Studien zur englischen Sprache Reihe

This book delves into the grammatical variations across British English dialects, utilizing real speech data gathered from more than thirty counties. It highlights the unique linguistic features and patterns present in different regions, providing insights into the diversity of English as spoken in Britain. The exploration is grounded in authentic examples, making it a valuable resource for linguists and language enthusiasts interested in the nuances of dialectal grammar.

Speakers of British and American English display some striking differences in their use of grammar. In this detailed survey, John Algeo considers questions such as: •Who lives on a street, and who lives in a street? •Who takes a bath, and who has a bath? •Who says Neither do I, and who says Nor do I? •After 'thank you', who says Not at all and who says You're welcome? •Whose team are on the ball, and whose team isn't? Containing extensive quotations from real-life English on both sides of the Atlantic, collected over the past twenty years, this is a clear and highly organized guide to the differences - and the similarities - between the grammar of British and American speakers. Written for those with no prior knowledge of linguistics, it shows how these grammatical differences are linked mainly to particular words, and provides an accessible account of contemporary English in use.

This study, the first in the series Studies in English Language, is concerned with the functional and communicative foundations of English grammar, and takes as its specific focus the study of infinitival complement clauses. Much of the illustrative material is taken from the Survey of English Usage at University College London. The work draws on a large amount of data from spontaneous speech, and provides a close analysis of numerous examples in their authentic discourse context. It is based on the assumption that syntactic structures are closely connected with, and partly determined by, conventions of human discourse and the speaker's or writer's desire to express meaning efficiently. The ample documentation will appeal to those interested in the structure of modern British English. For those interested in syntactic theory and discourse, this is an empirical contribution to the debate on discourse-based approaches to functional syntax.

Now in its second edition, this is a step-by-step guide to creating and analyzing linguistic corpora. It has been extensively updated to reflect the new developments in this rapidly evolving field, and is illustrated with a wide range of examples, making it essential reading for students in all areas of linguistics.

The Prague School theory of functional sentence perspective (FSP) is concerned with the distribution of information as determined by all meaningful elements in a written or spoken sentence, such as intonation, word order and context. Jan Firbas discusses the key phenomenon of communicative dynamism, which the sentence elements carry in different degrees, and the distribution of which determines the orientation or perspective of the sentence.

Focusing on the evolution of Standard English, this book explores significant shifts in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation over the last hundred years. It provides a detailed examination of how language reflects societal changes and cultural influences, offering insights into the dynamic nature of English as it adapts and transforms.

Focusing on speech-related genres in Early Modern English, this book offers insights into the nature of spoken interaction during that era. It delves into historical communication practices, helping readers understand how language was used in conversation and the social dynamics at play. Through its analysis, the book sheds light on the evolution of spoken discourse and its significance in shaping communication in earlier times.

Focusing on personal pronouns in contemporary English, this comprehensive analysis utilizes the Survey of English corpus and the International Corpus of English to explore diverse discourses and varieties worldwide. Katie Wales adopts a pragmatic and functional approach, emphasizing how speakers and writers use language within social, cultural, and rhetorical contexts. The text is enriched with numerous examples, including the usage of reflexive and possessive pronouns, providing valuable insights into language dynamics.

Exploring the dynamics of communication, this book examines the interactions between speakers of various English dialects. It delves into the complexities of language use, highlighting how regional differences influence understanding and social relations. Through insightful analysis, it reveals the challenges and enrichments that arise in multilingual conversations, offering a fresh perspective on linguistic diversity and its impact on interpersonal communication.

It is well known that British and American English differ substantially in their pronunciation and vocabulary - but differences in their grammar have largely been underestimated. This volume focuses on British–American differences in the structure of words and sentences and supports them with computer-aided studies of large text collections. Present-day as well as earlier forms of the two varieties are included in the analyses. This makes it the first book-length treatment of British and American English grammar in contrast, with topics ranging from compound verbs to word order differences and tag questions. The authors explore some of the better-known contrasts, as well as a great variety of innovative themes that have so far received little or no consideration. Bringing together the work of a team of leading scholars in the field, this book will be of interest to those working within the fields of English historical linguistics, language variation and change, and dialectology.

Martin Hilpert combines construction grammar and advanced corpus-based methodology into a new way of studying language change. Constructions are generalizations over remembered exemplars of language use. These exemplars are stored with all their formal and functional properties, yielding constructional generalizations that contain many parameters of variation. Over time, as patterns of language use are changing, the generalizations are changing with them. This book illustrates the workings of constructional change with three corpus-based studies that reveal patterns of change at several levels of linguistic structure, ranging from allomorphy to word formation and to syntax. Taken together, the results strongly motivate the use of construction grammar in research on diachronic language change. This new perspective has wide-ranging consequences for the way historical linguists think about language change. It will be of particular interest to linguists working on morpho-syntax, sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics.