# Register Variation Remains Stable Across 60 Languages

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.09813 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.09813/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 3 of its 24 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 Sep 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Mapping Languages: The Corpus of Global Language Use](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00798/) (2020)
- [Representations of Language Varieties Are Reliable Given Corpus Similarity Measures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.01294/) (2021)
- [Corpus Similarity Measures Remain Robust Across Diverse Languages](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.04332/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Exposure and Emergence in Usage-Based Grammar: Computational Experiments in 35 Languages](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.14160/) (2022)
- [Pre-Trained Language Models Represent Some Geographic Populations Better Than Others](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11025/) (2024)
- [Validating and Exploring Large Geographic Corpora](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08198/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper measures the stability of cross-linguistic register variation. A register is a variety of a language that is associated with extra-linguistic context. The relationship between a register and its context is functional: the linguistic features that make up a register are motivated by the needs and constraints of the communicative situation. This view hypothesizes that register should be universal, so that we expect a stable relationship between the extra-linguistic context that defines a register and the sets of linguistic features which the register contains. In this paper, the universality and robustness of register variation is tested by comparing variation within vs. between register-specific corpora in 60 languages using corpora produced in comparable communicative situations: tweets and Wikipedia articles. Our findings confirm the prediction that register variation is, in fact, universal.