Using multi-dimensional analysis to explore cross-linguistic universals of register variation

2016 ◽  
pp. 7-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Biber
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Register Variation

A multi-dimensional analysis of register variation in Brazilian Portuguese

Corpora ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Berber Sardinha ◽  
Carlos Kauffmann ◽  
Cristina Mayer Acunzo
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Linguistic Community ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Six Dimensions ◽  
Dimensions Of Variation

In this paper, we present a Multi-Dimensional analysis of Brazilian Portuguese, based on a large, diverse corpus comprising forty-eight different spoken and written registers. Previous research in MD analysis includes multi-register investigations of a range of languages, including English, Spanish, Somali and Korean, among others. At the same time, a large body of literature on text varieties in Brazilian Portuguese exists, but previous research focusses on specific aspects of one, or at the most, a few varieties at a time and, therefore, does not present a comprehensive picture of register use in the linguistic community of Brazilian Portuguese speakers. In this study, we attempt to fill this gap by employing the MD framework, enabling researchers to account for a large number of different registers, based on a wide repertory of linguistic features. The analysis revealed six dimensions of variation, which are presented, illustrated and discussed here.

scholarly journals Multi-Dimensional Analysis, text constellations, and interdisciplinary discourse

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Thompson ◽  
Susan Hunston ◽  
Akira Murakami ◽  
Dominik Vajn
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Interdisciplinary Journal ◽  
Dimensions Of Variation

Abstract Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) has been widely used to explore register variation. This paper reports on a project using MDA to explore the features of an interdisciplinary academic domain. Six dimensions of variation are identified in a corpus of 11,000 journal articles in environmental studies. We then focus on articles in one interdisciplinary journal, Global Environmental Change (GEC). It is expected that these articles will diverge sufficiently to produce differences that are analogous to register differences. Instead of identifying these “registers” on external criteria, we use the dimensional profiles of individual texts to identify ‘constellations’ of texts sharing combinations of features. Six such constellations are derived, consisting of texts with commonalities in their approaches to research: the development of predictive models; quantitative research; discussions of theory and policy; and human-environment studies focusing on individual voices. The identification of these constellations could not have been achieved through an a priori categorisation of texts.

Using multi-dimensional analysis to explore cross-linguistic universals of register variation

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Biber
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Statistical Analyses ◽  
Oral Discourse ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Research Studies

Multi-Dimensional analyses have been conducted for many different discourse domains and many different languages. Using bottom-up statistical analyses, these studies have investigated specific patterns of register variation in several different discourse domains of English, as well as the more general patterns of register variation in many different languages. Each study identifies linguistic dimensions that are peculiar to that particular language/domain. However, the more theoretically interesting finding is that linguistically similar dimensions emerge in nearly all of these studies. Two of these dimensions are especially robust, making them strong candidates for universal dimensions of register variation: 1) a fundamental opposition between clausal/‘oral’ discourse vs. phrasal/‘literate’ discourse, and 2) the opposition between narrative vs. non-narrative discourse. The present paper introduces the methodology of Multi-Dimensional analysis and surveys the research studies carried out to date, with an emphasis on these potentially universal patterns of register variation.

scholarly journals Characterising Online News Comments: A Multi-Dimensional Cruise Through Online Registers

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Ehret ◽  
Maite Taboada
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Online News ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
Different Types

News organisations often allow public comments at the bottom of their news stories. These comments constitute a fruitful source of data to investigate linguistic variation online; their characteristics, however, are rather understudied. This paper thus contributes to the description of online news comments and online language in English. In this spirit, we apply multi-dimensional analysis to a large dataset of online news comments and compare them to a corpus of online registers, thus placing online comments in the space of register variation online. We find that online news comments are involved-evaluative and informational at the same time, but mostly argumentative in nature, with such argumentation taking an informal shape. Our analyses lead us to conclude that online registers are a different mode of communication, neither spoken nor written, with individual variation across different types of online registers.

