Home Linguistics & Semiotics Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English
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Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English

  • Maristi Partridge
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Constraints on Language Variation and Change in Complex Multilingual Contact Settings
This chapter is in the book Constraints on Language Variation and Change in Complex Multilingual Contact Settings

Abstract

This chapter explores the constraints that play a role in Black South African English (BSAfE) as a second-language (L2) variety of English in terms of the that/Ø-alternation in the verb complementation patterns of BSAfE. Previous research suggests that cross-linguistic influence (CLI) has a significant effect on this feature in BSAfE. This chapter aims to determine how CLI relates to other psycholinguistic and sociocognitive constraints. While BSAfE as an L2 variety demonstrates a lower rate of Ø-complementation than the first-language variety (L1), the findings of this study suggest that the importance of CLI may have been overstated in the literature, and shared constraints operate in both varieties in similar ways.

Abstract

This chapter explores the constraints that play a role in Black South African English (BSAfE) as a second-language (L2) variety of English in terms of the that/Ø-alternation in the verb complementation patterns of BSAfE. Previous research suggests that cross-linguistic influence (CLI) has a significant effect on this feature in BSAfE. This chapter aims to determine how CLI relates to other psycholinguistic and sociocognitive constraints. While BSAfE as an L2 variety demonstrates a lower rate of Ø-complementation than the first-language variety (L1), the findings of this study suggest that the importance of CLI may have been overstated in the literature, and shared constraints operate in both varieties in similar ways.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2. Afrikaans influence on genitive variation in South African English? 29
  5. Chapter 3. Language contact and change through translation in Afrikaans and South African English 58
  6. Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English 87
  7. Chapter 5. Lexical use in spoken New Englishes and Learner Englishes 120
  8. Chapter 6. The effect of directionality on lexico‑syntactic simplification in French><English student translation 153
  9. Chapter 7. The complex case of constrained communication 191
  10. Chapter 8. Comparing contact effects in translation and second language writing 223
  11. Chapter 9. Conclusion 255
  12. Index 287
https://doi.org/10.1075/coll.60.04par

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2. Afrikaans influence on genitive variation in South African English? 29
  5. Chapter 3. Language contact and change through translation in Afrikaans and South African English 58
  6. Chapter 4. Investigating the complementiser that in the verb complementation of Black South African English 87
  7. Chapter 5. Lexical use in spoken New Englishes and Learner Englishes 120
  8. Chapter 6. The effect of directionality on lexico‑syntactic simplification in French><English student translation 153
  9. Chapter 7. The complex case of constrained communication 191
  10. Chapter 8. Comparing contact effects in translation and second language writing 223
  11. Chapter 9. Conclusion 255
  12. Index 287
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