socioindexical
Socioindexical is a term in sociolinguistics used to describe linguistic forms that carry social meaning beyond their literal content. A socioindexical variant is one whose use signals aspects of the speaker’s social identity, stance, or position to listeners. These indexical associations are not fixed; they vary across communities, contexts, and over time.
The concept builds on indexicality, the idea that language parts are pointers to social meaning. Early work
In practice, researchers identify linguistic variants that show strong social associations and analyze how speakers deploy
Examples are often community-specific. For instance, a particular pronunciation, lexical option, or discourse marker may index