“Overall, the wide scope of this book means that it will be of interest not only to scholars of language variation and change and those working on the sociolinguistics of globalisation but also to researchers working on the study of reported speech within many other sub-disciplines of linguistics.” (Journal of Sociolinguistics, 20 March 2015)
“These distinctive perspectives provide the readership with fresh food for thought on the exciting and important topic of quoting and quotatives, and with a more nuanced knowledge base as regards the linguistic properties, social uses and pragmatic functions. In brief, this volume is a treasure trove and highly recommended for those who are keen on communication studies, discourse analysis and sociology.” (Discourse Studies, 1 January 2015)
“In Labov’s tradition of using language variation to address socially and linguistically interesting questions, this book examines quotatives from many perspectives: from historical change and grammaticalisation, to narrative studies and attitudes. Buchstaller has a unique passion for and understanding of quotatives.”
— Miriam Meyerhoff, Victoria University of Wellington
“With this book, Buchstaller’s coronation as the queen of quotative introducers is complete. She insightfully integrates research from quantitative sociolinguistics, semantics and pragmatics, language ideology, and the study of language variation and change.”
— John R. Rickford, Stanford University
“Buchstaller’s extensive experience as a researcher in the field shines through in this riveting first-ever overview of the exciting and important topic of quoting and quotatives.”
— Jenny Cheshire, Queen Mary, University of London
From the Inside Flap
The system of speech and thought reporting of English, as well as a number of related and unrelated languages, has been the site of vast and rapid changes. This book gives an overview of the changes in the area of quotative strategies, with a particular focus on the diffusion of innovative variants and the systemic developments which result from the incursion of newcomer forms.
The volume considers the phenomenon “quotation” from a wealth of perspectives. It consolidates findings from different strands of research, combining formal and functional approaches for the definition of reported discourse and situating the phenomenon in a broader typological and sociolinguistic perspective. While the primary focus of the empirical research is on English, the book also investigates cross-linguistic similarities and differences within this linguistic domain. The volume examines the development of quotation, both from a pan-English perspective as well providing a historical overview over the competition of forms between the 1960s to the 2000s. Corpus-based research on innovative quotative forms is combined with an investigation into the ideologies attached to their users as well as regarding the linguistic acceptability of globalising linguistic forms.
From the Back Cover
The system of speech and thought reporting of English, as well as a number of related and unrelated languages, has been the site of vast and rapid changes. This book gives an overview of the changes in the area of quotative strategies, with a particular focus on the diffusion of innovative variants and the systemic developments which result from the incursion of newcomer forms.
The volume considers the phenomenon “quotation” from a wealth of perspectives. It consolidates findings from different strands of research, combining formal and functional approaches for the definition of reported discourse and situating the phenomenon in a broader typological and sociolinguistic perspective. While the primary focus of the empirical research is on English, the book also investigates cross-linguistic similarities and differences within this linguistic domain. The volume examines the development of quotation, both from a pan-English perspective as well providing a historical overview over the competition of forms between the 1960s to the 2000s. Corpus-based research on innovative quotative forms is combined with an investigation into the ideologies attached to their users as well as regarding the linguistic acceptability of globalising linguistic forms.
About the Author
Isabelle Buchstaller is professor for English at Leipzig University. Her research focuses on (morpho-) syntactic and discourse phenomena, including quotation, intensification and Northern English features, such as the Northern subject rule. Among her publications is Quotatives: Cross-linguistic and Cross-disciplinary Perspectives (2012, with Ingrid van Alphen), which investigates quotation cross-linguistically from a wealth of disciplines.
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