Grammar of spoken and written english

Abbreviations and symbols xi 1.1.1 Major goals of the GSWE 5 1.2 Structure and use in English grammar 6 1.3.3 Standard and non-standard English 18 1.3.3.1 Variation within standard En

Douglas Biber

Stig Johansson Geoffrey N Leech Susan Conrad Edward Finegan

John Benjamins Publishing Company

English

Grammar of Spoken and Written English

John Benjamins Publishing Co • https://benjamins.com

of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.

Abbreviations and symbols xi

1.1.1 Major goals of the GSWE 5

1.2 Structure and use in English grammar 6

1.3.3 Standard and non-standard English 18

1.3.3.1 Variation within standard English 18

1.3.3.2 Variation within non-standard English 20

1.3.4 The relative importance of register and dialect differences 21

1.4 Representation of varieties in the LSWE Corpus 25

1.4.1 Register distinctions in the LSWE Corpus 25

1.4.2 Dialect distinctions in the LSWE Corpus 26

1.4.3 Size of the LSWE Corpus 27

1.4.4 Representativeness and accuracy of the LSWE Corpus 27

1.5 Description of the register categories in the LSWE Corpus 29

1.6 Grammatical analysis of the LSWE Corpus 35

1.7 Quantitative findings in the grammar 38

1.8 Functional interpretation of quantitative findings 41

1.8.1 Function as the performance of tasks 41

1.8.2 Function as a reflection of processing constraints 43

1.8.3 Function as social or situational indexing 43

1.8.4 Other explanatory considerations 44

1.9 Overview of the grammar 44

1.10 Potential users and uses of the GSWE 45

Table of contents

Section B Basic grammar 49

Chapter 2 Word and phrase grammar 51

2.1 The nature of grammatical units 52

2.2 Words and their characteristics 53

2.2.1 Word types and word tokens 54

2.2.1.1 Use of words in text examples 54

2.2.1.2 TTR across the registers 55

2.2.2 Orthographic words, grammatical words, and lexemes 56

2.2.3 The three major word classes 57

2.2.3.1 Lexical words 57

2.2.3.2 Function words 57

2.2.3.3 Inserts 58

2.2.4 Closed systems v open classes 58

2.2.5 The structure of words: Morphology 59

2.2.5.1 Inflection 59

2.2.5.2 Derivation 60

2.2.5.3 Compounding 60

2.2.5.4 Multi-word lexical units 61

2.2.6 Core v peripheral members of word classes 61

2.2.7 Multiple class membership 62

2.2.8 Use of lexical words, function words, and inserts 63

2.3.5 Lexical word classes 67

2.3.6 Borderline cases of lexical word class membership 69

2.4 Survey of function words 71

2.4.6.1 Adverbial particles v adverbs 80

2.4.6.2 Adverbial particles v prepositions 80

2.4.7 Coordinators 81

2.4.7.1 Correlative coordinators 82

2.4.7.2 Coordinators v other word classes 82

2.4.7.3 Simple coordinators: Distribution 83

2.4.11 The negator not 91

2.4.12 The infinitive marker to 92

2.6.2 Form v syntactic role of phrases 99

2.6.3 Phrases in text samples 99

2.7 Types of phrases 101

2.7.1 Noun phrases 101

2.7.1.1 The syntactic roles of noun phrases 102

2.7.1.2 Discontinuous noun phrases 104

2.7.2 Verb phrases 104

2.7.2.1 The syntactic role of verb phrases 105

2.7.2.2 Discontinuous verb phrases 105

2.7.2.3 Auxiliary-only verb phrases 105

2.7.3 Adjective phrases 106

2.7.3.1 The syntactic roles of adjective phrases 106

2.7.3.2 Discontinuous adjective phrases 106

2.7.4 Adverb phrases 107

2.7.4.1 The syntactic roles of adverb phrases 107

2.7.5 Prepositional phrases 108

2.7.5.1 Extended prepositional phrases 108

2.7.5.2 The syntactic roles of prepositional phrases 109

2.7.5.3 Stranded prepositions 109

2.7.5.4 Stranded prepositions in independent wh-questions 110

2.7.6 Genitive phrases 113

2.9.2.1 Distribution of coordination tags 120

2.10 Simple v complex phrases 121

Chapter 3 Clause grammar 123

3.1 Clause v non-clausal material 124

3.1.1 Use of clauses v non-clausal material in text samples 124

3.2 Major clause elements 126

3.5 Major clause patterns 145

3.5.1 Subject – verb phrase 145

3.5.2 Subject – verb phrase – obligatory adverbial 147

3.5.3 Subject – verb phrase – subject predicative 149

3.5.3.1 The characterizing pattern 149

3.5.3.2 The identifying pattern 150

3.5.4 Subject – verb phrase – direct object 150

3.5.5 Subject – verb phrase – prepositional object 152

3.5.6 Subject – verb phrase – indirect object – direct object 154

3.5.7 Subject – verb phrase – direct object – prepositional object 154

3.5.8 Subject – verb phrase – direct object – object predicative 154

3.5.9 Subject – verb phrase – direct object – obligatory adverbial 155

3.5.10 More complex patterns 156

3.6 Variations on clause patterns 156

3.7.1 Ellipsis in coordinated clauses 159

3.7.2 Ellipsis in comparative clauses 160

3.7.3 Ellipsis in question-answer sequences 160

3.7.4 Other types of textual ellipsis 160

3.7.5 Omission of function words and situational ellipsis 161

3.8 Negation 162

