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Article published In:
English World-Wide
Vol. 41:1 (2020) ► pp.33–58

Non-canonical syntax in an Expanding Circle variety

Fronting in spoken Korean(ized) English

| Technische Universität Dresden
| Universität Bayreuth

This paper analyzes fronting constructions in spoken Korean(ized) English. Non-canonical syntax is an important means of structuring discourse, but its use by speakers of Expanding Circle Englishes has so far received only insufficient attention in studies of World Englishes. Taking a corpus-linguistic approach, this study determines to which extent topicalization and left-dislocation are used by South Korean speakers of English in informal conversations. In our explanation of the results, which show that fronting constructions are clearly part of the Korean English repertoire albeit used with varying frequencies, we mainly draw on notions of language contact (i.e. Korean as the substrate being a topic-prominent language) and language acquisition processes.

Keywords: Expanding Circle Englishes, Korean(ized) English, topicalization, left-dislocation, non-canonical syntax, corpus linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Non-canonical syntax: Patterns of dislocation to the left
    • 2.1Topicalization and left-dislocation as non-canonical structures
      • 2.1.1Topicalization
      • 2.1.2Left-dislocation
      • 2.1.3Topicalization and left-dislocation in World Englishes
    • 2.2The case of South Korea
  • 3.English in Korea
    • 3.1Sociohistorical and sociolinguistic background
    • 3.2The form(s) of English in Korea
  • 4.Data and method
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Topicalization
    • 5.2Left-dislocation
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Topic-prominence in language contact
    • 6.2Processes of second-language acquisition
    • 6.3Variety status
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • References
Published online: 24 February 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.00039.leu
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