Jenny Cheshire is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, language variation and coversational narrative. Dieter Stein is Professor at Heinrich Heine University, Germany. His research interests include language development, language and communication in the internet, andthe linguistics of Hypertext.

• 1. The syntax of spoken languageJenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein2. Dialect versus standard language: nature versus cultureJaap van Marle3. Syntax and varietiesDieter Stein4. Into and out of the standard language: the particle ni in FinnishMaria Vilkuna5. Involvement in 'standard' and 'nonstandard' EnglishJenny Cheshire6. This, that, yon: on 'three-dimensional' systemsGunnel Melchers7. Grammatical variation and the avoidance of stress clashes in Northern Low GermanGünter Rohdenburg8. Norms made easy: case marking with modal verbs in FinnishLea Laitinen9. Articles and number in oral or close-to-oral varietiesBrigitte Schlieben-Lange10. Proscribed collocations with shall and will: the eighteenth century (non-) standard reassessedLeslie K. Arnovick11. The genitives of the relative pronouns in present-day EnglishAimo Sepp™nen12. 'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second plural pronouns in EnglishesSusan Wright13. Strengthening identity: differentiation and change in contemporary GalacianJohannes Kabatek14. Left dislocation in French: varieties, norm and usageAlain Berrendonner and Marie-José Reichler-Béguelin15. Dialect variation as a consequence of standardizationDieter Wanner16. The atternings of nonstandard syntax in GermanBeate Henn-MemmesheimerContributors

Jenny Cheshire is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, language variation and coversational narrative. Dieter Stein is Professor at Heinrich Heine University, Germany. His research interests include language development, language and communication in the internet, andthe linguistics of Hypertext.

• 1. The syntax of spoken languageJenny Cheshire and Dieter Stein2. Dialect versus standard language: nature versus cultureJaap van Marle3. Syntax and varietiesDieter Stein4. Into and out of the standard language: the particle ni in FinnishMaria Vilkuna5. Involvement in 'standard' and 'nonstandard' EnglishJenny Cheshire6. This, that, yon: on 'three-dimensional' systemsGunnel Melchers7. Grammatical variation and the avoidance of stress clashes in Northern Low GermanGünter Rohdenburg8. Norms made easy: case marking with modal verbs in FinnishLea Laitinen9. Articles and number in oral or close-to-oral varietiesBrigitte Schlieben-Lange10. Proscribed collocations with shall and will: the eighteenth century (non-) standard reassessedLeslie K. Arnovick11. The genitives of the relative pronouns in present-day EnglishAimo Sepp™nen12. 'Ah'm going for to give youse a story today': remarks on second plural pronouns in EnglishesSusan Wright13. Strengthening identity: differentiation and change in contemporary GalacianJohannes Kabatek14. Left dislocation in French: varieties, norm and usageAlain Berrendonner and Marie-José Reichler-Béguelin15. Dialect variation as a consequence of standardizationDieter Wanner16. The atternings of nonstandard syntax in GermanBeate Henn-MemmesheimerContributors