3.8.1 Overall frequency of negation 162

3.8.2 Not-negation 163

3.8.2.1 The auxiliary do in negative clauses with transitive have (got) 163

3.8.2.2 The auxiliary do in negative clauses with the semi-modal have to 165

3.8.2.3 The auxiliary do in negative clauses with dare and need 166

3.8.2.4 The auxiliary do in negative clauses with ought to and used to 167

3.8.2.5 Full form v operator contraction v not-contraction 168

3.8.2.6 Aren’t I and ain’t 169

3.8.3 No-negation 170

3.8.4 Occurrence of not-negation v no-negation 172

3.8.4.1 Variability of not-negation and no-negation 172

3.8.4.2 Relative frequency of not-negation v no-negation 173

3.8.4.3 Choice of no-negation v not-negation 173

3.8.4.4 Not-negation collocations 176

3.8.5 The scope of negation 177

3.8.6 Assertive and non-assertive forms 178

3.8.7 Multiple negation 180

3.8.7.1 Dependent multiple negation 180

3.8.7.2 Independent multiple negation 181

3.9 Subject-verb concord 182

3.9.1 Complications with concord patterns 183

3.9.1.1 Concord with plural forms not ending in -s 183

3.9.1.2 Concord with singular forms ending in -s 184

3.9.1.3 Concord with coordinated subjects 184

3.9.1.4 Concord with indefinite pronouns and quantifying expressions 186

3.9.1.5 Concord with existential there 187

3.9.1.6 Concord with clausal subjects 188

3.9.2 Notional concord 189

3.9.2.1 Concord with names, titles, and quotations 189

3.9.2.2 Concord with measure expressions 189

3.9.2.3 Concord with collective nouns 190

3.9.3 Concord and proximity 191

3.9.4 Non-standard concord in conversation 192

3.9.5 Subject-verb concord and pronominal reference 194

3.10 Types of dependent clauses 194

3.11 Finite dependent clauses 195

3.13.2.5 Interrogatives in general: Distribution 212

3.13.2.6 Question types: Distribution 213

3.13.2.7 Choice between interrogative who and whom 215

3.13.2.8 Auxiliary do in independent interrogative clauses 216

3.13.3 Exclamative clauses 220

3.13.4 Imperative clauses 220

3.13.4.1 The realization of imperative clauses 221

3.13.4.2 Imperative clauses: Distribution 222

3.14 Unembedded dependent clauses 224

3.15 Non-clausal material 225

3.15.1 Non-clausal material in writing 225

3.15.2 Non-clausal material in conversation 226

Section C Key word classes and their phrases 229

4.1 Overview of nominals in discourse 232

4.1.1 Use of nominals in discourse 232

4.1.1.1 Density and types of nominal elements 232

4.1.1.2 The role of nominal elements in discourse 233

4.1.2 Pronouns v full noun phrases 237

4.1.3 The forms of anaphoric expressions 239

4.1.4 Forms of anaphoric expression in relation to distance 240

4.2 The basic structure of noun-headed phrases 242

4.3 Types of nouns 243

4.3.1 Use of countable nouns in Text samples 244

4.3.2 Use of uncountable nouns in Text samples 244

4.3.2.1 Countable and uncountable uses of nouns 245

4.3.3.2 Proper nouns regularly occurring with the definite article 247

4.3.3.3 Proper nouns functioning as common nouns 248

4.4.1.1 The indefinite article 260

4.4.1.5 Reference patterns of definite noun phrases 267

4.4.1.6 Definite and indefinite articles: Distribution 268

4.4.1.7 Definite and indefinite articles in relation to syntactic role 270

4.4.1.8 Definite determiners: Distribution 271

4.5.5 Plural-only nouns and nouns in -S 290

4.5.6 Singular v plural nouns: Distribution 291

4.6 Case 292

4.6.1 The form of the genitive 293

4.6.2 The frequency of genitive case forms 294

4.6.8 Other independent genitives 298

4.6.8.1 Independent genitives unsupported by the linguistic context 298

4.6.10 The double genitive 299

4.6.11 Density of genitives 300

4.6.12 Choice between s-genitives and of-phrases 301

4.6.12.1 S-genitives and of-phrases overall 302

4.6.12.2 S-genitives and of-phrases and the dependent noun 303

4.6.12.3 Meanings of s-genitives and of-phrases 304

4.6.12.4 S-genitives and of-phrases and length 305

4.6.12.5 S-genitives and of-phrases and information status 306

4.6.12.6 S-genitives and of-phrases in collocations 306

4.6.12.7 Summary of choice between s-genitives and of-phrases 307

4.6.13 Choice between elliptic genitives and of-constructions 307

4.6.13.1 Elliptic genitives v of-constructions: Distribution 308

4.6.14 Choice between the double genitive and related constructions 308

4.6.14.1 The double genitive v corresponding constructions

with possessive pronouns 308

4.6.14.2 The double genitive v ordinary of-phrases 310

4.7 Gender 312

4.7.1 Lexical expression of gender 312

4.7.1.1 Words for masculine/feminine gender 313

4.7.1.2 Lexical means of expressing dual gender reference 315

4.7.2 Gender-specific v dual gender pronoun reference 316

4.7.2.1 Grammatical means for dual gender reference 317

4.7.3 Personal v non-personal reference with pronouns 317

4.8 Noun formation 318

