Our methodological work tests how conceptions of conventional language use shape assessment of originality (Veale 2012: 59). When a text is perceived as literary, linguistic signs appear systematically judged as less original, even though they may have a high level of literariness. This may be a function of exposure to genres, involving predictions from holistic schemas as well as the level of specific forms. Consider the following examples from Robert Walser’s <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="italic" xml:space="preserve">Geschwister Tanner </hi>[1907]: