Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study entails an analysis of the inherent grammatical and phonological variation which are characteristic of Cape Afrikaans. On the basis of the inherent variation which is documented in the preliminary part of this study, the relationship between inherent phonological variation and language change is analyzed by means of a deductive validation procedure in the central part of it. In the first ..chapter the epistemological basis of this study is set out, and a review is given of various empirical validation procedures, and criticism of linguistic analysis by means of deductive validation is evaluated. The research methodology, i.e. the field work and quantification techniques for the deductive analysis of Afrikaans· cassette recordings of 139 Cape Afrikaans respondents is documented in chapter two. In the third chapter it is argued that the proposed analysis of inherent linguistic variation and languáge change can best be conducted within the framework of the sociocultural context of pragmatic language use rather than within a theory of linguistic competence The fourth chapter commences with a brief review of the various domains of language change and is followed by evidence from a wide variety of languages which suggests that sociocultural factors play a major role during language change. The chapter is concluded with the proposal that language change can best be studied within the framework of linguistic -variation which William Labov pioneered. The fifth chapter consists of a review of phonological, lexical and syntactic variation inherent in cape Afrikaans. The findings of this study are reported in the sixth and final chapter. The study concludes that inherent linguistic variation forms the basis for the sociocultural stratification of Cape Afrikaans and that tt also serves as the mechanism for linguistic change in this variety of Afrikaans.