4.8.1.1 Derivational prefixes used to form new nouns 319

4.8.1.2 Some common derivational suffix patterns 320

4.8.1.3 Frequency of common noun derivational suffixes 322

4.8.1.4 Productivity of common noun derivations 322

4.8.2 Formation of nouns through compounding 325

4.8.2.1 Noun compounds in conversation and news in AmE 325

4.9 The role of pronouns in discourse 327

4.10 Personal pronouns 327

4.10.1 Specific reference 328

4.10.1.1 Problems in the use of first person plural pronouns 328

4.10.1.2 Problems in the use of second person pronouns 329

4.10.1.3 Problems in the use of third person pronouns 330

4.10.2 Referring to people in general 330

4.10.3 Special problems with collective nouns 331

4.10.4 Special uses of it 331

4.10.5 Personal pronouns: Distribution 332

4.10.6 Nominative v accusative forms of personal pronouns 334

4.10.6.1 Pronoun choice after forms of be 334

4.10.6.2 Pronoun choice after as and than 335

4.10.6.3 Pronoun choice in coordinated noun phrases 336

4.10.6.4 Pronoun choice in peripheral and non-integrated noun phrases 338

4.10.6.5 Summary of factors affecting pronoun case choice 338

4.11 Possessive pronouns 339

4.11.1 The type a friend of mine 340

4.11.2 Possessive pronouns: Distribution 340

4.12 Reflexive pronouns 341

4.12.1 Reflexive pronouns: Distribution 343

4.12.2 Emphatic reflexive pronouns 344

4.13 Reciprocal pronouns 345

4.13.1 Reciprocal pronouns: Distribution 345

4.14 Demonstrative pronouns 346

4.14.1 Demonstrative pronouns: Distribution 347

4.14.2 This/these in academic prose 348

4.14.3 Those with postmodifying phrases or clauses 348

4.14.4 The demonstrative pronoun that in conversation 348

4.14.5 That in general 349

4.15 Indefinite pronouns 350

4.15.1 Indefinite pronouns: Distribution 351

4.15.2.1 The pronoun one: Distribution 352

4.16 Other pronouns 353

5.1 Major verb functions and classes 356

5.1.1 Frequency of lexical, modal, and primary auxiliary verbs 356

5.1.2 Distribution of lexical verbs and copula be across registers 357

5.2 Single-word lexical verbs 359

5.2.1 Classification of verbs into semantic domains 359

5.2.1.1 Major semantic domains of single-word verbs 360

5.2.1.2 Distribution of semantic domains 363

5.2.2 Most common lexical verbs 371

5.2.2.1 Overall use of the most common lexical verbs 371

5.2.2.2 Most common verbs in each register 373

5.2.3 Verbs with animate and inanimate subjects 378

5.2.4 Valency patterns for single-word lexical verbs 380

5.2.4.1 Valencies of common verbs across semantic domains 382

5.2.4.2 Variation in verb valency patterns 384

5.2.4.3 Intransitive and monotransitive patterns 384

5.2.4.4 Intransitive, monotransitive, and complex transitive patterns 386

5.2.4.5 Intransitive, monotransitive, and ditransitive patterns 387

5.2.4.6 Monotransitive and ditransitive but not intransitive patterns 388

5.2.4.7 Verbs taking almost all patterns 389

5.2.5 Regular lexical verb inflections 392

5.2.5.1 Consonant doubling of regularly inflected verbs 393

5.2.5.2 Doubling of base-final / followed by -ed across dialects 393

5.2.6 Irregular lexical verb inflections 393

5.2.6.1 Classes of irregular verbs 394

5.2.6.2 Regular and irregular forms 395

5.2.7 Verb derivation 399

5.2.7.1 Most frequent verb derivational affixes 399

5.2.7.2 Productivity of verb derivational affixes 400

5.3 Multi-word lexical verbs 403

5.3.1 Features distinguishing multi-word verb combinations 403

5.3.1.1 Multi-word combinations functioning as different

structural categories 405

5.3.2.1 Semantic domains of phrasal verbs 407

5.3.2.2 Register distribution of phrasal verbs 408

5.3.2.4 Productivity of particular verbs and adverbial particles 412

5.3.3 Prepositional verbs 413

5.3.3.1 Semantic domains of prepositional verbs 414

5.3.3.2 Register distribution of prepositional verbs 414

5.3.3.3 The most common prepositional verbs 415

5.3.3.4 Productivity of particular verbs and prepositions 421

5.3.4 Phrasal-prepositional verbs 422

5.3.4.1 Register distribution of phrasal-prepositional verbs 422

5.3.4.2 The most common phrasal-prepositional verbs 423

5.3.5 Other multi-word verb constructions 425

5.4 Main and auxiliary functions of primary verbs 426

5.4.3.3 Register distribution of main verb and pro-verb do 429

5.4.3.4 Auxiliary do in emphatic function 430

5.4.3.5 Lexical associations of emphatic do 431

5.4.3.6 Auxiliary do-support in negatives and interrogatives 432

5.5 Copular verbs 433

5.5.1 Verbs functioning as copulas 434

5.5.2 Complements of copular verbs 434

5.5.3 Register distribution of copular verbs and common predicative adjectives 435

5.5.3.1 Current (non-sensory) copular verbs 437

5.5.4 Valency patterns of the copulas be, seem, and appear 443

5.5.4.1 Complement types with be, seem, and appear 444

Chapter 6 Variation in the verb phrase:

