Acknowledgements

This book is a revised and expanded version of my dissertation, which I handed in at the University of Regensburg in 2019. Many people have helped this project come to life, and I am incredibly grateful to all of them. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor and mentor, Edgar Schneider, for his trust in me and for giving me the chance and freedom to work on this fascinating topic. His support and advice during all stages of this project (and beyond) have been invaluable, and I am truly lucky to have started my career as part of his wonderful team in Regensburg. My gratitude also goes to Stephanie Hackert at LMU Munich, whose seminar on discourse analysis made me change my course of study and become a linguist after all – I have never regretted it. Claudia Claridge at Augsburg University always provided support and advice, for which I am extremely thankful.

While working on this book, I have benefitted from the feedback of many colleagues at various conferences and I am thankful to all of them. Dagmar Deuber, Christian Mair, Andy Kirkpatrick, and Wang Lixun allowed me to access the audio files I needed to bring this project to life. Thorsten Brato provided invaluable help with all things statistical and brought the concept of coopetition to my attention. Sarah Buschfeld supported me during my very first steps as a ‘real’ linguist and provided feedback on various parts of this project. A very big thank you to Sven Leuckert and Sofia Rüdiger, for many helpful discussions and insightful comments, for providing moral support, and for focusing together.

I am very grateful to Merja Kytö, for allowing me to publish this project as part of Studies in English Language. At Cambridge University Press, Helen Barton and Izzie Collins have been incredibly understanding and supportive, for which I am immensely thankful.

Heidi Weig and Sebastian Graef, the best of all office neighbours, have accompanied me through all steps of this project, always being there to listen and never failing to keep my spirits high. Large parts of this book were written fuelled by their coffee and inspired by our morning discussions. Thank you so much!

My gratitude also goes to my friends, for being extremely patient and supportive, and for providing distraction whenever it was needed. A special thanks to Steffi, Gerti, Anja, and Teresa, for putting up with me talking so much about ‘the book’ and for persuading me to go hiking in the mountains to clear my head now and then.

I would not have been able to do the job I love without my family and my deepest gratitude goes to them. To my mother, Irene Neumaier, who sparked the idea for this whole project. To my father, Reimund Neumaier, whom I can rely on in every condition of life. To Christoph, the best of brothers. Thank you for being in my life and for always succeeding in making my laugh! To Vreni, Anneliese, Manfred, Kathrin, and Christine, for innumerable high involvement discussions. I am incredibly lucky to have you! And to Anton, who has only just entered my life but never fails to fill it with joy.