Verschueren (1999) points out that language has three properties: variability, negotiability and adaptability. This paper
attempts to make a study of the
semantic foundation and pragmatic value of variability.
Language variability and language change are related to and different from each other. They are related in that they are both involved with the changing aspect of language. They are different in that the changing aspect of language they are involved with is different in nature. Language variability is synchronic whereas language change is diachronic. It has been found that language variability has its own semantic foundation, which is based on the fact that there is an interrelationship of entailment between the basic structures and their related derived structures. The pragmatic value of variability lies in the fact that language users, according to the requirement of their communicative purposes and the context/situation, may choose from the range of possible choices the most felicitous linguistic structure to convey the intended information and help to bring about the interaction between the participants so as to realize their communicative intention.