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Article In: English World-Wide: Online-First Articles

Exonormative grammaticalization and endonormative variation

Testing the dynamic model using modal n-grams

ORCiD logo with link | Sorbonne Nouvelle University
 | University of Lille
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Abstract
This paper empirically assesses Schneider, Edgar W. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar Dynamic Model. While the model foregrounds increasing endonormative variation in later stages, lexifier-aligned patterns of grammaticalization would instead prompt increasing convergence. Drawing on data from the Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE) (. 2013. Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE) 〈[URL]〉.), British English is compared with three varieties at different stages of the Model: Singapore, Nigerian, and Pakistani Englishes. Five modals (must, should, got to, could, and might) are examined using n-grams. Statistical measures identify both macro-level similarities and micro-level differences, while qualitative analysis of modal n-grams sheds light on domain-specific patterns of grammaticalization. A cline emerges that closely mirrors variety placement in the model, but with differences between modal domains. These results suggest that endonormative development does not uniformly entail grammatical divergence and point to the need to refine the model that distinguishes between constructional innovation and the evolution of core grammatical systems as driven by lexifier-aligned trends.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.State of the art
  • 3.Method
  • 4.Quantitative results
    • 4.1GB patterning apart from the postcolonial varieties
    • 4.2SG and NG clustering together
    • 4.3Differences in possibility/necessity modal domain
    • 4.4Length of modal n-grams
  • 5.Qualitative results
    • 5.1Possibility modals
    • 5.2Necessity modals
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (75)
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