(Dia)Lects in the 21st Century: Selected Papers from Methods in Dialectology XVII
About this ebook
Key themes include the use of modern data sources, such as social media, to study language patterns and the impact of digital communication on regional dialects. The book also addresses the dynamics of language contact in expatriate communities, revealing how speakers adapt and merge linguistic features from different dialects.
Several chapters focus on the evolution of dialectological research, offering critiques and new approaches to studying regional language variations. Readers will also encounter innovative methods, such as cognitive geography, which uses mental representations of space to understand dialect variation, and tone distance measures, which are crucial for studying tonal languages.
Additionally, the book presents case studies on how non-experts perceive and categorize dialects, providing insights into the public's understanding of linguistic diversity. It also tackles challenges in selecting dialect speakers for research, especially in urban environments, where traditional criteria may no longer apply.
Overall, this book is a valuable resource for linguists, researchers, and anyone interested in the complex and ever-changing landscape of human language. It highlights the importance of adapting research methods to keep pace with the evolving nature of language and offers fresh perspectives on how we study and understand dialects and language variation.
About the author
Susanne Wagner studied English Philology, Latin Philology and General Linguistics at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, graduating in 1998 with a Magister Artium. Her PhD thesis (Freiburg, 2003) focuses on gender assignment in the traditional dialects of Southwest England (where apples are "hes“) and Newfoundland, Canada (where storms are "shes“). Her previous academic positions include the University of Oxford (2012-2015) and Chemnitz University of Technology, where she also completed her postdoctoral thesis ("Habilitation“) in 2012. Since 2015, she has been professor of English Linguistics at the University of Mainz.
Her research interests include sociolinguistics and Language Variation and Change in L1 varieties of English, focusing on morphosyntactic features; urban and traditional dialectology; corpus linguistics; and issues in the statistical modelling of sociolinguistic variables. She also investigates the role of variation in the EFL context, including bias in EFL textbooks.
Ulrike Stange-Hundsdörfer is interested in studying language variation and change. She currently works on recent changes in the use of pseudo-passives in British English and on innovative uses of the intensifiers so, particularly in American English.
