Acknowledgements

This book has a long history. It started many years ago in Munich where Franca Kirchberg taught me the first steps in R. My relationship with R was greatly deepened in Texas in Stefan Th. Gries’s R bootcamp. It finally caught fire when I realized that using R for visualization allowed the combination of linguistic research and artistic creation.

I’m indebted to Florian Dolberg, and his detailed comments on the first few chapters of an earlier draft. Another debt is owed to Martin Schweinberger, who cast a critical eye on one chapter. The biggest thank you is due to Mark Dingemanse, who delivered the ideal review of the pre-final manuscript: abundantly rich in detail, invariably constructive in his critique, and most helpful in making excellent suggestions for improvement.

A warm thank you goes to editor Kees Vaes and his remarkable patience in the face of multiple deadlines the author did not meet, and to Susan Hendriks of the production team at Benjamins who ensured that the passage from manuscript submission through production to publication was an entirely pleasant experience.

With all this assistance I hasten to say that all the faults and flaws that may have remained in the book are entirely mine.