The book is a systematic and presentation of the theoretical, methodological and terminological fundamentals of modern sociolinguistics and an overview of the history of the discipline in its present-day form. Against the backdrop of the latest research it uses an abundance of examples to illustrate and explain sociolinguistic concepts (e.g language community, diglossia, status and function of languages) and the basic terms used in the study of language varieties (e.g. standard, dialect, sociolect, register, style). The exercises are designed to monitor learning progress and can be used by individuals or in seminars.