6.1 Structure and meaning distinctions in the verb phrase 450

6.2 Tense 451

6.2.1 Basic tense and time distinctions 451

6.2.1.1 Simple present tense marking past or future time 452

6.2.1.2 Past tense in reported speech 453

6.2.2 Register distribution of tense and modality 454

6.2.3 Lexical associations of present and past tense 457

6.3 Aspect 458

6.3.1 Perfect and progressive aspect across registers and dialects 459

6.3.1.1 Register distribution of perfect and progressive aspect 459

6.3.1.2 Perfect and progressive aspect across dialects 460

6.3.2.1 Lexical associations of present perfect aspect 462

6.3.2.2 Present perfect forms of get and have across dialects 464

6.3.2.3 Present perfect aspect v simple past tense 465

6.3.2.4 Lexical associations of past perfect aspect 466

6.3.2.5 Past perfect aspect v simple past tense 467

6.3.3 Progressive aspect 469

6.3.3.1 Lexical associations of progressive aspect 469

6.4 Active and passive voice 473

6.4.1 Register distribution of active and passive voice 474

6.4.2 Lexical associations of the passive 476

6.4.2.1 Verbs that commonly occur in the passive 476

6.5 Complex combinations of aspect and voice 481

6.6 Modals and semi-modals 482

6.6.1 Distribution of modals and semi-modals 484

6.6.2 Individual modals/semi-modals across registers and dialects 485

6.6.3 Lexical associations of modality 489

6.6.4 Extrinsic v intrinsic uses of individual modals 489

6.6.4.1 The permission/possibility/ability modals 489

6.6.4.2 The obligation/necessity modals and semi-modals 492

6.6.4.3 The volition/prediction modals and semi-modals 493

6.7 Combinations of modal verbs with marked aspect or voice 495

6.8 Sequences of modals and semi-modals 499

Chapter 7 Adjectives and adverbs 501

7.1 Overview 502

7.1.1 Use of adjectives and adverbs 502

7.2 Defining characteristics of adjectives 503

7.2.1 Attributive and predicative adjectives across registers 504

7.2.2 Central and peripheral adjectives 505

7.2.3 Adjectives strongly associated with attributive or predicative position 506

7.3 Semantic grouping of adjectives 506

7.4 Attributive adjectives 508

7.4.1 Semantic domains of attributive adjectives 508

7.4.2 Most common attributive adjectives 509

7.5 Predicative adjectives 513

7.5.1 Most common predicative adjectives 514

7.6 Adjectives in other syntactic roles 516

7.6.1 Postposed adjectives 516

7.6.2 Adjectives as noun phrase heads 517

7.6.3 Adjectives with a clause linking function 518

7.6.4 Adjectives as exclamations 518

7.6.5 Adjectives as detached predicatives 518

7.7 Comparative and superlative degree 519

7.7.1 Gradable adjectives with -er and -est 519

7.7.2 Inflectional v phrasal comparison 520

7.7.3 Inflectional comparison across registers 521

7.7.4 Phrasal comparison with more and most 522

7.7.5 Doubly marked comparatives and superlatives 523

7.7.6 Adjectives with superlative or absolute meanings 523

7.8 Comparative clauses and other degree complements 524

7.8.1 Comparative constructions across registers 525

7.10.1 Repeated comparative adjectives 533

7.10.2 The intensifiers good and and nice and 534

7.11 Overview of adverbs 535

7.12 The form of adverbs 536

7.12.1 Formation of adverbs 536

7.12.2 Adverbs and adjectives with the same form 539

7.12.3 Comparative and superlative forms 541

7.13 Syntactic roles of adverbs 542

7.13.1 Adverbs modifying adjectives 542

7.13.1.1 Adverbs modifying adjectives in conversation and academic prose 542

7.13.2 Adverbs modifying other adverbs 543

7.13.2.1 Adverbs modifying adverbs in conversation and academic prose 543

7.13.3 Adverbs modifying other elements 545

7.13.4 Adverbs as complements of prepositions 545

7.13.5 Adverbs as clause elements: Adverbials 546

7.13.6 Adverbs with degree complements 546

7.13.7 Adverbs standing alone 547

7.14 Semantic categories of adverbs 548

7.14.1 Importance of context in the semantics of adverbs 548

7.14.2 Description of semantic categories 549

7.14.3 Semantic domains of adverbs in conversation and academic prose 556

7.15 Discourse choices for degree adverbs as modifiers 560

7.15.1 Amplifiers in conversation and academic prose 560

7.15.2 Degree modifiers other than amplifiers in conversation and academic prose 562

8.1 Overview 568

8.1.1 Register distribution of noun phrases with pre- and postmodifiers 572

8.1.2 Co-occurrence of modifiers with head noun types 574

8.1.3 Discourse distribution of noun phrase types in academic prose 579

8.2 Structural types of premodification 582

8.2.1 Structural types of premodification across registers 583

8.3 Meaning relations expressed by noun + noun sequences 584

8.3.1 Noun + noun sequences across registers 586

8.3.2 Plural nouns as premodifiers 588

8.4 Noun phrases with multiple premodifiers 591

8.4.1 Length of sequences of premodifiers 591

8.4.2 Order of multiple premodifiers 592

8.4.3 Coordinated premodifiers 595

8.5 Restrictive v non-restrictive postmodifiers 596

8.5.1 Distribution of restrictive v non-restrictive relative clauses 597

8.6 Major structural types of postmodification 598

8.6.1 Postmodifier types across registers 600

8.7 Postmodification by finite relative clause 602

8.7.1 The discourse choice among relativizers 603

8.7.1.1 Variant relativizers in non-standard dialects 604

8.7.1.2 Distribution of relativizers across registers 604

8.7.1.3 Who v which, that, and zero 607

8.7.1.4 Who v whom, that, and zero 608

8.7.1.5 Which v that 610

8.7.1.6 Discourse choice between whose and of which 612

8.7.1.7 Whose v of which across registers 613

8.7.1.8 Discourse choice of the zero relativizer 614

8.7.2 Grammatical role of the relative clause gap 616

8.7.2.1 Relative clause gaps in conversation 617

8.7.3 Subject v non-subject head nouns 618

8.7.4 Relative clauses with adverbial gaps 619

8.7.4.1 Relative adverbs across registers 619

8.7.4.2 Head nouns taking relative clauses with adverbial gaps 621

8.8 Postmodification by non-finite clause 624

8.8.1 Participle clauses as postmodifiers 625

8.8.1.1 Passive and -ing forms of verbs in postmodifying

participle clauses v relative clauses 625

8.8.2 To-clauses as postmodifiers 627

