Sprachliche Varianz als Ergebnis von Handlungswahl

The volume provides elements of a theory of variation. In contrast to the traditional structuralist, dialectological or sociolinguistic acceptances of the term, variation here no longer refers to the selection of functionally equivalent linguistic alternatives dependent on established co-occurrence rules, stable social milieus or the norms of well-defined situations. Instead it is taken to mean the flexible handling of linguistic elements of differing provenance with specific functions relative to concrete interaction. But though usages are not codified, this does not mean that they are arbitrary or purely individual. They prove to be identifiable as differentiations conditional upon existing differentiations. The articles indicate the generalized structures of semiological processes in self-differentiating societies.