The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English
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Uwe Vosberg
Abstract
Distinguishing between several subtypes of the frame far from + optional and recessive being + predicative phrase, this paper charts the evolution of the rivalling variants in British and American English over the last few centuries. The paper reports on two major findings. First, in line with the Complexity Principle, there is a tendency for more complex predicatives to help preserve the more explicit being variant better than simpler ones. In particular, morphologically complex adjectives and syntactically complex noun phrases in the predicative slot are shown to retain the being variant longer than less complex ones. Second, as regards the establishment of the less explicit zero variant, the relation between British and American English corresponds to the so-called lag and overtake scenario. While initially trailing behind British English, American English has - in more recent times - adopted the zero variant much faster than British English.
Abstract
Distinguishing between several subtypes of the frame far from + optional and recessive being + predicative phrase, this paper charts the evolution of the rivalling variants in British and American English over the last few centuries. The paper reports on two major findings. First, in line with the Complexity Principle, there is a tendency for more complex predicatives to help preserve the more explicit being variant better than simpler ones. In particular, morphologically complex adjectives and syntactically complex noun phrases in the predicative slot are shown to retain the being variant longer than less complex ones. Second, as regards the establishment of the less explicit zero variant, the relation between British and American English corresponds to the so-called lag and overtake scenario. While initially trailing behind British English, American English has - in more recent times - adopted the zero variant much faster than British English.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The dynamics of changes in the early English inflection 9
- “Subsumed under the dative”? 35
- ‘Thone vpon thother’ 57
- Leveraging grammaticalization 77
- Old English wolde and sceolde 111
- A corpus-based study on the development of dare in Middle English and Early Modern English 129
- Counterfactuality and aktionsart 149
- Conservatism or the influence of the semantics of motion situation in the choice of perfect auxiliaries in Jane Austen’s letters and novels 175
- Signs of grammaticalization 199
- From time-before-place to place-before-time in the history of English 223
- Variation and change at the interface of syntax and semantics 247
- Further explorations in the grammar of intensifier marking in Modern English 269
- The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English 287
- Index 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The dynamics of changes in the early English inflection 9
- “Subsumed under the dative”? 35
- ‘Thone vpon thother’ 57
- Leveraging grammaticalization 77
- Old English wolde and sceolde 111
- A corpus-based study on the development of dare in Middle English and Early Modern English 129
- Counterfactuality and aktionsart 149
- Conservatism or the influence of the semantics of motion situation in the choice of perfect auxiliaries in Jane Austen’s letters and novels 175
- Signs of grammaticalization 199
- From time-before-place to place-before-time in the history of English 223
- Variation and change at the interface of syntax and semantics 247
- Further explorations in the grammar of intensifier marking in Modern English 269
- The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English 287
- Index 309
