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Cognitive Sociolinguistics is a novel and burgeoning field of research which seeks to foster investigation into the socio-cognitive dimensions of language at a usage-based level. Advances in Cognitive Sociolinguistics brings together ten studies into the social and conceptual aspects of language-internal variation. All ten contributions rely on a firm empirical basis in the form of advanced corpus-based techniques, experimental methods and survey-based research, or a combination of these. The search for methods that may adequately unravel the complex and multivariate dimensions intervening in the interplay between conceptual meaning and variationist factors is thus another characteristic of the volume. In terms of its descriptive scope, the volume covers three main areas: lexical and lexical-semantic variation, constructional variation, and research on lectal attitudes and acquisition. It thus illustrates how Cognitive Sociolinguistics studies both the variation of meaning, and the meaning of variation.

Over the past decade, Cognitive Linguistics has grown to be one of the most broadly appealing and dynamic frameworks for the study of natural language. Essentially, this new school of linguistics focuses on the meaning side of language: linguistic form is analysed as an expression of meaning. And meaning itself is not something that exists in isolation, but it is integrated with the full spectrum of human experience: the fact that we are embodied beings just as much as the fact that we are cultural beings. Cognitive Linguistics: Basic Readings brings together twelve foundational articles, each of which introduces one of the basic concepts of Cognitive Linguistics, like conceptual metaphor, image schemas, mental spaces, construction grammar, prototypicality and radial sets. The collection features the founding fathers of Cognitive Linguistics: George Lakoff, Ron Langacker, Len Talmy, Gilles Fauconnier, and Charles Fillmore, together with some of the most influential younger scholars. By its choice of seminal papers and leading authors, Basic Readings is specifically suited for an introductory course in Cognitive Linguistics. This is further supported by a general introduction to the theory and, specifically, the practice of Cognitive Linguistics and by trajectories for further reading that start out from the individual chapters.

Cognitive Linguistics has significantly advanced the study of semantics and the lexicon. This volume compiles seventeen previously published papers that highlight the effectiveness of Cognitive Linguistics in exploring lexical and semantic issues. Covering work from the late 1980s to recent years, the collection includes several classic papers in cognitive linguistic lexicology, organized into thematic sections. The first section addresses prototypicality as a model for semantic description. The second focuses on polysemy and the criteria for distinguishing meanings. The third section explores meaning beyond words, examining idioms and constructions. The next section broadens the discussion to cultural aspects of meaning. Moving towards applied concerns, the fifth section considers lexicography through the lens of Cognitive Linguistics. The final section offers a metatheoretical perspective, discussing the history and methodology of lexical semantics. Each paper is prefaced by a new introduction that contextualizes it within its original publication period and highlights subsequent developments in the author's research or in the field. The diverse topics covered make this collection an excellent introduction to lexicological and lexical semantic research.