8.8.2.1 Structural types of postmodifying to-clause 627

8.9 Postmodification by prepositional phrase 628

8.9.1 Common prepositions in postmodifying prepositional phrases 629

8.9.2 Choice of prepositional phrase v relative clause 631

8.10.1 Appositive noun phrases in news and academic prose 633

8.11.1 Order of constituents in postmodifier complexes 636

8.13.1 Noun complement clause types across registers 641

8.14.1 Head nouns taking that-clauses 642

8.14.1.1 Head nouns that take both that-complement clauses

and relative clauses 644

8.14.2 Head nouns taking to-clauses 646

8.14.3 Head nouns taking of + ing-clauses 647

8.14.4 Head nouns taking wh-interrogative clauses 650

Chapter 9 The form and function of complement clauses 651

9.1 Overview 652

9.1.1 Complementation by clauses 652

9.1.2 Structural types of complement clause 652

9.1.3 Grammatical positions of complement clauses 653

9.2 That-clauses 654

9.2.1 Discourse functions of that-clauses 654

9.2.2 Post-predicate that-clauses – controlled by verbs 655

9.2.2.1 Structural patterns 655

9.2.2.2 Controlling verbs, by semantic domain 656

9.2.2.3 Common controlling verbs across registers 661

9.2.3 Verbs taking extraposed that-clauses 664

9.2.4 Subject noun phrases with subject predicative that-clauses 664

9.2.5 That-clauses controlled by adjectival predicates 665

9.2.5.1 Adjectival predicates taking post-predicate that-clauses 665

9.2.5.2 Adjectival predicates taking extraposed that-clauses 666

9.2.6 Register distribution of that-clause types 668

9.2.7 Pre-predicate v extraposed that-clauses 669

9.2.7.1 Register factors 670

9.2.7.2 Information structure 671

9.2.7.3 Grammatical factors 672

9.2.7.4 Topic and style 673

9.2.8 Retention v omission of the that complementizer 673

9.2.8.1 Register factors 674

9.2.8.2 Discourse factors favoring that omission 674

9.2.8.3 Discourse factors favoring that retention 675

9.3 Wh-clauses 676

9.3.1 Structural types of wh-clauses 676

9.3.2 Post-predicate wh-clauses controlled by verbs 678

9.3.2.1 Grammatical patterns 678

9.3.2.2 Controlling verbs, by semantic domain 679

9.3.2.3 Common controlling verbs across registers 681

9.3.2.4 Post-predicate wh-clauses introduced by whether and if 682

9.3.2.5 Common verbs controlling whether- and if-clauses 684

9.4 Infinitive clauses 686

9.4.1 Overview 686

9.4.2 Post-predicate infinitive clauses controlled by verbs 686

9.4.2.1 Grammatical patterns 686

9.4.2.2 Pattern 1: Verb + to-clause 687

9.4.2.3 Pattern 2: Verb + NP + to-clause 688

9.4.2.4 Pattern 2: NP2 + passive verb + to-clause 690

9.4.2.5 Pattern 3: Verb + for NP + to-clause 690

9.4.2.6 Register distribution of verb patterns 691

9.4.2.7 Controlling verbs, by semantic domain 692

9.4.2.8 Interaction between the characteristics of controlling verbs 700

9.4.2.9 Common controlling verbs across registers 701

9.4.3 Verbs taking extraposed to-clauses 706

9.4.4 Subject noun phrases and subject predicative to-clauses 707

9.4.5 To-clauses controlled by adjectives 708

9.4.5.1 Grammatical patterns 708

9.4.5.2 Adjectives taking post-predicate to-clauses 709

9.4.5.3 Adjectival predicates taking extraposed to-clauses 712

9.4.6 Grammatical distribution of to-clauses 713

9.4.7 Pre-predicate v extraposed to-clauses 715

9.4.9.3 Clauses with seem and appear 725

9.4.9.4 Clauses with likely and unlikely 726

9.4.10 To-clause v bare infinitive clause with dare and help 727

9.4.10.1 Dialect factors 727

9.4.10.2 Register factors 728

9.4.10.3 The pattern to help + infinitive 729

9.4.11 Try + to + verb v try + and + verb 730

9.5.2.2 Controlling verbs, by semantic domain 733

9.5.2.3 Common controlling verbs across registers 738

9.5.3 Adjectival predicates controlling ing-clauses 741

9.5.4 Post-predicate ing-clauses across registers 742

9.5.5 Objective v possessive NP with ing-clauses 742

9.5.5.1 Register distribution 743

9.6 Ellipsis and pro-form substitution in post-predicate complement clauses 743

9.6.1 Verbs occurring commonly with ellipsis and pro-form substitution 744

9.7 Choice of complement clause type 746

9.7.1 Register distribution, structural factors, and semantic factors 746

9.7.2 Lexico-grammatical factors 748

9.7.3 That-clauses v non-finite clauses 748

9.7.4 Infinitive v ing-clause 750

Chapter 10 Adverbials 753

10.1.1 The three classes of adverbial 755

10.1.1.1 Frequency of the three classes of adverbial 757

10.1.2 Syntactic realizations of adverbials 759

10.1.2.1 Syntactic realizations of the three adverbial classes 760

10.1.3 Positions of adverbials in the clause 762

10.1.3.1 Frequencies of positions of adverbials 764

10.1.4 Adverbial variation in relation to other elements 767

10.2.1.8 Other semantic relationships 773

10.2.1.9 Overlap and ambiguity 774

10.2.2 Distribution of semantic categories 775

10.2.3 Overview of syntactic realizations of semantic categories 779

10.2.4 Syntactic realizations of circumstance adverbials (excluding clauses) 781

10.2.4.1 Semantic categories within syntactic forms 781

10.2.4.2 Length of prepositional phrases 783

10.2.4.3 Diversity in adverb and prepositional phrase

circumstance adverbials 785

10.2.5 Most common circumstance adverbials 788

10.2.6 Position of circumstance adverbials 793

10.2.6.1 Associations between positions and semantic categories 794

10.2.6.2 Relationships between position, grammatical structure, and length 798

10.2.7 Circumstance adverbials in series 802

10.2.7.1 Heterosemantic place, time, and manner series 803

10.2.7.2 Homosemantic place, time, and manner series 807

10.2.7.3 Series of three and more adverbials 809

10.2.8 Clauses as circumstance adverbials 810

10.2.8.1 Semantic categories of circumstance adverbial clauses 811

10.2.8.2 Distribution of clausal semantic categories 813

10.2.8.3 Syntactic forms of circumstance adverbial clauses 818

10.2.8.4 Distribution of clausal syntactic forms 818

10.2.8.5 Dangling participles 822

10.2.8.6 Positions of adverbial clauses 823

10.2.8.7 Subordinators and adverbial clauses 830

10.2.8.8 Subordinators with non-finite adverbial clauses 831

10.2.8.9 Most common subordinators across registers 833

