Vol. 25:4 (2020) ► pp.461–488
Author and register as sources of variation
A corpus-based study using elicited texts
This paper investigates the contribution of author/idiolect vs. register/type-of-text – as the most salient factors influencing the final shape of a text – towards explaining the variation observed in Czech texts. Since it is almost impossible to explore the effect of these factors on authentic data, we used elicited letters collected in a fully crossed experimental design (representative sample of 200 authors × four elicitation scenarios serving as a proxy to register variation). The variation encompassed by the elicited texts is analyzed through the lens of a general-purpose multi-dimensional model of Czech. Using triangulation via three established statistical methods and one devised for the purpose of this study, we find that register matters a great deal, explaining 1.5 times as much variation overall as idiolect. This should be taken into account when designing research in sociolinguistics or variation studies in general.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Sources of variation in linguistic research
- 3.Methods and data
- 3.1General-purpose model of language variability
- 3.2CPACT elicited data
- 4.Results
- 4.1Effect size
- 4.2Distances between texts
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
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References
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19020.cvr