Grammatical variation in World Englishes
An onomasiological study
This study adopts an onomasiological, alternation-based approach to the exploration of grammatical variation
across World Englishes, using data sourced from the 1.9 billion-word Global Web-based English corpus. The macro-orientation of the
study, which investigates a set of ten alternations known to be susceptible to diachronic change, facilitates identification of a
number of general trends, including the typical advancement of the Inner Circle varieties and of the South-East Asian varieties,
the hypercentrality of American English, and the epicentrality of Indian English in South Asia. Possible explanatory factors
include colloquialisation, grammatical simplicity/complexity, developmental status, and areal proximity.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Data and methodology
- 3.Explanatory considerations
- 4.Findings
- 4.1Perfect aspect
- 4.2Progressive aspect
- 4.3Passive voice
- 4.4Subjunctive mood
- 4.4.1The subjunctive mandative
- 4.4.2The subjunctive-were conditional
- 4.5Non-finite complementation
- 4.5.1
Prevent NP (from) Ving
- 4.5.2
Help NP (to) V
- 4.5.3
Start Ving vs start to V
- 4.6Concord with collective nouns
- 4.7First person inclusive imperatives
- 5.Discussion of findings
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
References (41)
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2023.
Modals and Quasi-Modals in English World-Wide.
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► pp. 265 ff.

Collins, Peter
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Variation in world Englishes through the lens of negation.
World Englishes 43:1
► pp. 47 ff.

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