This was mostly written from my own knowledge and checked against various sources so I’m afraid I don’t have a specific reference list I could share.

Hi Sam,

Variety and variation are very similar, and which you use might depend on context. Now you mention it, I do appear to have used them somewhat interchangeably myself in this article. Essentially, a “variation” is where we see a difference from the norm, whereas a “variety” tends to refer to a selection of different things. With reference to language, what we’re discussing is where language is adapted to form variations, so for example formal, informal or colloquial variations could all stem from one main language (e.g. formal English, colloquial English). This in turn creates a variety of types of language, even if they share similar qualities.

Phil

Hi
Could you please share what is variation in language …is it differ from variety?

Truly remarkable article. Thank you.

Hi Sophia,

Sorry for the slow reply on this; in general most of these fall into spoken language varieties, whereas written language typically uses the most formal/common forms of English, though of course this depends a lot on context.

Phil

Hi Nabila,

Yes, that would fit into the field of language varieties, referring to two versions of a language existing alongside each other (within the same community). It would cover certain of these varieties, even, if you ever have a situation where two of the forms listed above are in use in the same area (which is often the case with vernacular and creole varieties existing alongside a more official language.

Phil