10.2.8.10 Common subordinators with multiple semantic roles 838

10.2.8.11 Though as subordinator v linking adverbial 842

10.2.8.12 Conditional clauses with if v subject-operator inversion 844

10.3.1 Semantic categories of stance adverbials 846

10.3.1.1 Epistemic stance adverbials 846

10.3.1.2 Attitude adverbials 848

10.3.1.3 Style adverbials 849

10.3.1.4 Ambiguity with other adverbial classes 849

10.3.1.5 Distribution of semantic categories 851

10.3.2 Syntactic realizations of stance adverbials 853

10.3.2.1 Distribution of syntactic forms 854

10.3.2.2 Sentence relatives as stance adverbials 859

10.3.3 Most common stance adverbials across registers 860

10.3.4 Positions of stance adverbials 864

10.3.5 Other discourse functions of stance adverbials 866

10.4.1 Semantic categories of linking adverbials 867

10.4.1.1 Enumeration and addition 867

10.4.1.7 Overlap of linking adverbials and other adverbial classes 871

10.4.1.8 Distribution of semantic categories 872

10.4.2 Syntactic realizations of linking adverbials 876

10.4.2.1 Distribution of syntactic forms 876

10.4.3 Most common linking adverbials 878

10.4.3.1 Most common linking adverbials in conversation

and academic prose 878

10.4.3.2 Stylistic preferences for linking adverbials 881

10.4.4 Positions of linking adverbials 882

Section E Grammar in a wider perspective 885

11.2.2 Fronting 892

11.2.2.1 Fronted objects and other nominals 892

11.2.2.2 Fronted predicatives 894

11.2.2.3 Fronted infinitive predicates 897

11.2.2.4 Fronted ed- and ing-predicates 898

11.2.2.5 Fronting in dependent clauses 900

11.2.3.3 Inversion after the linking forms so, nor, and neither 909

11.2.3.4 Special cases of inversion in independent clauses 909

11.2.3.5 Inversion in dependent clauses 910

11.2.3.6 Inversion in reporting clauses 913

11.2.3.7 Reporting clauses in fiction and news 914

11.2.3.8 Inversion in general: Distribution 917

11.2.4 Word-order options at the end of the clause 918

11.2.4.1 The placement of direct and indirect objects 919

11.2.4.2 Pronoun sequences as direct and indirect object 920

11.2.4.3 Clauses with direct objects and object predicatives 922

11.2.4.4 The placement of objects of phrasal verbs 923

11.3 The passive 927

11.3.1 Types of passive construction 927

11.3.2 Passives across syntactic positions and registers 928

11.3.3 The long passive 931

11.3.3.1 Length of subject v agent phrase in long passives 931

11.3.3.2 Givenness of subject v agent phrase 932

11.3.4 Comparison of discourse functions of the long and short passive 934

11.4 Existential there 934

11.4.1 The grammatical status of existential there 935

11.4.2 Variation in the verb phrase 936

11.4.2.1 Verb constructions other than simple be 936

11.4.3 The notional subject 937

11.4.4 Adverbial expansions 938

11.4.5 Existential and locative there 939

11.4.6 Simple v complex existential clauses 940

11.4.7 Discourse functions of existential clauses 942

11.4.8 Existential clause v locative inversion 945

11.4.8.1 Existential clause v locative inversion: Distribution 945

11.4.9 Existential constructions with there v have 946

11.5 Dislocation 947

11.5.1 Prefaces 948

11.5.2 Noun phrase tags 948

11.5.3 Prefaces and noun phrase tags: Distribution 948

11.6 Clefting 950

11.6.1 It-clefts 950

11.6.2 Wh-clefts 951

11.6.3 Reversed wh-clefts 951

11.6.4 Cleft constructions: Distribution 952

11.7 Syntactic choices in conversation v academic prose 955

12.1 Overview 958

12.1.1 Paralinguistic and non-linguistic devices 959

12.1.2 Lexical marking of stance 960

12.2 Major grammatical devices used to express stance 961

12.2.1 Variability in the structural characteristics of stance devices 963

12.3 Major semantic distinctions conveyed by stance markers 964

12.3.1 Epistemic stance 964

12.3.2 Attitudinal stance 966

12.3.3 Style of speaking stance 967

12.4 Attribution of stance to the speaker or writer 968

12.4.1 Explicit attribution of stance 968

12.4.2 Implicit attribution of stance to the speaker/writer 969

12.4.3 Ambiguous attribution of stance 969

12.5 Register differences in the marking of stance 970

12.5.1 Major stance devices across registers 970

12.5.2 Stance adverbials across registers 973

12.5.3 Stance complement constructions across registers 976

13.1 Overview 980

13.2 Lexical bundles 982

13.2.1 Operational definition of lexical bundles 984

13.2.1.1 Lexical bundles in conversation and academic prose 985

13.2.2 Key to lists of lexical bundles 993

13.2.3 Lexical bundles in conversation 994

13.2.3.1 Personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase

(+ complement-clause fragment) 995

13.2.3.2 Pronoun/noun phrase + be + 998

13.2.3.3 Verb phrase with active verb 999

13.2.3.4 Yes-no question fragments 1000

13.2.3.5 Wh-question fragments 1001

13.2.3.6 Lexical bundles with wh-clause fragments 1002

13.2.3.7 Lexical bundles with to-clause fragments 1003

13.2.3.8 Verb + that-clause fragments 1003

13.2.3.9 Adverbial clause fragments 1004

13.2.3.10 Noun phrase expressions 1005

13.2.3.11 Prepositional phrase expressions 1005

13.2.3.12 Quantifier expressions 1006

13.2.3.13 Other expressions 1007

13.2.3.14 Meaningless sound bundles 1007

13.2.4 Lexical bundles in academic prose 1007

13.2.4.1 Noun phrase with of-phrase fragment 1008

13.2.4.2 Noun phrase with other post-modifier fragments 1009

13.2.4.3 Prepositional phrase with embedded of-phrase fragment 1010

13.2.4.4 Other prepositional phrase (fragment) 1011

13.2.4.5 Anticipatory it + verb phrase/adjective phrase 1012

13.2.4.6 Passive verb + prepositional phrase fragment 1013

13.2.4.7 Copula be + noun phrase/adjective phrase 1014

13.2.4.8 (Verb phrase +) that-clause fragment 1014

13.2.4.9 (Verb/adjective +) to-clause fragment 1015

13.2.4.10 Adverbial clause fragment 1016

13.2.4.11 Pronoun/noun phrase + be (+ …) 1016

13.2.4.12 Other expressions 1017

13.3 Idiomatic phrases 1017

13.3.1 Idiomatic phrases across registers 1018

13.3.2 Verb + noun phrase combinations with have, make, and take 1019

13.4 Free combinations of verb + particle 1022

13.5 Coordinated binomial phrases 1023

