New Approaches to the Study of Linguistic Variability

The fourth volume in the series features contributions from various philologies in the young but rapidly growing research area of linguistic variability. It focuses on sociolinguistic studies of language use as social practice and variability of authentic language use.

Markus Bieswanger is professor of English Linguistics at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). Amei Koll-Stobbe holds the chair in English Linguistics at the University of Greifswald (Germany).

Contents: Markus Bieswanger: New approaches to the analysis of linguistic Variability – Andrew Wilson: Embracing Bayes Factors for key item analysis in corpus linguistics – Martin Schweinberger: A sociolinguistic analysis of the discourse marker LIKE in Northern Irish English. A look behind the scenes of quantitative reasoning – Lillian Kaviti: The evolution of urban hybrid languages in Kenya: The case of Sheng and Engsh – Melanie Burmeister: Variability in death notices from Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland: A comparative perspective – Florian Dolberg: Subject to change: Decay and mutation of linguistic memory – Judith Rossow: New contexts and new concepts: The use of German «alt» – Jana Kiesendahl: Apologies and excuses in academic e-mail communication: Differentiation and characterization from a pragmatic perspective – Caroline Schilling: Assessing texting behaviour and language use in SMS communication: A survey on age differences.