Pronoun forms
-
Heidi Quinn
Abstract
This paper compares the distribution of pronoun case forms (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them), non-reflexive myself, and second person plural variants in corpora of New Zealand, Australian, American, and British English, with a view to identifying possible regional differences in pronoun use. While low token numbers prevent a detailed comparison of the four varieties, the corpus data suggest that the use of I and myself in coordinates is most strongly favoured in Australian English. Similarly, possessive me is significantly more frequent in the written Australian English corpus than elsewhere. The second person plural variant y’all would seem to be confined to American English, whereas yous(e) occurs only in the New Zealand, Australian, and British English corpora.
Abstract
This paper compares the distribution of pronoun case forms (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them), non-reflexive myself, and second person plural variants in corpora of New Zealand, Australian, American, and British English, with a view to identifying possible regional differences in pronoun use. While low token numbers prevent a detailed comparison of the four varieties, the corpus data suggest that the use of I and myself in coordinates is most strongly favoured in Australian English. Similarly, possessive me is significantly more frequent in the written Australian English corpus than elsewhere. The second person plural variant y’all would seem to be confined to American English, whereas yous(e) occurs only in the New Zealand, Australian, and British English corpora.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- List of contributors ix
- Prologue 1
-
Section I. Morphology
- Irregular verbs 13
- Pronoun forms 31
- Hypocoristics in New Zealand and Australian English 49
-
Section II. Verbs and verb phrases
- Modals and quasi-modals 73
- The perfect and the preterite in Australian and New Zealand English 89
- The progressive 115
- The mandative subjunctive in spoken English 125
- Light verbs in Australian, New Zealand and British English 139
-
Section III. Nouns and noun phrases
- Non-numerical quantifiers 159
- From chairman to chairwoman to chairperson 183
-
Section IV. Clauses and sentences
- Concord with collective nouns in Australian and New Zealand English 207
- No in the lexicogrammar of English 225
- Zero complementizer, syntactic context, and regional variety 243
- Infinitival and gerundial complements 263
- Commas and connective adverbs 277
-
Section V. Discourse
- Information-packaging constructions 295
- Like and other discourse markers 317
- Final but in Australian English conversation 339
- Swearing 361
- Epilogue 387
- Index 401
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- List of contributors ix
- Prologue 1
-
Section I. Morphology
- Irregular verbs 13
- Pronoun forms 31
- Hypocoristics in New Zealand and Australian English 49
-
Section II. Verbs and verb phrases
- Modals and quasi-modals 73
- The perfect and the preterite in Australian and New Zealand English 89
- The progressive 115
- The mandative subjunctive in spoken English 125
- Light verbs in Australian, New Zealand and British English 139
-
Section III. Nouns and noun phrases
- Non-numerical quantifiers 159
- From chairman to chairwoman to chairperson 183
-
Section IV. Clauses and sentences
- Concord with collective nouns in Australian and New Zealand English 207
- No in the lexicogrammar of English 225
- Zero complementizer, syntactic context, and regional variety 243
- Infinitival and gerundial complements 263
- Commas and connective adverbs 277
-
Section V. Discourse
- Information-packaging constructions 295
- Like and other discourse markers 317
- Final but in Australian English conversation 339
- Swearing 361
- Epilogue 387
- Index 401
