Complementation of ditransitive verbs in South Asian Englishes: a multifactorial analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Schilk ◽  
Joybrato Mukherjee ◽  
Christopher Nam ◽  
Sach Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Multifactorial Analysis ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Ditransitive Verbs ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractThis paper examines parallels and differences between South Asian Englishes and British English with regard to various factors driving the selection of verb-complementation patterns. Focusing on the prototypical ditransitive verb give and its complementation, we use large web-derived corpora and distinguish between two possible response cases, one based on the dative and prepositional construction (i.e. the dative alternation), the other including monotransitive complementation. Our data has been additionally coded for a number of potential driving factors, such as pronominality and discourse accessibility of the participants in the constructions. Applying a model-exploration technique we isolate the main driving factors for the varieties under scrutiny (Indian English, Pakistani English and British English) and analyze their influence on pattern selection based on a multinomial logistic regression formulation. Our findings show that, while there is a large area of overlap between the varieties, Pakistani English is closer to British English with regard to relevant driving factors than Indian English. Furthermore, we reveal interesting parallels between all three varieties in the use of monotransitive complementation.

The dative alternation in South Asian English(es)

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bernaisch ◽  
Stefan Th. Gries ◽  
Joybrato Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Conditional Inference ◽  
The South ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Semantic Class ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Syntactic Pattern ◽  
Conditional Inference Trees

The present paper focuses on the modelling of cross-varietal differences and similarities in South Asian English(es) and British English at the level of verb complementation. Specifically, we analyse the dative alternation with GIVE, i.e. the alternation between the double-object construction (John gave Mary a book) and the prepositional dative (John gave a book to Mary) as well as their passivised constructions with regard to the factors that potentially exert an influence on this alternation in seven varieties of English. The South Asian varieties under scrutiny are Bangladeshi English, Indian English, Maldivian English, Nepali English, Pakistani English and Sri Lankan English, while British English serves as the reference variety. The patterns of GIVE are annotated according to the following parameters including potential predictors of the dative alternation: syntactic pattern and semantic class of GIVE; syntactic complexity, animacy, discourse accessibility and pronominality of constituents (cf. Gries 2003b; Bresnan and Hay 2008). The choices of complementation patterns are then statistically modelled using conditional inference trees and a random-forest analysis. The results indicate that many of the predictors found to be relevant in British English are at play in the South Asian varieties, too. The syntactic pattern of GIVE is, in descending order, uniformly influenced by the predictors pronominality of recipient, length of recipient, semantic class of GIVE and length of patient. Interestingly, the predictor country is marginal in accounting for the dative alternation of GIVE across the varieties at hand. Based on this observation, we derive variety-independent protostructions, i.e. abstract combinations of (cross-varietally stable) features with high predictive power for a particular syntactic pattern, which we argue to be part of the lexicogrammatical “common core” (Quirk et al. 1985: 16) of English. The implications of the present paper are twofold. While the order of the predictors regarding their influence on the dative alternation is clearly compatible with earlier studies (cf. e.g. Green 1974; Ransom 1979; Hawkins 1994; Gries 2003b), the stability of the order across varieties of English calls for a) a more fine-grained gradation of linguistic forms and structures at the lexis-grammar interface as indicators of structural nativisation and b) a revision of earlier verb-complementational findings specific to individual or groups of varieties of South Asian English.

Exploring epicentres empirically

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Th. Gries ◽  
Tobias Bernaisch
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Random Effects ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Double Object Construction ◽  
Deviation Analysis ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Object Construction

The present paper studies the dative alternation with GIVE, i.e. the alternation between the double-object construction (e.g. John gave Mary a book) and the prepositional dative (e.g. John gave a book to Mary), in relation to the norms underlying this constructional choice in six South Asian Englishes. Via Multifactorial Prediction and Deviation Analysis with Regression (MuPDAR) including random effects, we identify (i) factors triggering different constructional choices in South Asian Englishes in comparison to British English and (ii) the linguistic epicentre of English in South Asia with regard to the dative alternation. We are able to show that discourse accessibility of patient and recipient as well as pronominality of recipient are actuators of structural nativisation in South Asian Englishes and — in agreement with a more general sociolinguistic approach — find via a bottom-up approach that Indian English may be regarded as the linguistic epicentre of English for South Asia.

Non-Canonical Syntax in South Asian Varieties of English: A Corpus-Based Pilot Study on Fronting

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Götz
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English

AbstractIn the present paper, I present a pilot study on fronting in six South Asian Varieties of English, i.e. Indian English (IndE), Bangladeshi English (BgE), Sri Lankan English (SLE), Nepali English (NpE) and Pakistani English (PkE) as compared to their historical input variety, i.e. British English (BrE). For each of these varieties, based on the

Beyond Hobson Jobson

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Lambert
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
American English ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Selection Of

Indian English is one of the most important and widely-spoken varieties of English, and yet at present the pinnacle of lexicographical treatment of the variety remains the well-renowned and much feted Hobson Jobson, originally published in 1886, with a second edition in 1903. British English has the Oxford, American English the Webster’s, Australian English the Macquarie, but Indian English must do with a dictionary over a century out of date. More recent lexicographical works that focus on Indian English suffer from a number of deficiencies that do not do the variety due justice. This paper analyses a selection of the currently available dictionaries on Indian English in order to identify these deficiencies. Finally, suggestions are made as to possible dictionary projects that may move Indian English lexicography, and the lexicography of other New Englishes, beyond Hobson Jobson and towards the 21st century.

