This work proposes a definition of the notion of salience in sociolinguistics. Salient linguistic variants are those that are easily picked up by the listeners, and these stand in opposition to 'invisible' variants, which are, even if they also show complex social stratification, completely ignored. Taking a quantitative angle, this work sees salience as a function of relative frequency differences, giving it an empirically testable operationalisation.

On Our Mind: Salience, Context, and Figurative Language

In this volume, Rachel Giora explores how the salient meanings of words--the meanings that stand out as most prominent and accessible in our minds--shape how we think and how we speak. For Giora, salient meanings display interesting effects in both figurative and literal language. In both domains, speakers and writers creatively exploit the possibilities inherent in the fact that, while words have multiple meanings, some meanings are more accessible than others.