0000000000785228
AUTHOR
Britta Mondorf
Detransitivisation as a support strategy for causativebring
This article presents diachronic corpus analyses of causativebring(bringcaus) which provide new insights into a fairly novel research paradigm in language change: the role of ‘Moderate Transitivity Contexts’ (MTCs) as a refuge for waning verbs and as a breeding ground for waxing verbs (see Mondorf 2010, 2011, 2016; Rohdenburg 2014b; Schneider & Mondorf 2015). It argues that the modulation of transitivity serves as a support strategy for a formerly well-established verb that is leaving the language.The potential of semantic transitivity for the development of explanatory principles in language change has been hinted at by Hopper & Thompson (1980: 279). Empirically investigating the d…
Variation and change in English resultative constructions
AbstractThe system of English resultative constructions is in a state of flux characterized by variation between two of its most prominent competitors,way-constructions as inShe worked herwayto the topand reflexive structures as inShe worked herselfto the top.Although this competition has occasionally been addressed in the literature (cf. Jackendoff, 1990:213; Kirchner, 1951:158; Salkoff, 1988:54ff.), the present findings reveal that the long-standing rivalry between these structures has resulted in an increased use of theway-construction at the expense of reflexive structures. In addition, the coexistence ofway-constructions with semantically overlapping reflexive structures eventually cul…
British-American Contrasts in the Use of the Past Perfect: Negotiating Ambiguity versus Redundancy?
Abstract The present study provides an empirical analysis of British-American contrasts in the overall use of the past perfect as well as its functional distribution. Studies on variation according to national variety report a decline of the past perfect spearheaded by American English (cf. Elsness, J. 1997. The Perfect and Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English (Topics in English Linguistics 21). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyte; Bowie, J., S. Wallis, and B. Aarts. 2013. “The Perfect in Spoken British English.” In The Verb Phrase in English. Investigating Recent Language Change with Corpora, edited by B. Aarts, J. Close, G. Leech, and S. Wallis, 318–52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press…
More Support for More-Support
This book provides the most comprehensive account so far of novel and hitherto unexplained factors operative in the choice between synthetic ( prouder ) and analytic ( more proud ) comparatives. It argues that the underlying motivation in using the analytic variant is to mitigate processing demands – a compensatory strategy referred to as more -support. The analytic variant is claimed to be better suited to environments of increased processing complexity – presumably owing to its ability to facilitate early phrase structure recognition, the more transparent one-to-one relation between form and function and possibly because the degree marker more can serve as a structural signal foreshadowin…