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- Volume 27, Issue, 2006
English World-Wide - Volume 27, Issue 2, 2006
Volume 27, Issue 2, 2006
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Anti-deletions in an L2 grammar: A study of Black South African English mesolect
Author(s): Rajend Mesthriepp.: 111–145 (35)More LessThis paper offers a unified account of the syntactic “deviations” found in a second language variety of English, viz. Black South African English (BlSAfE). Most writing on the topic has been content to supply lists of non-standard features which are thought to be diagnostic of the variety. This paper aims to characterise the syntax of the variety via its recurrent properties, rather than as a superset of unrelated features. In this regard I use the cover term “anti-deletion” for three relatable properties: (a) restoring a feature that tends to be deleted in modern standard English, e.g. the infinitive marker to in She made me to go; (b) retaining, rather than deleting elements that are known to be deleted in some (non-standard) varieties of English, e.g. retention rather than deletion of the copula; and (c) inserting additional grammatical morphemes into the standard English structure, e.g. cross-clausal double conjunctions like although… but. The concept of an anti-deletion allows one to characterise one of the two systems that underlie BlSAfE, the other being the standard syntax of the Target Language (TL). More generally, the notion of “anti-deletion” can be used fruitfully in characterising the syntax of individual second language varieties of English on a continuum.
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Describing verb-complementational profiles of New Englishes: A pilot study of Indian English
Author(s): Joybrato Mukherjee and Sebastian Hoffmannpp.: 147–173 (27)More LessThe 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.
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The pronunciation of English by speakers from China
Author(s): David Deterdingpp.: 175–198 (24)More LessDespite the large number of speakers of English in China, little previous work has been done to describe their pronunciation. Thirteen young speakers from north-east, east and central China were recorded reading a passage and participating in a short interview, and their pronunciation is analyzed. The most salient features of their speech include the use of an epenthetic vowel after word-final plosives especially before another word beginning with a consonant, avoidance of reduced vowels especially in function words, heavy nasalization of vowels preceding a final nasal consonant, substitution of [s] for /θ/ and [z] or [d] for /ð/, use of [x] for /h/, and emphasis on sentence-final pronouns. It is suggested that some of these features may become established as part of a unique variety of English that is emerging in China.
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Grammatical features of Kenyan English and the extent of their acceptability
Author(s): Alfred Buregeyapp.: 199–216 (18)More LessThis study sought to provide evidence for the existence of specific grammatical features which one could definitely say are characteristic of Kenyan English. Using a questionnaire, it gauged the extent of acceptability of twenty-six features by between 75 and 188 respondents. The twenty-six features appeared in sentences that would be considered as deviant in standard international English, and informants were instructed to correct errors in them. The sample of respondents was drawn, over a two-year period, from eight classes of students specializing in either linguistics or communication at the University of Nairobi. The target features covered “grammar” in its widest sense: from punctuation marks and spelling to morphological, syntactic and lexical aspects. The results showed that fourteen (i.e. 54%) of the twenty-six structures scored acceptability ratings of at least 60%. These could be argued to be indeed characteristic of at least written Kenyan English. But, with acceptability ratings for some other structures being as low as only two and eighteen percent, the results equally suggest that some apparently very common features of Kenyan English would only be accepted in spoken, rather than written language.
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Cameroon Pidgin and Cameroon English at a confluence: A real-time investigation
Author(s): Aloysius Ngefac and Bonaventure M. Salapp.: 217–227 (11)More LessThe paper argues that Cameroon Pidgin, a simplified language that displayed a unique peculiarity in the yesteryears, is now giving up most of its phonological peculiarities and embracing those of the variety of English spoken in Cameroon. An analysis of the speech of 150 educated Cameroon Pidgin speakers, randomly selected, shows that such phonological processes as heavy infiltration of sounds from indigenous Cameroonian languages, rampant consonant cluster simplification through vowel epenthesis and other segmental peculiarities which characterized Cameroon Pidgin by 1960, as depicted in Schneider (1960), are by far less perceivable in current Cameroon Pidgin usage. It is demonstrated that the feeling that Pidgin is an inferior language has caused Cameroon Pidgin speakers to opt for the “modernization” of the language using English language canons, instead of preserving the state of the language as it was in the yesteryears. It is therefore predicted that Cameroon Pidgin and Cameroon English will sooner or later be in a continuum.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 45 (2024)
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Volume 44 (2023)
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Volume 43 (2022)
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Volume 42 (2021)
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Volume 41 (2020)
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Volume 40 (2019)
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Volume 39 (2018)
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Volume 38 (2017)
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Volume 37 (2016)
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Volume 36 (2015)
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Volume 35 (2014)
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Volume 34 (2013)
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Volume 33 (2012)
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Volume 32 (2011)
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Volume 31 (2010)
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Volume 30 (2009)
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Volume 29 (2008)
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Volume 28 (2007)
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Volume 27 (2006)
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Volume 26 (2005)
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Volume 25 (2004)
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Volume 24 (2003)
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Volume 23 (2002)
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Volume 22 (2001)
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Volume 21 (2000)
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Volume 20 (1999)
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Volume 19 (1998)
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Volume 18 (1997)
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Volume 17 (1996)
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Volume 16 (1995)
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Volume 15 (1994)
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Volume 14 (1993)
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Volume 13 (1992)
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Volume 12 (1991)
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Volume 11 (1990)
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Volume 10 (1989)
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Volume 9 (1988)
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Volume 8 (1987)
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Volume 7 (1986)
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Volume 6 (1985)
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Volume 5 (1984)
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Volume 4 (1983)
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Volume 3 (1982)
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Volume 2 (1981)
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Volume 1 (1980)
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English in Hong Kong: Functions and status
Author(s): K.K. Luke and Jack C. Richards
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