Computing and Language Variation

Exploring creole studies from a linguistic, historical, and socio-cultural perspective, this study advances our knowledge of the subject by using a cohesive approach to provide new theoretical insights into language shift, language acquisition and language change. It compares the legal system regulating black slavery in Chocó, Colombia with the systems implemented by other European colonial powers in the Americas, to address questions such as what do Chocó Spanish linguistic features say about the nature of Afro-Hispanic vernaculars? What were the sociohistorical conditions in which Chocó Spanish formed? Was slavery in Chocó much different from slavery in other European colonies? Whilst primarily focused on Afro-Hispanic language varieties, Sessarego's findings and methodology can be easily applied and tested to other contact languages and settings, and used to address current debates on the origin of other black communities in the Americas and the languages they speak.

By the award-winning former president of the Linguistic Society of America, this collection of some of John Russell Rickford's pioneering works shows how linguists in sociolinguistics and creole studies can benefit from utilizing data, theories and methods from each other, as they more frequently did in the 1960s and 1970s, when both subfields, in their modern forms at least, were getting started. The volume addresses fundamental sociolinguistic topics such as social class, style, fieldwork, speech community, sociolinguistic competence and language attitudes with data from Guyanese and other Caribbean creoles. Recurrent concepts are also considered including language versatility, variation and change, vernacular use, school success and criminal justice in African America and the Caribbean, using models, case studies and methodologies from sociolinguistics. Theoretical and applied scholars, students apprehensive about sociolinguistic fieldwork, and those considering dynamic methods like

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary language shift and identity in a language community in the mid-Atlantic South to offer a unique window into ethnic dialect formation and s

Despite the significant presence of Cuban immigrants in the US, current research on Cuban Spanish linguistics remains underexplored, most crucially its ramifications to areas such as language contact

Despite the significant presence of Cuban immigrants in the US, current research on Cuban Spanish linguistics remains underexplored, most crucially its ramifications to areas such as language contact

Contemporary Advances in Theoretical and Applied Spanish Linguistic Variation by Juan J. Colomina-Almiñana, reframes the understanding of language variation and change as an intimate inter

The first study of its kind, Regional Variation in Written American English takes a corpus-based approach to map over one hundred grammatical alternation variables across the United States. A multivariate spatial analysis of these maps shows that grammatical alternation variables follow a relatively small number of common regional patterns in American English, which can be explained based on both linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Based on this rigorous analysis of extensive data, Grieve identifies five primary modern American dialect regions, demonstrating that regional variation is far more pervasive and complex in natural language than is generally assumed. The wealth of maps and data, and the groundbreaking implications of this volume, make it essential reading for students and researchers in linguistics, English language, geography, computer science, sociology and communication studies.

Arabic L2 Interlanguage is a significant and timely addition to the field of Second Language Acquisition, providing valuable insight into the development of ‘interlanguage’, the interim language of ea

A thoroughly revised and updated edition of the classic text, American English: Dialects and Variation, Third Edition, chronicles the ongoing story of language variation in American English. For the f

This up-to-date textbook overviews and evaluates the major approaches and methods used in Arabic sociolinguistic research with respect to diglossia, codeswitching, language variation, language attitud

This up-to-date textbook overviews and evaluates the major approaches and methods used in Arabic sociolinguistic research with respect to diglossia, codeswitching, language variation, language attitud

From a 2013 conference at the University of Murcia in Spain, 14 papers look at language in contact and variation in Middle English, multilingualism and multidialectism; Middle English morphology and s

Linguistic Variation: Confronting Fact and Theory honors Shana Poplack in bringing together contributions from leading scholars in language variation and change. The book demonstrates how variationist

Linguistic Variation: Confronting Fact and Theory honors Shana Poplack in bringing together contributions from leading scholars in language variation and change. The book demonstrates how variationist

Over the last half century many scholars have recorded, analysed and theorised language death. At the same time, many sociolinguists have considered how rapid and dependable transport, mass education

In recent years the study of English and its global varieties has grown rapidly as a field of study. The English language in Singapore, famous for its vernacular known as 'Singlish', is of particular interest to linguists because it takes accent, dialect and lexical features from a wide range of languages including Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien and Tamil, as well as being influenced by the Englishes of Britain, Australia and America. This book gives a comprehensive overview of English in Singapore by setting it within a historical context and drawing on recent developments in the field of indexicality, world Englishes and corpus research. Through application of the indexicality framework Jakob Leimgruber offers readers a new way of thinking about and analysing the unique syntactic, semantic and phonological structure of Singapore English. This book is ideal for researchers and advanced students interested in Singapore and its languages.

