Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study

by Geoffrey Leech, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair, Nicholas Smith

Overview

Based on the systematic analysis of large amounts of computer-readable text, this book shows how the English language has been changing in the recent past, often in unexpected and previously undocumented ways. The study is based on a group of matching corpora, known as the 'Brown family' of corpora, supplemented by a range of other corpus materials, both written and spoken, drawn mainly from the later twentieth century. Among the matters receiving particular attention are the influence of American English on British English, the role of the press, the 'colloquialization' of written English, and a wide range of grammatical topics, including the modal auxiliaries, progressive, subjunctive, passive, genitive and relative clauses. These subjects build an overall picture of how English grammar is changing, and the linguistic and social factors that are contributing to this process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780511700231
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/22/2009
Series:	Studies in English Language
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Geoffrey Leech is Emeritus Professor of English Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University.

Marianne Hundt is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English at the University of Zürich.

Christian Mair is Professor of English Linguistics in the Department of English at the University of Freiburg.

Nicholas Smith is Lecturer in the School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: grammar-blindness in the recent history of English?; 2. Comparative corpus linguistics: the methodological basis of this book; 3. The subjunctive mood; 4. The modal auxiliaries; 5. The so-called semi-modals; 6. The progressive; 7. The passive voice; 8. Expanded predicates; 9. Non-finite clauses; 10. The noun phrase; 11. Linguistic and other determinants of change.

Editorial Reviews

Review of the hardback: 'CCE suggests a number of issues that will no doubt inspire much research in the future, not only in English, but in any language for which electronic corpora are available over a fifty- to hundred-year period. … Regardless of any limitations of the corpora, the authors have developed a rigorous methodology for tagging, quantifying and analyzing electronic corpus materials, and revealing the multifactorial nature of change in use.' Elizabeth Closs Traugott, English Language and Linguistics

'… the studies collected in this volume are very valuable for the analysis of ongoing language change. The observations of these very detailed descriptions of language use and variation in the second half of the twentieth century across the two major written varieties of English will - together with, for example, the quantitative data and qualitative analyses of the Longman Grammar … certainly be a highly welcome basis for further investigations into ongoing grammar change in English.' Ursula Lenker, Anglia

'… this is a masterly book, no doubt the standard treatment of its subject for years to come. In an exemplary fashion it combines a meticulous attention to detail and empirically sound documentation with a fundamental interest in the nature and causes of syntactic change, and it provides far-reaching insights on both levels.' Edgar W. Schneider, English World-Wide

From the Publisher