Exploring the Left Dislocation construction by means of multiple
linear regression
Complexity and orality of Modern English left-dislocated NPs
This study deals with the complexity of left-dislocated [LDed] noun phrases in
the Modern English period (1500–1914). The purpose is twofold: to estimate the
effects of a number of theoretically relevant predictors on complexity,
operationalized as word-length, and to explore whether shorter LDed NPs, which
are characteristic of contemporary spoken English, symbolize the claimed
‘orality’ of earlier speech-related texts. Multiple linear regression is
employed in order to assess the correlation between complexity and factors
relating to both the context (e.g. genre) and the inner configuration (e.g.
augmentation of the LDed constituent) of the tokens extracted from the
Penn-Helsinki suite of corpora. The results confirm that shorter LDed items more
closely match the characterization previously offered for contemporary spoken
Left Dislocation. The results also provide preliminary insight into the
accommodation strategies that might facilitate the resumption of heavier LDed
NPs. As regards genre, speech-purposed and mixed texts feature a higher relative
rate of shorter LDed elements. Thus, if shorter LDed NPs are more closely
connected with the spoken variant, it is in speech-purposed and mixed genres
where they might be claimed to constitute a trait of orality that is
deliberately employed by writers in order to reproduce conversation.
Surprisingly, speech-like genres do not include LDed items as often, and these
are just as complex as those attested in writing-related texts.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 2.1Processing constraints in LD
- 2.2LD as a feature of orality and informality
- 3.Data and methods
- 3.1Length: The continuous dependent variable
- 3.2Genre cluster
- 3.3Period
- 3.4Intervening material
- 3.5Augmentation
- 3.6Punctuation
- 3.7Form of the resumptive
- 3.8Position of the resumptive
- 3.9Animacy
- 3.10The statistical model: multiple linear regression for effect estimation
- 4.Results
- 4.1Further results on genre and period: LDed NPs and orality
- 5.Discussion and concluding remarks
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
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