Studies in Middle and Modern English: Historical Variation

This is the second of the paired volumes which derive from the conference ‘MMECL 2011: Middle and Modern English Corpus Linguistics’ held in Osaka on 26-9 August 2011. While the first volume edited by Yoko Iyeiri and Jennifer Smith (Studies in Middle and Modern English: Historical Change, 2014, Osaka: Osaka Books Ltd.) is more concerned with historical change in Middle and Modern English, the present volume includes papers whose interests are more focused on historical (or synchronic) variation of the English language, though naturally with an eye to historical change as well. In the present volume, the six papers discuss variation in language use in the historical record, demonstrating the fact that corpus-based studies, when combined with minute reading or philological approach, can offerinsightful findingsin the analysis of both synchronicand diachronic variation in English. The volume is ordered thematically from morphology via syntax to pragmatics and stylistics