Regional Variation in Written American English

Description

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.

Jack Grieve is Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University, where he studied quantitative corpus linguistics under the supervision of Professor Douglas Biber. Before coming to Aston, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in Professor Dirk Geeraerts' Quantitative Lexicology and Variational Linguistics research unit at the University of Leuven, Belgium.

'Grieve presents a keen new perspective on American regional dialects, along with an accessible account of up-to-date methods for examining variation in written language.' Tyler Kendall, University of Oregon 'Grieve's study on AmE syntax is timely, long overdue, innovative, and thorough. He takes a fresh approach to investigating dialectology, both in terms of material and methods. The book is a well-structured and coherent description of modern AmE grammar. It introduces innovative statistical approach to the study of dialectal variation, and concentrates on written language instead of spoken language, which is typically the object of study in dialectology. ... This book is excellent reading for anyone who is interested and investigates grammatical variation in English(es).' Sanna Hillberg, The Linguist List