Describing verb-complementational profiles of New Englishes

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joybrato Mukherjee ◽  
Sebastian Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Internet Archive ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Sporadic Cases ◽  
Ditransitive Verbs ◽  
Descriptive Level

The present paper investigates the emergence of local norms in Indian English at the level of verb complementation, an area which so far has not attracted much attention in research into New Englishes. In attempting to describe the verb-complementational profile of Indian English, we offer a pilot study which combines a descriptive aim and a methodological aim. At the descriptive level, the present article focuses on ditransitive verbs and their complementation and addresses two related questions: (1) To what extent do the frequency and distribution of complementation patterns of specific ditransitive verbs (e.g. give) differ between Indian English and British English? (2) To what extent is the basic ditransitive pattern with two object noun phrases (e.g. in he sent Mary his warmest wishes) associated with different verbs in British English and Indian English? The present paper reveals that in both regards there are clear and identifiable differences in verb complementation between the two varieties. At the methodological level, this pilot study combines the use of balanced and representative subcorpora from the International Corpus of English (ICE) with the in-depth analysis of a much larger database that has been extracted from the Internet archive of the daily Indian newspaper The Statesman. This makes it possible to also detect examples of low-frequency constructions in Indian English, e.g. sporadic cases of ditransitive complementation of verbs such as advise, gift and impart.

scholarly journals ‘Give it him and then I’ll give you money for it’. The dative alternation in Contemporary British English

2018 ◽  
pp. 15-28
Author(s):  
Juan Lorente Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Double Object ◽  
British English ◽  
Double Object Construction ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Object Construction ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ditransitive Verbs ◽  
British National Corpus ◽  
Prepositional Object ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon

‘Dative alternation’ refers to a linguistic phenomenon related to ditransitive verbs, that is, verbs which take a subject and two objects referring to a theme and a recipient. In English, the phenomenon offers the possibility of alternation between a prepositional object construction (PREP), where the recipient is encoded as a prepositional phrase (give it to him), a double object construction (DOC), where the recipient precedes the theme (give him it) and an alternative double object construction (altDOC), where the theme takes precedence over the recipient (give it him), the latter constrained to dialectal usage. Even though this alternation has been extensively addressed in the literature, few studies have considered language-external factors in determining the choice of encoding. This paper analyses the distribution of ditransitive forms in competition in contemporary British English from a twofold perspective, shedding some light on the distribution of these variants across time, along with the study of PREP, DOC and altDOC in relation to their sociolinguistic dimension. The corpus used as source of evidence is the British National Corpus, a 100-million-word collection of both written and spoken language from a wide range of sources.

The hypothetical subjunctive in South Asian Englishes

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Hundt ◽  
Sebastian Hoffmann ◽  
Joybrato Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Indian English ◽  
British English ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
British National Corpus ◽  
Newspaper Data ◽  
Local Use ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

This paper studies the distribution and usage patterns in hypothetical if-clauses in a set of South Asian Englishes (SAEs), namely Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan English on the basis of web-derived newspaper data. Comparative evidence comes from newspaper texts in the British National Corpus (BNC). It looks at the use of subjunctive were, indicative was and modal would as variant verb forms in the if-clause. The qualitative analyses also consider tense sequencing in the main and subordinate clause. In terms of overall frequencies, the SAEs do not cluster together in their use of the subjunctive but form a gradient or cline with British English at one end. Similarities between the SAEs emerge from the qualitative analyses. An additional, serendipitous result of the study concerns the local use in SAEs of the subordinator on if meaning ‘whether’, a pattern that is likely to have its origin in Indian English.

An Analysis of Indian English News Headlines

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samapika Roy ◽  
◽  
Sukhada ◽  
Anil Kr. Singh ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
News Article ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Indian English ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
British English ◽  
Sentence Construction ◽  
News Headlines

News Headlines (NHs) are of the most creative uses of natural languages in a media text. An NH is the frontline of a news article. Specific characteristics make NHs standout: for instance, article omission, use of active verbs, dropping the copula to save space and to attract the reader’s attention to the most significant words, etc. Some research has been done on linguistic analysis of British English NH, Hindi-Urdu NHs, but hardly any work has been conducted on IndENH. This paper attempts to analyze Indian English newspaper headlines (IndENH), and aims to contribute to the accuracy of News Headline parsing. This study determines the linguistic features of the IndENH, to improve the quality of the parsed output of NHs. This paper covers sentence construction, tense, punctuation marks, metaphors, etc. for linguistic analysis.

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