Cultural keywords in context
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Joybrato Mukherjee
Abstract
The present study focuses on lexicogrammatical routines of South Asian Englishes that are associated with so-called ‘cultural keywords’. These routines are particularly significant manifestations of the overarching process of the linguistic acculturation of the English language in new postcolonial settings. Specifically, we make use of the South Asian Varieties of English Corpus in order to compare acrolectal Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan English with regard to typical noun-verb collocations linked to three cultural keywords shared by all three South Asian Englishes: government, terror and religion. This pilot study offers a way of describing the effects of diachronic divergence in the formation of South Asian Englishes although comparable historical corpora of English in South Asia are not (yet) available. Keywords: cultural keywords; South Asian Englishes; collocations; divergence; lexicogrammar
Abstract
The present study focuses on lexicogrammatical routines of South Asian Englishes that are associated with so-called ‘cultural keywords’. These routines are particularly significant manifestations of the overarching process of the linguistic acculturation of the English language in new postcolonial settings. Specifically, we make use of the South Asian Varieties of English Corpus in order to compare acrolectal Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan English with regard to typical noun-verb collocations linked to three cultural keywords shared by all three South Asian Englishes: government, terror and religion. This pilot study offers a way of describing the effects of diachronic divergence in the formation of South Asian Englishes although comparable historical corpora of English in South Asia are not (yet) available. Keywords: cultural keywords; South Asian Englishes; collocations; divergence; lexicogrammar
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
PART 1. Inner Circle Englishes
- Diachronic variation in the grammar of Australian English 15
- At the crossroads of change 43
- Do -support in early New Zealand and Australian English 65
- The progressive in Irish English 87
- Cross-variety diachronic drifts and ephemeral regional contrasts 119
- Passives of so-called ‘ditransitives’ in nineteenth century and present-day Canadian English 147
- Dual adverbs in Australian English 179
- The evolution of epistemic marking in West Australian English 205
- May and might in nineteenth century Irish English and English English 221
- The present perfect and the preterite in Australian English 247
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PART 2. Outer Circle Englishes
- Recent diachronic change in the progressive in Philippine English 271
- Linguistic change in a multilingual setting 297
- Patterns of regularisation in British, American and Indian English 335
- An apparent time study of the progressive in Nigerian English 373
- American influence on written Caribbean English 389
- Cultural keywords in context 411
- Recent quantitative changes in the use of modals and quasi-modals in the Hong Kong, British and American printed press 437
- The development of an extended time period meaning of the progressive in Black South African English 465
- Index 485
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
PART 1. Inner Circle Englishes
- Diachronic variation in the grammar of Australian English 15
- At the crossroads of change 43
- Do -support in early New Zealand and Australian English 65
- The progressive in Irish English 87
- Cross-variety diachronic drifts and ephemeral regional contrasts 119
- Passives of so-called ‘ditransitives’ in nineteenth century and present-day Canadian English 147
- Dual adverbs in Australian English 179
- The evolution of epistemic marking in West Australian English 205
- May and might in nineteenth century Irish English and English English 221
- The present perfect and the preterite in Australian English 247
-
PART 2. Outer Circle Englishes
- Recent diachronic change in the progressive in Philippine English 271
- Linguistic change in a multilingual setting 297
- Patterns of regularisation in British, American and Indian English 335
- An apparent time study of the progressive in Nigerian English 373
- American influence on written Caribbean English 389
- Cultural keywords in context 411
- Recent quantitative changes in the use of modals and quasi-modals in the Hong Kong, British and American printed press 437
- The development of an extended time period meaning of the progressive in Black South African English 465
- Index 485
