Crossing linguistic boundaries : systemic, synchronic and diachronic variation in English

✍ Scribed by Paloma Núñez Pertejo; María José López-Couso; Belén Méndez-Naya; Javier Pérez-Guerra

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2019
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 289
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Breaking away from previously rigid descriptions of the linguistic system of the English language, Crossing Linguistic Boundaries explores fascinating case studies which refuse to fall neatly within the traditional definitions of linguistic domains and boundaries. Bringing together leading international scholars in English linguistics, this volume focusses on these controversies in relation to seeking to overcome the temporal and geographical limits of the English language. Chapters investigate a range of issues, such as the specific relations between segmental and suprasegmental phonology and phonetics to other realms of English linguistics, the grammar/semantics interface and correlation issues between syntax and verbal mood. Approaching tensions in the areas of English phonology and phonetics, pragmatics, semantics, morphology and syntax, chapters discuss not only British and American English but also a wide variety of geographical variants. Containing synchronic and diachronic studies covering different periods in the history of English, Crossing Linguistic Boundaries will appeal to anyone interested in linguistic variation in English.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover page
Halftitle page
Series page
Title page
Copyright page
Contents
Tables
Figures
Contributors
Preface
Introduction
1. A polyhedral gaze on variation
2. Tensioning the system
3. Synchronic and diachronic variation
Part One Tensioning the System
1 Prosodic Templates in English Idioms and Fixed Expressions
1. Introduction1
2. Prosody in English
3. A taxonomy of prosodic templates
4. Conclusion
Notes
References
2 Word-search as Word- formation? The Case of uh and um1
1. Introduction
2. The Santa Barbara Corpus study
3. Discussion
Notes
Corpora
References
3 Demonstratives Licensed by Cultural Co-presence1
1. Introduction
2. Demonstratives licensed by shared cultural scenarios
3. Predicative use of proximal demonstratives
4. Conclusion
Notes
References
4 The Fall and Rise of English any
1. Introduction
2. Any in Old and Modern English
3. Why the frequency of any declined but rose again during the Early Middle English period
4. Conclusion
Notes
Corpora
References
5 Revisiting ‘ it-extraposition’: The Historical Development of Constructions with Matrices (it)/( there ) be + Noun Phrase followed by a Complement Clause1
1. Introduction
2. Extraction and compilation of corpus datasets
3. Complementation constructions with (it)/(there) be + NP in Old English
4. The development of complementation constructions with it be wonder and there be doubt from Middle to Present-day English
5. Conclusion
Notes
Corpora
References
6 On Grammatical Change and Discourse Environments1
1. Introduction2
2. Historical Linguistics and Discourse Traditions
3. Discourse organization and the verb in English and Spanish
4. Syntactic elaboration processes in Spanish and English
5. Conclusions
Notes
Corpora
References
7 Grammaticalizing Adverbs of English: The Case of still
1. Introduction
2. The development of English sentence adverbs
3. Still in Present-day English
4. Still over the Modern English period
5. Still and models of language change
6. Conclusion
Notes
Corpora
References
Part Two Synchronic and Diachronic Variation
8 How British is Gibraltar English?1
1. Introduction
2. Data and questionnaire structure
3. Explorative data analysis
4. Rater means, individual items and sociolinguistic factors
5. Discussion and aspects of globalization
Appendix A . Gibraltar version of the Bamberg Questionnaire (lexical part only)
Appendix B . Correlations of mean ratings of individual items and seven age groups in GibE: Americanization (negative correlations) vs. Britishization (positive correlations)
Appendix C . Americanization vs. Britishization in Gibraltar English: apparent-time trends for all items (ordered by strength and polarity of correlation; seven age groups)
Notes
References
9 Singular they in Asian Englishes: A Case of Linguistic Democratization 1
1. Introduction
2. Singular they : Diachronic and synchronic considerations
3. English in India, Hong Kong and Singapore: Development and language contact
4. Methodology
5. Results
6. Discussion and conclusions
Notes
Corpora
References
10 It is Important that Mandatives (should) be studied across Different World Englishes and from a Construction Grammar Perspective1
1. Introduction
2. Previous research on mandative constructions: Variation and change in World Englishes
3. Data and methodology
4. Results
5. Summary of the results
6. World Englishes and variationist construction grammar
Notes
Corpora
References
11 The Stative Progressive in Singapore English: A Panchronic Perspective 1
1. Introduction
2. The historical situation
3. The use of stative progressives in international dialects: An overview
4. Previous research on stative progressives in Singapore English
5. Have-progressives in the Flowerpod Corpus
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
Notes
Corpora
References
Index