Explores and provides situational and linguistic descriptions of the full range of registers found on the searchable web.

A corpus-based approach to register variation / Elena Seoane and Douglas Biber -- Extending text-linguistic studies of register variation to a continuous situational space : case studies from the web and natural conversation / Douglas Biber, Jesse Egbert, Daniel Keller and Stacey Wizner -- How register-specific is probabilistic grammatical knowledge? A programmatic sketch and a case study on the dative alternation with give / Alexandra Engel, Jason Grafmiller, Laura Rosseel, Benedikt Szmrecsanyi and Freek Van de Velde -- Theme as a proxy for register categorization / Javier Pérez-Guerra -- Between context and community : regional variation in register effects in the English dative alternation / Melanie Röthlisberger -- A register variation perspective on varieties of English / Stella Neumann and Stefan Evert -- Register and modification in the noun phrase / Yolande Botha and Maryka van Zyl -- A register approach toward pop lyrics in EFL education / Valentin Werner -- On the importance of register in learner writing : a multi-dimensional approach / Tove Larsson, Magali Paquot and Douglas Biber -- Nominalizations in Early Modern English : a cross-register perspective / Paula Rodríguez-Puente -- Measuring informativity : the rise of compounds as informationally dense structures in 20th-century Scientific English / Stefania Degaetano-Ortlieb -- Exploring sub-register variation in Victorian newspapers : evidence from the British Library Newspapers database / Turo Hiltunen.

Douglas Biber's new book extends and refines the research and methodology reported in his ground breaking Variation Across Speech and Writing (CUP 1988). In Dimensions of Register Variation he gives a linguistic analysis of register in four widely differing languages: English, Nukulaelae Tuvaluan, Korean, and Somali. Using the multi-dimensional analytical framework employed in his earlier work, Biber carries out a principled comparison of both synchronic and diachronic patterns of variation across the four languages. Striking similarities as well as differences emerge, allowing Biber to predict for the first time cross-linguistic universals of register variation. This major new work will provide the foundation for the further investigation of cross-linguistic universals governing the pattern of discourse variation across registers, and will be of wide interest to any scholar interested in style, register and literacy.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

Using Corpora to Explore Linguistic Variation illustrates the ways in which linguistic variation can be explored through corpus-based investigation. Two major kinds of research questions are considered: variation in the use of a particular linguistic feature, and variation across dialects or registers. Part 1: “Exploring variation in the use of linguistic features” focuses on the study of specific words, expressions, or grammatical constructions, to study variation in the use of a particular linguistic feature. Part 2: “Exploring dialect and register variation” describes salient characteristics of dialects or registers and the patterns of variation across varieties. Part 3: “Exploring Historical Variation” applies these same two major perspectives to historical variation. One recurring theme is the extent to which linguistic variation depends on register differences, reflecting the importance of register as a key methodological and thematic concern in current corpus linguistic research.

Collins Easy Learning Italian Grammar offers beginners a clear and easy-to-understand guide to the verbs and grammar of Italian. Collins Easy Learning Italian Grammar has been designed for all those learning Italian at school, at work or at home. It provides easily accessible information in an attractively presented layout. Key grammatical points are highlighted throughout as a means of reinforcement. In addition, a full glossary gives clear explanations of grammatical terminology. Collins Easy Learning Italian Grammar also provides beginners with all the regular verb forms and conjugations, and the most common tenses of irregular verbs are shown in full. An index contains over a thousand verbs which are cross-referred to their conjugation model. * Collins Easy Learning Italian Grammar explains the essential points of Italian grammar using simple language throughout. * Hundreds of examples of real Italian illustrate clearly the grammatical points being made. * Specially designed for eReaders, including iPad, with a clear, colour layout. Many other titles in the Easy Learning Italian range are available in ePub, including Collins Easy Learning Italian Verbs, Collins Easy Learning Italian Words and Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation.

Studies in Language and Linguistics General Editors- Geoffrey Leech, Department of Modern English Language, Lancaster University and Jenny Thomas, School of English and Linguistics, University of Wales, Bangor Broad-ranging and authoritative, Studies in Language and Linguistics is an occasional series incorporating major new work in all areas of linguistics. Variation in English- Multi-Dimensional Studies provides both a comprehensive view into a relatively new technique for studying language, and a diverse, exciting collection of studies of variation in English. The first part of the book provides an explanation of multi-dimensional (MD) analysis, a research technique for studying language variation. MD is a corpus-based approach developed by Doug Biber that facilitates large-scale studies of language variation and the investigation of research questions that were previously intractable. The second part of the book contains studies that apply Biber's original MD analysis of English to new domains. These studies cover the historical evolution of English; specialized domains such as medical writing and oral proficiency testing; and dialect variation, including gender and British/American. The third part of the book contains studies that conduct new MD analyses, covering adult/child language differences, 18th century speech and writing, and discourse complexity. Readers of this book will become familiar with the analytical techniques of multi-dimensional analysis, with its applicability to a wide variety of language issues, and with the findings of important studies previously published in diverse journals as well as new studies appearing for the first time.

This collection brings together the authors' previous research with new work on the Register-Functional (RF) approach to grammatical complexity, offering a unified theoretical account for its further study. The book traces the development of the RF approach from its foundations in two major research strands of linguistics: the study of sociolinguistic variation and the text-linguistic study of register variation. Building on this foundation, the authors demonstrate the RF framework at work across a series of corpus-based research studies focused specifically on grammatical complexity in English. The volume highlights early work exploring patterns of grammatical complexity in present-day spoken and written registers as well as subsequent studies which extend this research to historical patterns of register variation and the application of RF research to the study of writing development for L1 and L2 English university students. Taken together, along with the addition of introductory chapters connecting the different studies, the volume offers readers with a comprehensive resource to better understand the RF approach to grammatical complexity and its implications for future research. The volume will appeal to students and scholars with research interests in either descriptive linguistics or applied linguistics, especially those interested in grammatical complexity and empirical, corpus-based approaches.

This volume explores the interplay of syntactic variation and genre. How do genres emerge and what is the role of syntax in constituting them? Why do certain constructions appear in certain types of text? The book takes the concept of genre as a reference-point for the description and analysis of morpho-syntactic variation and change. It includes both overviews of theoretical approaches to the concept of genre and text type in linguistics and studies of specific syntactic phenomena in English, German, and selected Romance languages. Contributions to the volume make use of insights from attempts for text classification and rhetorical views on genre and reach from quantitative, corpus-based methodology to qualitative, text-based analyses. The types of texts investigated cover spoken, highly interactive, and written forms of communication, including selected genres of computer-mediated communication. Corpus data come from both synchronic and diachronic linguistic corpora, such as LOB, Brown, FLOB, Frown, ARCHER, and ICE-Jamaica. This spectrum both in approaches and data is meant to provide a theoretical foundation as well as a realistic view of the inherent complexity of form-function relationships in syntax. At the same time, genre is treated as a category relevant beyond discourse studies, consisting of forms and conventions at all levels of linguistic analysis, including syntax. The book is therefore of interest to linguists and graduate students in the area of syntax, discourse analysis, and pragmatics, as well as to sociolinguists and corpus linguists working on register variation.

Drawing upon a unique forensic linguistic project on online undercover policing the authors further understanding of language and identity.