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A statistical method for the identification and aggregation of regional linguistic variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

Jack Grieve ,
Dirk Speelman  and
Dirk Geeraerts
Jack Grieve
Affiliation:
University of Leuven
Dirk Speelman
Affiliation:
University of Leuven
Dirk Geeraerts
Affiliation:
University of Leuven
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Abstract

This paper introduces a method for the analysis of regional linguistic variation. The method identifies individual and common patterns of spatial clustering in a set of linguistic variables measured over a set of locations based on a combination of three statistical techniques: spatial autocorrelation, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. To demonstrate how to apply this method, it is used to analyze regional variation in the values of 40 continuously measured, high-frequency lexical alternation variables in a 26-million-word corpus of letters to the editor representing 206 cities from across the United States.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , July 2011 , pp. 193 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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