One language, two grammars? : differences between British and American English / edited by Günter Rohdenburg and Julia Schlüter.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rohdenburg, Günter, 1940- editor.

Schlüter, Julia, 1973- editor.

Series:

Studies in English language.

Studies in English language

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Grammar, Comparative.

English language.

English language--Grammar, Historical.

English language--Variation.

English language--Great Britain.

English language--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxiv, 461 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It is well known that British and American English differ substantially in their pronunciation and vocabulary - but differences in their grammar have largely been underestimated. This volume focuses on British-American differences in the structure of words and sentences and supports them with computer-aided studies of large text collections. Present-day as well as earlier forms of the two varieties are included in the analyses. This makes it the first book-length treatment of British and American English grammar in contrast, with topics ranging from compound verbs to word order differences and tag questions. The authors explore some of the better-known contrasts, as well as a great variety of innovative themes that have so far received little or no consideration. Bringing together the work of a team of leading scholars in the field, this book will be of interest to those working within the fields of English historical linguistics, language variation and change, and dialectology.

Contents:

Introduction / Günter Rohdenburg and Julia Schlüter

Colonial lag, colonial innovation or simply language change? / Marianne Hundt

Compound verbs / Peter Erdmann

The formation of the preterite and the past participle / Magnus Levin

Synthetic and analytic comparatives / Britta Mondorf

Phonology and grammar / Julia Schlüter

Prepositions and postpositions / Eva Berlage

Argument structure / David Denison

Reflexive structures / Günter Rohdenburg

Non-finite complements / Uwe Vosberg

The present perfect and the preterite / Johan Elsness

The revived subjunctive / Göran Kjellmer

The mandative subjunctive / William J. Crawford

The conditional subjunctive / Julia Schlüter

Tag questions / D.J. Allerton

The pragmatics of adverbs / Karin Aijmer

How different are American and British English grammar? And how are they different? / Gunnel Tottie

New departures / Günter Rohdenburg and Julia Schlüter.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 424-451) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-19777-5

0-511-73730-0

9786612001536

0-511-55197-5

0-511-48067-9

0-511-47747-3

0-511-47602-7

0-511-47899-2

OCLC:

437089970