Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Register

This collection brings together several perspectives on language varieties defined according to their contexts of use--what are variously called registers, sublanguages, or genres. The volume highlights the importance of these central linguistic phenomena; it includes empirical analyses and linguistic descriptions, as well as explanations for existing patterns of variation and proposals for theoretical frameworks. The book treats languages in obsolescence and in their youth; it examines registers from languages from around the globe; and it offers several of the most complete studies of registers and register variation published to date, adopting both synchronic and diachronic perspectives.

"[A] significant collection....The book has succeeded admirably....An invaluable resource for those concerned with the socially situated side of language, whether it concerns dialect variation, interlanguage, or any other type of variation within language. This collection is a significant and useful contribution to sociolinguisics that is worthy of a `must read' designation."--Studies in Second Language Acquisition

"Biber's studies raise a major methodological issue which has considerable ramifications for the view we take of language....A well-presented book."--Language in Society