13.5.1 Key to lists of binomial phrases 1024

13.5.2 Verb and/or verb 1024

13.5.3 Noun and/or noun 1026

13.5.4 Adjective and/or adjective 1027

13.5.5 Adverb and/or adverb 1029

14.1 Introduction 1032

14.1.1 An example of conversation 1034

14.1.2 A functional survey of conversation 1035

14.1.2.1 Conversation takes place in the spoken medium 1035

14.1.2.2 Conversation takes place in shared context 1036

14.1.2.3 Conversation avoids elaboration or specification of meaning 1038

14.1.2.4 Conversation is interactive 1039

14.1.2.5 Conversation is expressive of politeness, emotion, and attitude 1041

14.1.2.6 Conversation takes place in real time 1042

14.1.2.7 Conversation has a restricted and repetitive repertoire 1043

14.1.2.8 Conversation employs a vernacular range of expression 1044

14.1.2.9 Lack of functional explanation 1045

14.2 Performance phenomena: Dysfluency and error 1046

14.2.1 Hesitations: Silent and filled pauses 1047

14.2.1.1 Frequency of filled and unfilled pauses 1048

14.2.2 Repeats 1049

14.2.2.1 Multiple consecutive repeats 1049

14.2.2.2 Frequency of repeats 1051

14.2.2.3 Repeats of forms with verb contractions 1055

14.2.3 Retrace-and-repair sequences: Reformulations 1056

14.2.4 Utterances left grammatically incomplete 1057

14.2.5 Syntactic blends 1059

14.2.5.1 Syntactic blends v semantic gap-filling clauses 1060

14.3 The constructional principles of spoken grammar 1060

14.3.1 Principles of online production 1061

14.3.1.1 Parenthetical structures 1062

14.3.1.2 The ‘add-on’ strategy 1062

14.3.1.3 Clausal and non-clausal units (C-units) 1063

14.3.1.4 Distribution of clausal and non-clausal units 1065

14.3.2 Prefaces, bodies, and tags 1066

14.3.2.1 Prefaces and other utterance launchers 1068

14.3.2.2 The ambivalent grammatical status of utterance launchers 1070

14.3.2.3 Extending the body 1073

14.3.4.2 Other types of syntactic non-clausal unit 1095

14.3.4.3 Elliptic phrasal non-clausal units in their context 1098

14.3.5 Ellipsis in clausal units 1099

14.3.5.1 Initial (situational) ellipsis 1099

14.3.5.2 Initial ellipsis 1100

14.3.5.3 Final (post-operator) ellipsis 1101

14.3.5.4 Medial (operator) ellipsis 1102

14.3.5.5 Distribution of initial, medial, and end ellipsis 1102

14.4 Selected topics in conversational grammar 1103

14.4.1 A closer look at vocatives 1103

14.4.1.1 The distribution of vocatives 1105

14.4.2 Conducive yes-no interrogatives 1108

14.4.2.1 Negative yes-no interrogatives 1108

14.4.2.2 Negative v positive yes-no interrogatives 1109

14.4.2.3 Assertive yes-no questions 1110

14.4.2.4 Assertive v non-assertive yes-no questions 1110

14.4.3 First person imperatives with let’s 1111

14.4.3.1 Common accompaniments of let’s 1112

14.4.4 Direct speech reporting (quoted speech) 1113

14.4.4.1 Using utterance-launchers to open quoted speech 1113

14.4.4.2 Repetition of reporting clauses 1114

14.4.4.3 Reporting clauses with go 1114

14.4.4.4 Opening quoted speech with be + like, all 1114

14.4.4.5 The past progressive with reporting verbs 1115

14.4.5 Vernacular or non-standard grammar 1116

acad academic prose

LDOCE Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

e.g Dickens <sic> famous novel

a a grammatically defined constituent, such as a phrase or a clause, or

b a part of an example highlighted for attention Primary highlighting is

signalled by bold face and secondary highlighting by [ ].

incom-plete, i.e is a word fragment: e.g thi–, this

Since its planning first began in 1992, this book has gone through a complex process of tation involving many kinds of collaborative work – computational, editorial, and authorial The research-based work required for this project has been on a scale probably unmatched

ges-in the writges-ing of any previous grammar of the English language As authors, we ourselves have individually played somewhat varied roles in the research project and the writing of the book Further, we were aided from the start by the dedicated efforts of several research assistants, and at various points along the way helped by the expertise of academic reviewers and advisers, as well as editors and publishers In this Preface we briefly explain our own individual roles in the work, and pay tribute to the many friends and associates to whom

we owe a great deal for their valued aid and support

As for our contributions as authors, it should be explained that, although each author took on individual responsibility for the initial drafting of specific chapters, the chapter drafts subsequently went through a number of stages of redrafting and editing The result

is that the volume as it stands is the joint responsibility of all authors For the record, however, we identify here the author or authors principally associated with each chapter: Chapter 1: DB; Chapters 2, 3, and 4: SJ; Chapters 5 and 6: DB; Chapter 7: EF (first draft),

DB, and SC; Chapters 8 and 9: DB; Chapter 10: SC; Chapter 11: SJ; Chapters 12 and 13: DB; Chapter 14: EF (first draft), GL; Appendix: DB In later stages, GL and DB assumed primary editorial responsibility for the whole book, while DB worked with Meg Davies on the con-ceptual index and with Jenia Walter and Victoria Clark on the lexical index

The initial three or four years of the project were largely taken up with planning and research Authorial/editorial meetings took place at Cambridge, London, Feusisberg (Switzerland), Flagstaff (Arizona), and Lancaster DB, as lead author, took on the principal role of organizing and directing the corpus investigations at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, on which most of the quantitative information in this grammar is based At the same time, other authors had access to the LSWE Corpus at their own universities, and were able to undertake their own corpus-based research at their home site Although the authors were widely separated in geographical terms, they kept in close and detailed contact throughout the project by electronic mail and other means The work of the international team was thus well balanced and integrated in terms of the spread of effort between North America and Europe

