geolinguistics (n.)

A branch of LINGUISTICS which studies the geographical distribution of LANGUAGES throughout the world, with reference to their political, economic and cultural status. More narrowly, the term is used in linguistics for an approach which combines the insights of DIALECT geography, urban dialectology and human geography in a SOCIOLINGUISTICALLY informed dialectology. This approach examines in particular the spread of innovations in a geographical area, using the notion of the linguistic VARIABLE.