Register variation in school EFL textbooks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elen Le Foll
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Register Variation

Abstract This study applies additive Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) (Biber 1988) to explore the linguistic characteristics of ‘school English’ or ‘textbook English’. It seeks to find out how text registers commonly featured in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks differ from comparable registers found outside the EFL classroom. To this end, a Textbook English Corpus (TEC) of 43 coursebooks used in European schools is mobilised. The texts from six textbook register subcorpora and three target language corpora are mapped onto Biber’s (1998) ‘Involved vs. Informational’ dimension of General English. Register accounts for 63% of the variance in these dimension scores in the TEC. Additional factors such as textbook level, series and country of publication/use only play a marginal role in mediating textbook register variation. Textbook dialogues score considerably lower than the Spoken BNC2014, whereas Textbook Fiction scores closest to its corresponding reference Youth Fiction Corpus. Pedagogical and methodological implications are discussed.

Expressing evaluation without grammatical stance: informational persuasion on the web

Corpora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Biber ◽  
Meixiu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Keyword Analysis ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Personal Attitudes ◽  
Linguistic Analyses ◽  
The Web

Although ‘stance’ and ‘evaluation’ are closely related theoretical constructs, they have typically been analysed in fundamentally different ways. Stance is normally described in terms of explicit lexico-grammatical features. As a result, stance has been studied through corpus-based methods that result in generalisable descriptions of different registers. In contrast, evaluative language has been regarded as implicit and context-dependent. As a result, analyses of evaluative language have focussed on the connotations of particular words and phrases, or on detailed descriptions of particular texts (rather than on generalisable descriptions of a register). Against this background, this study is motivated by an apparent contradiction that emerged from a recent study of register variation on the web (Biber and Egbert, 2017, forthcoming): end-users identified two categories of opinionated/persuasive documents on the web, one labelled ‘Opinion’ (OP) and the other labeled ‘Informational Persuasion’ (IP). However, a multi-dimensional analysis of register variation indicated that only the OP documents were marked for the use of grammatical stance features, while the IP documents were marked for the absence of those features. Our primary goals in this paper are two-fold. First, we undertake detailed linguistic analyses of lexico-grammatical stance features in OP and IP registers to confirm the general results of the earlier analysis. And, second, we use keyword analysis to explore the possibility that evaluation might be expressed lexically – rather than grammatically – in IP. In our conclusion, we discuss the broader theoretical implications of the study, including the possibility of using keyword analysis to explore a particular discourse function (i.e., evaluation); the possibility of analysing evaluative language in ways that can be generalised to an entire register; and the possibility of two complementary discourse systems (i.e., grammatical stance versus lexical evaluation) that are used as alternatives for the expression of personal attitudes and assessments.

In situ investigation of the primary recrystallization of alpha titanium in HVEM

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 634-635
Author(s):  
S. Naka ◽  
R. Penelle ◽  
R. Valle
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Texture Evolution ◽  
Cold Work ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Primary Recrystallization ◽  
Thin Foils ◽  
In Situ Investigation ◽  
Grain Growth Model ◽  
Alpha Titanium

The in situ experimentation technique in HVEM seems to be particularly suitable to clarify the processes involved in recrystallization. The material under investigation was unidirectionally cold-rolled titanium of commercial purity. The problem was approached in two different ways. The three-dimensional analysis of textures was used to describe the texture evolution during the primary recrystallization. Observations of bulk-annealed specimens or thin foils annealed in the microscope were also made in order to provide information concerning the mechanisms involved in the formation of new grains. In contrast to the already published work on titanium, this investigation takes into consideration different values of the cold-work ratio, the temperature and the annealing time.Two different models are commonly used to explain the recrystallization textures i.e. the selective grain growth model (Beck) or the oriented nucleation model (Burgers). The three-dimensional analysis of both the rolling and recrystallization textures was performed to identify the mechanismsl involved in the recrystallization of titanium.

Dimensional Analysis of Protective Factors and Suicidality Among Combat Vietnam Veterans

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumi Price ◽  
Gregory Widner ◽  
William True ◽  
Monica Matthieu
Keyword(s):  
Protective Factors ◽  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Vietnam Veterans
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