ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 shows how corpus linguistics (CL) methods are used in the Irish Radio Advertisement Corpus (IRAC) in the analysis of particular features which have been established as marking intimate discourse, i.e. pronouns and vocatives. In addition, the use of CL tools in examining features such as turn co-construction, modal verbs and imperatives in IRAC is investigated, given that such linguistic features can shed light on the prevalence of sociolinguistic change patterns such as the conversationalisation and democratisation of discourse. Where relevant, a comparison is made between the findings in IRAC and those in the Limerick Corpus of Intimate Talk (LINT), which comprises naturally occurring discourse in intimate contexts.
