Speaker variables and their relation to language change

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the relationship between variation processes and linguistic change and the speaker variables identified by Romance sociolinguistic studies. In particular, Romance sociolinguistics focuses on three different points of view: the socio-biographical characteristics of the speaker; the varieties related to social differences, and the relation between social groups and linguistic repertoire. In our work, we will study the socio-biographical characteristics, that Anglo-American linguistics defines as “speaker variables”, analyzing those variables more closely related in Romance studies to the diastratic vari-ation (age, sex/gender, social class). In certain cases, we will show how these variables are linked to language change. Furthermore, we will take into account two other aspects related to speaker variables: space and social networks. Hence, we will show how nowadays speakers are both individuals and a part of a complex web of multiple worlds (such as communities of practice, towns, neighbourhoods, settlements).