Language and Creativity

Ronald Carter is Research Professor of Modern English Language in the School of English at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is the series co-editor of the Routledge Applied Linguistics and Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics series. His recent books include: How to Analyse Texts (Routledge, 2016), Spoken Corpus Linguistics (Routledge, 2013) and Vocabulary (reissued as a Routledge Linguistics Classic, 2012).

• PrefaceIntroductionPart I: Backgrounds and theories1 Approaches to creativity2 Lines and clines: linguistic approachesPart II: Forms and Functions3 Creativity and patterns of talk4 Figures of speechPart III: Contexts and variations5 Creativity, language and social context6 Creativity, discourse and social practice

Praise for the previous edition:"Affords major insights not only into ‘common talk’ but through and beyond this into the nature of language in general." Michael Halliday, University of Sydney, Australia "A major step forward in conversation analysis, and gives desrved recognition to the remarkable linguistic creativity that exists in all of us.' David Crystal, University of Wales, Bangor, UK "A delight to read." Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., University of California, Santa Cruz, USA"Reading this volume gives the same pleasure as dipping into a reference book on where words come from. It is fascinating and full of background interest ... It is an intriguing study, delving into how human beings use language and how every one of us is creative with it." – ESB"The strength of this book is that Carter uses "real" evidence, transcriptions of conversations from the Cancode corpus, a 5-million-word computerised database that includes recordings from a variety of settings in the UK and Ireland. This broad-ranging approach makes the book a useful consciousness-raising exercise for beginner students." – Jean Aitchison, The Times Higher Education Supplement"The book is a valuable new intervention which should be considered by all applied linguists for both the detail of its analyses and the larger questions it opens up." – BaaL News