Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in English: New Methods and Insights

Description

This volume brings together key players in discourse variation research to offer original analyses of a wide range of discourse-pragmatic variables, such as 'like', 'innit', 'you get me', and 'at the end of the day'. The authors introduce a range of new methods specifically tailored to the study of discourse-pragmatic variation and change in synchronic and longitudinal dialect data, and provide new empirical and theoretical insights into discourse-pragmatic variation and change in contemporary varieties of English. The volume thus enhances our understanding of the complexities of discourse-pragmatic variation and change, and encourages new ways of thinking about variability in discourse-pragmatics. With its dual focus on presenting innovative methods as well as new results, the volume will provide an important resource for both newcomers and veterans alike in the field of discourse variation analysis, and spark discussions that will set new directions for future work in the field.

Heike Pichler is Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at Newcastle University. She is author of The Structure of Discourse-Pragmatic Variation (2013) and has published in English Language and Linguistics, the Journal of Sociolinguistics and Intercultural Pragmatics. She is the founder of the Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change (DiPVaC) conference series which serves to provide a forum for exploring methodological, empirical and theoretical advancements in the quantitative, variationist analysis of discourse-pragmatic features, and she is also Chair of the DiPVaC research network (www.dipvac.org).

'An extraordinary suite of papers that will set the agenda in research on discourse-pragmatic variation for years to come.' David Britain, Universitat Bern, Switzerland 'Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in English, edited by Heike Pichler, is an excellent overview of methods, new discoveries, and insights related to the ways in which these types of variables may work in sociolinguistic variation ... the volume is a great resource for both students and researchers interested in studying variables that lie at the intersection of discourse and pragmatics.' The Linguist List (linguistlist.org)