Dimensions of Register Variation
A Cross-Linguistic Comparison

Douglas Biber's new book gives a linguistic analysis of register in four widely differing languages: English, Nukulaelae Tuvaluan, Korean, and Somali.

Douglas Biber (Author)

9780521473316, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 August 1995

448 pages, 75 tables
23.5 x 15.9 x 3.3 cm, 0.857 kg

"The book is well edited, very readable, and does not assume familiarity with sampling methods in corpus linguistics. It has a detailed table of contents and a helpful index." James K. Watters, Notes on Linguistics

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.

Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. The comprehensive analysis of register variation
3. Sociocultural description of the four language situations
4. The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers. 5. Methodology
6. Multi-dimensional analyses of the four languages
7. Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences
8. Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences
9. Registers and text types in English and Somali
10. Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation
Appendices
Notes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Phonetics, phonology [CFH]