1887
Volume 43, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0172-8865
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9730
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Abstract

Abstract

The paper analyses the frequency and use of the relatively rare, yet highly productive causative construction in twenty varieties of English on the basis of the 1.9-billion word (GloWbE; Davies 2013)1 and Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic Model. It hypothesises differences in frequency, variation in the preference for particularly frequent fillers as well as productivity differences in line with Schneider’s stages of linguistic evolution. However, it shows that only frequency differences reflect the Dynamic Model; with regard to the preference for frequent realisations and productivity, postcolonial varieties turn out to be very similar to British English. These results come as a surprise against the background of similar studies of the -construction, where all of these effects have been documented convincingly. It is argued that the properties of -causatives themselves (e.g. their idiomatic and semantic simplicity) might contribute to their more native-like usage patterns in postcolonial varieties of English.

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2021-11-16
2025-04-25
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): idiom; into-causative; New Englishes; World Englishes
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