Hypocoristics in New Zealand and Australian English
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Dianne Bardsley
Abstract
New Zealand and Australia share a propensity to create new words and hypocoristic forms of existing words by adding -ie and -o suffixes (among others) to a base which is usually monosyllabic. While the creation of new words is driven by the need to refer quickly to new things, the creation of hypocoristic alternatives is driven partly by the desire to identify with a group’s particular way of talking. The distribution of hypocoristic forms is similar across both countries, except for the greater use of the -o ending in Australia, especially in naming occupations and in fishing. Across different semantic domains there is a greater range of suffixes to be found in proper names (personal, geographic and institutional) than in common nouns.
Abstract
New Zealand and Australia share a propensity to create new words and hypocoristic forms of existing words by adding -ie and -o suffixes (among others) to a base which is usually monosyllabic. While the creation of new words is driven by the need to refer quickly to new things, the creation of hypocoristic alternatives is driven partly by the desire to identify with a group’s particular way of talking. The distribution of hypocoristic forms is similar across both countries, except for the greater use of the -o ending in Australia, especially in naming occupations and in fishing. Across different semantic domains there is a greater range of suffixes to be found in proper names (personal, geographic and institutional) than in common nouns.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- List of contributors ix
- Prologue 1
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Section I. Morphology
- Irregular verbs 13
- Pronoun forms 31
- Hypocoristics in New Zealand and Australian English 49
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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
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Section III. Nouns and noun phrases
- Non-numerical quantifiers 159
- From chairman to chairwoman to chairperson 183
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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
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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
