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The influence of formality and channel on relative pronoun choice in New Zealand English1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2008

Robert Sigley
Robert Sigley
Affiliation:
Department of LinguisticsVictoria UniversityPO Box 600WellingtonNew Zealandrobert.sigley@vuw.ac.nz
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Extract

This paper describes the effects of text formality and channel on relativizer choice in data from three corpora of written and spoken New Zealand English. That and the null relativizer Ø are typically regarded as intrinsically less formal than the wh-pronouns; but are they in fact commoner in spoken/informal texts? If so, is this a direct response to formality? Do prescriptions influence relativizer choice in written/formal texts? These questions are addressed by identifying and controlling significant linguistic influences on relativizer choice, and comparing results for text categories representing a range of formality levels from both channels.

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Articles
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English Language & Linguistics , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , November 1997 , pp. 207 - 232
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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