Labov, vernacularity and sociolinguistic change

Despite some well‐known problems in its early formulation, Labov's concept of ‘the vernacular’ has enduring relevance in sociolinguistics. This is even more the case if we recast it more abstractly – as ‘vernacularity’, ideologically contrasted with ‘standardness’. Following Labov, class‐associated vernacular practices have been a major empirical focus of the discipline; they have also locked in the discipline's political consciousness. The paper traces some different ways in which sociolinguistics has positioned itself in relation to vernacularity. Taking the U.K. as a case in point, the paper then asks how large‐scale changes in social class experience may be shifting the bases on which we have defined and researched vernacular language. It considers vernacularisation as a sociolinguistic change running counter to the better‐established process of linguistic standardisation.