Douglas Biber's new book gives a linguistic analysis of register in four widely differing languages: English, Nukulaelae Tuvaluan, Korean, and Somali.

Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. The comprehensive analysis of register variation; 3. Sociocultural description of the four language situations; 4. The linguistic bases of cross-linguistic register comparisons: a detailed quantitative comparison of English and Somali registers. 5. Methodology; 6. Multi-dimensional analyses of the four languages; 7. Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: synchronic similarities and differences; 8. Cross-linguistic patterns of register variation: diachronic similarities and differences; 9. Registers and text types in English and Somali; 10. Towards cross-linguistic universals of register variation; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.