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Register Studies - Online First
Online First articles are the published Version of Record, made available as soon as they are finalized and formatted. They are in general accessible to current subscribers, until they have been included in an issue, which is accessible to subscribers to the relevant volume
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Podcasts as an emerging register of computer-mediated communication
Author(s): Katharina Ehret, Laurens Bosman, Aminat Babayode, Nicole Chan, Ivan Fong, Noelle Harris, Alissa Hewton, Danica Reid, Rebekah Wong and Maite TaboadaAvailable online: 10 June 2025More LessAbstractPodcasts, a relatively recent audio medium, have risen in popularity since their initial appearance in the mid-2000s. Yet, little is known about their lexico-grammatical characteristics and their relation to other computer-mediated and traditional registers. Addressing this gap, we apply Biber-style multidimensional analysis (MDA) to a representative sample of Spotify podcast transcripts and selected computer-mediated registers (e.g., informational blog, interview) as well as traditional spoken registers (e.g., broadcast, conversation). We compare their lexico-grammatical characteristics to those of other registers along the emerging dimensions. We find that, while podcasts share some linguistic characteristics with traditional spoken registers such as broadcast discussion and scripted speech, they are unlike any of the analyzed registers. In fact, their most striking characteristic is their considerable internal variability, likely related to their versatility but also due to their mixing of features and very diverse nature. In short, podcasts are an emerging register of computer-mediated communication.
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A register approach to specialized word list creation : Using keywords to supplement the Contracts Word List
Author(s): Kyra Larsen, McKayla Lindman, Brett Hashimoto, Elizabeth Hanks and Jesse EgbertAvailable online: 02 May 2025More LessAbstractSpecialized word lists (SWLs) can help language learners acquire domain-specific vocabulary; however, there are few such lists for legal domains despite the growing demand for resources in this area. Additionally, in list design and construction, register is rarely considered a meaningful component of design or validation despite the fact that register is one of the most meaningful predictors of linguistic variation, including lexical variation. The present study begins to fill these gaps by expanding on the Contracts Word List (Hanks, Hashimoto, & Egbert 2024) in creating subregister specific lists for 54 types of contracts (CWL+). SWLs within the Contracts Word List were generated relying heavily on text-dispersion keyness analysis (Egbert & Biber 2019), and their usefulness was validated through percent coverage statistics and register analysis. This study illustrates the usefulness of keyness analysis in word list creation and the constructive role that register can play in the design and evaluation of SWLs.
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Review of Goulart (2024): Variation in University Student Writing: A Communicative Text Type Approach
Author(s): Xinpei HongAvailable online: 27 March 2025More Less
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And tonight, shocking revelations about TV news broadcasts : A hybrid spoken/written register, or a unique register?
Author(s): Douglas Biber, Randi Reppen and Stacey WiznerAvailable online: 24 February 2025More LessAbstractTV news broadcasts (TVNBs) represent an unusual mix of oral/literate situational characteristics. In addition, TVNBs have shifted historically to become increasingly focused on ‘soft’ human-interest stories. Thus, we have good reason to predict that present-day TVNBs will incorporate a hybrid blend of oral and literate lexico-grammatical characteristics.
The present study explores this possibility through a corpus-based analysis of TVNBs compared to conversation and newspaper writing. In part, the results confirm these prior expectations. Surprisingly, though, a more detailed analysis shows that this mixture of situational characteristics has given rise to a unique grammatical style of discourse rather than a hybrid style. In particular, TVNBs can be analyzed to a large extent as main clauses where the finite verb has been deleted. This discourse style is interesting because it cannot be attributed to challenging production circumstances. Rather, the functional motivation seems related to creating a perception of urgency and excitement.
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Review of Seoane & Biber (2021): Corpus-based Approaches to Register Variation
Author(s): Raffaella Bottini and Anastasios AsimakopoulosAvailable online: 03 February 2025More Less
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Linguistic variation beyond the Indo-European web : Analyzing Turkish web registers in TurCORE
Author(s): Selcen Erten-Johansson, Valtteri Skantsi, Sampo Pyysalo and Veronika LaippalaAvailable online: 17 December 2024More LessAbstractA register, defined as a text variety with specific situational characteristics and a communicative purpose (Biber & Conrad 2019), is also recognized as a cultural construct (Biber & Egbert 2023). Registers merit thorough investigation due to their pivotal role in reflecting linguistic and cultural landscapes. However, existing studies predominantly focus on Indo-European languages. This study investigates Turkish web registers through the introduction of the Turkish Corpus of Online Registers (TurCORE). Comprising 2,780 web texts, TurCORE was manually annotated using a register taxonomy targeting the entire unrestricted web and identifying 24 web register categories. By employing Text Dispersion Keyword Analysis (Egbert & Biber 2019), the research examines the register characteristics with a specific focus on news reports, interactive discussions, and recipes, drawing comparisons with their English equivalents. Results reveal parallels between Turkish and English news reports while Turkish interactive discussions and recipes exhibit distinctive language- and culture specific features.
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Fiction – one register or two?
Author(s): Jesse Egbert and Michaela Mahlberg
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What is a register?
Author(s): Douglas Biber and Jesse Egbert
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