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Some characteristics of Southeast English preposition-dropping

Bailey, Laura R. (2019) Some characteristics of Southeast English preposition-dropping. Iberia: An international journal of theoretical linguistics, 10 . pp. 48-70. E-ISSN 1989-8525. (KAR id:71925)

Abstract

Preposition-dropping is widespread in British English varieties, but the construction found in Southeast England differs from the descriptions of Northwest Englishes, patterning more closely with Greek and Romance varieties. The determiner is obligatorily absent, the argument must be a directional Goal, the verb must be semantically weak come or go, and the location must be familiar, anaphoric or a place name. These characteristics are explained if the noun undergoes N-to-D movement to gain a definite interpretation, requiring omission of the determiner and lack of modification, and the null directional preposition to conflates with v for licensing, removing the possibility of manner-of-motion verbs.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled keywords: non-standard syntax, dialect, preposition, English, Kent, ellipsis
Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
P Language and Literature > PE English philology and language
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages
Depositing User: Laura Bailey
Date Deposited: 25 Jan 2019 09:21 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 12:34 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/71925 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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