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Variation and Diachrony, with Early American English in Focus
Merja Kytö
其他書名
Studies on CAN/MAY and SHALL/WILL
出版
P. Lang
, 1991
主題
Foreign Language Study / English as a Second Language
Language Arts & Disciplines / General
Language Arts & Disciplines / Grammar & Punctuation
Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General
Language Arts & Disciplines / Reference
Literary Criticism / General
Literary Criticism / American / General
Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical
ISBN
3631439083
9783631439081
URL
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=zcAdAQAAIAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋
This study of diachronic variation addresses two topics, the development of modal auxiliaries
can (could), may (might), shall (should)
and
will (would),
and the emergence of early American English as a new variety in the seventeenth century. Within the framework of socio-historical variation analysis, the author aims at accounting for diachronic change by examining the interplay of various linguistic and extra-linguistic factors in the light of evidence drawn from various corpora. The study concentrates on the language spoken and written in the New England area between 1620 and 1720, but to widen the scope in time and region, counterparts for comparison are found in the material included in the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts. The results indicate a gradual change (rather than a sudden re-structuring) in the system of the English modals from early stages on. Cumulative evidence is found for the rise of the forms
can
and
will
; in early American English conservative (rather than innovative) tendencies characterize the development.