Secondly, linguistic analysis of editing may provide information on issues
relating directly to language use or ability. Comparison of the edited text
with the original reveals any stylistic differences between the two. We may
then draw inferences concerning the motivations of author and editor (or
even their identities if these are unknown) or concerning the kinds of
readerships for which the texts were intended. Already such a study moves
away from applied (unhyphenated) linguistics to applied socio-linguistics,
since we seek here a link between linguistic facts and extra-linguistic
factors.