Corpus linguistics meets sociolinguistics
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Christian Mair
Abstract
The contribution is a plea for closer co-operation between sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics in the study of World Englishes, supporting the case with the author’s own findings from the recently completed Jamaican component of the International Corpus of English (ICE-JA). The variables analysed are the use of person(s) as a synonym for people, subject-verb inversion in questions, the modals of obligation and necessity, negative and auxiliary contraction, and the “new” quotative be like. It is a particular advantage of the corpus-linguistic working environment provided by ICE that many of these issues can be studied in a cross-variety, comparative perspective. On the whole, present-day Jamaican English turns out to be rather different from British English, its historical “parent” variety.
Abstract
The contribution is a plea for closer co-operation between sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics in the study of World Englishes, supporting the case with the author’s own findings from the recently completed Jamaican component of the International Corpus of English (ICE-JA). The variables analysed are the use of person(s) as a synonym for people, subject-verb inversion in questions, the modals of obligation and necessity, negative and auxiliary contraction, and the “new” quotative be like. It is a particular advantage of the corpus-linguistic working environment provided by ICE that many of these issues can be studied in a cross-variety, comparative perspective. On the whole, present-day Jamaican English turns out to be rather different from British English, its historical “parent” variety.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series editor’s preface ix
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction xv
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1. Focus on
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1.1 Africa
- Deracialising the GOOSE vowel in South African English 3
- Codifying Ghanaian English 19
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1.2 The Caribbean
- Corpus linguistics meets sociolinguistics 39
- Rhoticity in educated Jamaican English 61
- Standard English in the secondary school in Trinidad 83
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1.3 Australia and New Zealand
- Australian English as a regional epicenter 107
- Finding one’s own vowel space 125
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1.4 Asia
- Language in Hong Kong 143
- The roles of English in Southeast Asian legal systems 155
- Not just an “Outer Circle”, “Asian” English 179
- “Where’s the party yaar !” 207
- Innovation in second language phonology 227
- Intelligibility assessment of Japanese accents 239
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2. The global perspective
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2.1 Comparative studies
- World Englishes between simplification and complexification 265
- Global feature — local norms? 287
- The shared core of the perfect across Englishes 309
- Word-formation in New Englishes 331
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2.2 New approaches
- The indigenization of English in North America 353
- Perspectives on English as a lingua franca 369
- A discourse-historical approach to the English native speaker 385
- World Englishes and Peace Sociolinguistics 407
- New voices in the canon 415
- Index 433
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series editor’s preface ix
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction xv
-
1. Focus on
-
1.1 Africa
- Deracialising the GOOSE vowel in South African English 3
- Codifying Ghanaian English 19
-
1.2 The Caribbean
- Corpus linguistics meets sociolinguistics 39
- Rhoticity in educated Jamaican English 61
- Standard English in the secondary school in Trinidad 83
-
1.3 Australia and New Zealand
- Australian English as a regional epicenter 107
- Finding one’s own vowel space 125
-
1.4 Asia
- Language in Hong Kong 143
- The roles of English in Southeast Asian legal systems 155
- Not just an “Outer Circle”, “Asian” English 179
- “Where’s the party yaar !” 207
- Innovation in second language phonology 227
- Intelligibility assessment of Japanese accents 239
-
2. The global perspective
-
2.1 Comparative studies
- World Englishes between simplification and complexification 265
- Global feature — local norms? 287
- The shared core of the perfect across Englishes 309
- Word-formation in New Englishes 331
-
2.2 New approaches
- The indigenization of English in North America 353
- Perspectives on English as a lingua franca 369
- A discourse-historical approach to the English native speaker 385
- World Englishes and Peace Sociolinguistics 407
- New voices in the canon 415
- Index 433