French philosophical and scientific writers of the early modern period made various use of forms of narrative — language that aims to tell a story — in their texts. Equally, authors of fiction often s

The notion of communicative space forms the general theoretical leitmotif of this volume. Within communicative spaces of all kinds, the contributors present their views and research on language variat

In this book common sense computing techniques are further developed and applied to bridge the semantic gap between word-level natural language data and the concept-level opinions conveyed by these. I

In this book H.D. Adamson reviews scholarship in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, comparing theories of variation in first and second-language speech, with special attention to the ps

If you are tired of computer training books that are written in “computer” language, then this is the book for you. This book is written in plain English and explains what the computer terms mean. If

Analysing Variation in English brings together a range of perspectives on the collection, analysis and broader relevance of variable language data. In the first half of the book, the focus is firmly on the description and comparison of methods for collecting and analysing examples of variation in language. Novel quantitative and computational methods are introduced and exemplified alongside more traditional approaches. The innovative second half of the book establishes and tests the relevance of language variation to other aspects of linguistics such as language change, and to other disciplines such as law and education. Each chapter concludes with a 'Where next?' section, providing guidance on further reading, but also pointers to under-researched areas, designed to help identify good topics for projects and dissertations. Designed to be used by students as well as researchers, the book will be welcomed by those working in English language and linguistics, sociolinguistics or language

This book provides a systematic study of sociolinguistic variation in seventeenth-century France. Drawing on a range of case studies, Wendy Ayres-Bennett makes available data about linguistic variation in this period, showing the wealth and variety of language usage at a time that is considered to be the most 'standardising' in the history of French. Variation is analysed in terms of the speaker's 'pre-verbal constitution' - such as gender, age and socio-economic status - or by the medium, register or genre used. As well as examining linguistic variation itself, the book also considers the fundamental methodological issues that are central to all socio-historical linguistic accounts and, more importantly, addresses the question of what the appropriate sources are for linguists taking a socio-historical approach. In each chapter, the case studies present a range of phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical issues, which pose different methodological questions for sociolinguists

Standard English has evolved and developed in many ways over the past hundred years. From pronunciation to vocabulary to grammar, this concise survey clearly documents the recent history of Standard English. Drawing on large amounts of authentic corpus data, it shows how we can track ongoing changes to the language, and demonstrates each of the major developments that have taken place. As well as taking insights from a vast body of literature, Christian Mair presents the results of his own cutting-edge research, revealing some important changes which have not been previously documented. He concludes by exploring how social and cultural factors, such as the American influence on British English, have affected Standard English in recent times. Authoritative, informative and engaging, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in language change in progress, particularly those working on English, and will be welcomed by students, researchers and language teachers alike.

This book presents an investigation of a number of areas of interest in the study of language change, dealing in particular with questions of how patterns of pronunciation vary across both time and space. Most of the illustrative material is drawn from non-standard dialects of English, especially the varieties spoken in Ireland (Hiberno-English). The theoretical issues discussed include the following: what role do articulatory and linguistic constraints play in determining the direction of sound change? How do social and political pressures influence the resolution of competition between conflicting local non-standard linguistic norms? Besides addressing such general issues, the book also offers insights into several specific areas in the history of English, both in its standard and vernacular forms. It will thus be of interest to English-language specialists as well as to historical linguists, sociolinguists and phonologists.

In this book H.D. Adamson reviews scholarship in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, comparing theories of variation in first and second-language speech, with special attention to the ps

The eagerly awaited Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture (POSA) Volume 4 is about a pattern language for distributed computing. The authors will guide you through the best practices and introduce y

This practical and informative course book leads the student through the development of the language from Old English, through Middle and Early Modern English to the establishment of Standard English

The study of how language varies in social context, and how it can be analyzed and accounted for, are the key goals of sociolinguistics. Until now, however, the actual tools and methods have been larg

The study of how language varies in social context, and how it can be analyzed and accounted for, are the key goals of sociolinguistics. Until now, however, the actual tools and methods have been larg

Language and Region:provides an accessible guide to regional variation in Englishcovers topical issues including loss of regional diversity and attitudes to regional accents and dialectsexamines the u

Language and Region:provides an accessible guide to regional variation in Englishcovers topical issues including loss of regional diversity and attitudes to regional accents and dialectsexamines the u

A Publication in the Centennial Series of the American Dialect Society in celebration of the beginning of its second century of research into language variation in America.“Heartland” English is the f

We rarely speak or even write in the complete sentences that are often held to be the ideal form of linguistic communication. Language is, in fact, full of gaps, because speakers and writers operate i

Plunging into the verbal quagmire of official language used by bureaucrats in both government and business, distinguished linguist Roger W. Shuy develops new techniques based on linguistic principles