One curious minor dilemma which the team faced, in trying to produce a book ing equal weight to American and British English, was in the choice of spelling standard: should we adopt British or American spelling conventions? Either choice would appear to contravene the ideal of an objectively international view of the English language In the end

giv-we resorted to a chapter-by-chapter solution to this dilemma: each chapter was printed in accordance with the spelling conventions adopted by its main author or authors

At Northern Arizona University, in addition to the growing contribution of Susan Conrad (who began as a research assistant but became a co-author during the course of the book’s composition), very important contributions to the research project were made by Marie Helt and Erika Konrad, who became key members of the Arizona project team In addition, Marie’s PhD research on discourse markers provided a significant intellectual input

to Chapter 14 Other contributions were made by Susan Carkin, Sarah Rilling, Jennifer Rey, and Jena Burges Also at NAU, Jenia Walter and Victoria Clark helped with the compilation

of the lexical index

At an early stage in the preparation of the book, the authors benefited from the ments of distinguished academics who reviewed the plan, and read one or two ‘trial’ chap-ters: Florent Aarts, Paul Bruthiaux, Paul J Hopper, Yoshihiko Ikegami, Graeme Kennedy, Christian Mair, Keith Mitchell, Randolph Quirk (Lord Quirk), Jan Svartvik, and Michael Stubbs We also received valuable comments from Bengt Altenberg and Gunnel Tottie,

com-who read draft versions of individual chapters (Bengt’s online ICAME Bibliography also

provided us with an extremely useful starting point for our own Bibliography.) At a later stage, pre-final draft chapters were presented to the Longman Linglex Advisory Committee, where again a strong impetus to improve the book’s content and presentation was provided

by valuable and (often) trenchant critiques from a group of leading British linguists, der the chairmanship of Lord Quirk: Rod Bolitho, Gillian Brown, David Crystal, Philip Scholfield, Katie Wales, John Wells, and Yorick Wilks Alan Tonkyn offered useful advice and information on C-units (Chapter 14)

un-Our indebtedness to Lord Quirk goes further: we acknowledge our debt to A

Compre-hensive Grammar of the English Language, by Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum,

Geof-frey Leech, and Jan Svartvik (Longman, 1985), as a previous large-scale grammar of English

from which we have taken inspiration for a project of similar scope From CGEL we have

also borrowed, with few exceptions, the grammatical framework of concepts and ogy which has provided the present book with its descriptive apparatus While advances in

terminol-corpus technology have allowed us to go beyond CGEL in important ways – particularly

in the exemplification and quantitative investigation of grammar across different language

varieties, spoken and written – CGEL’s attention to detail and comprehensive coverage is

something to which this grammar does not attempt to aspire In many ways, the two mars complement rather than compete with each other

gram-To one member of the Linglex advisory committee we owe a special debt – Philip Scholfield, who, when the book was being assembled for publication, went through it with

a fine-tooth comb in his capacity as editor for style and presentation This reference to ‘style and presentation’ does not adequately represent Philip’s contribution, which led to much redrafting in the interests of consistency of style, terminology, layout, and level of detail

DB SJ GL SC EF

1 Reference to corpus examples

By far the majority of examples and text extracts given in this book are of authentic discourse taken from the texts and transcriptions in our Corpus (see Sections 1.1, 1.4 of Chapter 1) These examples are marked as coming from one of the four main subdivisions of the corpus:

( fict ) fiction text

Some examples are truncated to save space These are marked with an icon (†) occurring after one of the above abbreviations:

Truncated examples, showing an incomplete sentence or conversational turn, are used only when the omitted parts are judged to have no bearing on the grammatical point be-ing illustrated, and where overly long examples might distract rather than help the reader For example:

b Every atom has a dense nucleus that contains practically all of the mass of the atom

(acad)

Example a is a truncated version of the complete sentence in example b Note that even

with truncation, dispensable material is almost always omitted from the beginning or end

of an example, not from the middle In this sense, virtually every example quoted is a continuous ‘slice of linguistic reality’ Occasional cases of medial omission are marked by the insertion of <…> at the point where the omission occurs: an example can be seen in Text sample 1, 1.2.1

<… > signals a part of an example where words have been omitted

Other abbreviations used to label examples (and also used in running text) are:

AmE American English

BrE British English

These abbreviations are also used more generally, in referring to American and British varieties of English, as represented in the American and British parts of our Corpus

2 Reference to invented examples

In a few cases, invented examples which are not from the Corpus are used to show a contrast between two variant sentences, one of which is authentic and the other reconstructed to act as a comparison These invented examples are signalled negatively, by the fact that they are not followed by a bracketed label such as (conv) The following warning symbols are sometimes attached to invented examples:

e.g.: *They needed not have.

?a most promising pupil of hers

?*excuse me a little

3 Symbols and conventions used within examples

bold face marks the main item highlighted for attention in an example.

2 otherwise marks a comment relating to an example, e.g.

appearances.

e.g Dicken’s <sic> famous novel

4 Symbols and conventions used in transcriptions of speech

A:

B:

etc

–

Where spoken examples contain contributions from different speakers, these are indicated

by different capital letters (A = first speaker, B = second speaker, etc.)

1 A dash at the end of a word signals that it is incomplete.

2 Where the dash is surrounded, by spaces, it indicates a pause.

2 What is the name – or?

{} In Chapter 14, { } are used to mark the beginning and end of overlap between speakers

(i.e simultaneous speech)

beginning and end of the overlap is unimportant for the purpose of the example.

Other punctuation in the transcriptions ( , ? !) follows conventional orthographic practice, and has no fixed prosodic or linguistic significance

5 Grammatical symbols

Elements of clause structure are represented by the following symbols:

Clause structures are represented by a combination of the above symbols; e.g.:

6 Other abbreviations or symbols

LDOCE Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Introductory

1.10 Potential users and uses of the GSWE 45