variable but also the functional styles of a particular language, the linguistic means and the semantic picture of individual languages and communicants. Interpreting the “variant – invariant” dichotomy, the author describes the invariant as a kind of prototypical entity, as a variant presented in a generalized form possessing specific features. L. D. Isakova also examines linguistic variability in synchrony and diachrony, convincingly proving that these two approaches coexist and complement each other when it comes to linguistic variations. The author emphasizes that variability does not violate the consistency of language, as it is regulated by the norm. The researcher pays special attention to the stylistics of a language appealing to the concept of “stylistic differentiation of a language”. The reviewed monograph is an important contribution to the study of linguistic variation as it reveals the diversity of its types and their interaction in modern conditions.