Mehl, S.W. orcid.org/0000-0003-3036-8132 (2019) Light verb semantics in the International Corpus of English: onomasiological variation, identity evidence and degrees of lightness. English Language and Linguistics, 23 (1). pp. 55-80. ISSN 1360-6743
Abstract
This study employs corpus semantic techniques to examine the semantics of light verbs and light verb constructions (LVCs) in Singapore English, Hong Kong English, and British English via their respective components in the International Corpus of English (ICE; Greenbaum 1996). The study investigates onomasiological variation (cf. Geeraerts et al. 1994) by identifying selection preferences in natural use between light verb constructions and their related verb alternates. In addition, identity evidence is forwarded as a valuable corpus semantic tool, in which instances of naturally occurring language data resemble classic identity tests for polysemy. Via a close reading and manual semantic analysis of thousands of instances of light make, take, give, and their semantic alternates, this study finds remarkable consistency across the three varieties of World Englishes (WEs) in onomasiological preferences, even in extremely nuanced features of LVCs. Onomasiological evidence and identity evidence also suggest the new finding that the three light verbs and their constructions exhibit degrees of lightness, and that these degrees of lightness are extremely consistent across regional varieties.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Cambridge University Press. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in English Language and Linguistics. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | corpus linguistics; semantics; light verbs; World Englishes; onomasiology |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of English (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jun 2017 11:13 |
Last Modified: | 06 Nov 2023 16:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1360674317000302 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:117477 |
Download
Filename: ELL-Light-verb-semantics-in-the-ICE-prefinal.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0