The grammatical properties of recurrent phrases with body-part nouns
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Hans Lindquist
Abstract
This corpus-based paper investigates the frequency, grammatical irregularity, and variational behaviour of formulaic sequences consisting of the N1 to N1 pattern with body-part nouns (e.g. face to face) and the analogical extension of the pattern to new, less frequent body-part nouns. These phrases show signs of lexicalization, such as lack of singular/plural distinction, lack of articles and very low likelihood of adjective insertion. While the pattern itself is grammatically irregular, it has a tendency to go through the regular process of conversion from an adverbial (go head to head), via a premodifier (a head-to-head competition) to a noun (a Christie-Lewis head-to-head). One further sign of univerbation is the use of hyphens, which is most frequent in the premodifier function and in nouns.
Abstract
This corpus-based paper investigates the frequency, grammatical irregularity, and variational behaviour of formulaic sequences consisting of the N1 to N1 pattern with body-part nouns (e.g. face to face) and the analogical extension of the pattern to new, less frequent body-part nouns. These phrases show signs of lexicalization, such as lack of singular/plural distinction, lack of articles and very low likelihood of adjective insertion. While the pattern itself is grammatically irregular, it has a tendency to go through the regular process of conversion from an adverbial (go head to head), via a premodifier (a head-to-head competition) to a noun (a Christie-Lewis head-to-head). One further sign of univerbation is the use of hyphens, which is most frequent in the premodifier function and in nouns.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Setting the scene
- Technology and phraseology 15
- Corpus-driven approaches to grammar 33
- Valency – item-specificity and idiom principle 49
- Fowler’s Modern English Usage at the interface of lexis and grammar 69
- The psycholinguistic reality of collocation and semantic prosody (1) 89
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Part II. Considering the particulars
- The lexicogrammar of present-day Indian English 117
- The semantic and grammatical overlap of as and that 137
- The historical development of the verb doubt and its various patterns of complementation 153
- The grammatical properties of recurrent phrases with body-part nouns 171
- A corpus-based investigation of cognate object constructions 189
- Revisiting the evidence for objects in English 211
- Lexico-functional categories and complex collocations 229
- Polysemy and lexical priming 247
- Local textual functions of move in newspaper story patterns 265
- Loud signatures 289
- Index 317
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Setting the scene
- Technology and phraseology 15
- Corpus-driven approaches to grammar 33
- Valency – item-specificity and idiom principle 49
- Fowler’s Modern English Usage at the interface of lexis and grammar 69
- The psycholinguistic reality of collocation and semantic prosody (1) 89
-
Part II. Considering the particulars
- The lexicogrammar of present-day Indian English 117
- The semantic and grammatical overlap of as and that 137
- The historical development of the verb doubt and its various patterns of complementation 153
- The grammatical properties of recurrent phrases with body-part nouns 171
- A corpus-based investigation of cognate object constructions 189
- Revisiting the evidence for objects in English 211
- Lexico-functional categories and complex collocations 229
- Polysemy and lexical priming 247
- Local textual functions of move in newspaper story patterns 265
- Loud signatures 289
- Index 317
