Recent changes in spoken British English in verbal and nominal constructions
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Gerold Schneider
Abstract
Starting from a data-driven approach, the current paper compares the BNC1994 spoken to the BNC2014. We first narrow down possible research questions due to differences in the compilation and transcription of the two BNC generations. Then we investigate three robustly detectable changes at the level of lexis and morphosyntax: (1) gender and class differences, (2) the increase of be- and get-passive constructions and -ing forms from the verbal domain, and (3) the increase of noun compounds from the nominal domain. We also focus on the social context in which linguistic changes are embedded: which noun compounds particularly increase; which words are overused by which gender or social class? Technology seems to be a driver in the further advance of the construction of noun compounds, and strong swearing seems to have decreased between 1994 and 2014.
Abstract
Starting from a data-driven approach, the current paper compares the BNC1994 spoken to the BNC2014. We first narrow down possible research questions due to differences in the compilation and transcription of the two BNC generations. Then we investigate three robustly detectable changes at the level of lexis and morphosyntax: (1) gender and class differences, (2) the increase of be- and get-passive constructions and -ing forms from the verbal domain, and (3) the increase of noun compounds from the nominal domain. We also focus on the social context in which linguistic changes are embedded: which noun compounds particularly increase; which words are overused by which gender or social class? Technology seems to be a driver in the further advance of the construction of noun compounds, and strong swearing seems to have decreased between 1994 and 2014.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
New perspectives
- Competing future constructions and the Complexity Principle 9
- Diachronic learner corpus research 41
- Rhoticity in Southern New Zealand English 69
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Revisiting old debates
- “I’m putting some salt in my sandwich”. 93
- Determinants of exaptation in Verb-Object predicates in the transition from Late Middle English to Early Modern English 133
- Recent changes in spoken British English in verbal and nominal constructions 173
- “Oh yeah, one more thing: It’s gonna be huge.” 197
-
Refinements & innovations
- Retrieving Twitter argumentation with corpus queries and discourse analysis 229
- MuPDAR for corpus-based learner and variety studies 257
- A data-driven approach to finding significant changes in language use through time series analysis 285
- Index 319
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
New perspectives
- Competing future constructions and the Complexity Principle 9
- Diachronic learner corpus research 41
- Rhoticity in Southern New Zealand English 69
-
Revisiting old debates
- “I’m putting some salt in my sandwich”. 93
- Determinants of exaptation in Verb-Object predicates in the transition from Late Middle English to Early Modern English 133
- Recent changes in spoken British English in verbal and nominal constructions 173
- “Oh yeah, one more thing: It’s gonna be huge.” 197
-
Refinements & innovations
- Retrieving Twitter argumentation with corpus queries and discourse analysis 229
- MuPDAR for corpus-based learner and variety studies 257
- A data-driven approach to finding significant changes in language use through time series analysis 285
- Index 319
