This paper uses a multivariate analysis of variable agreement in existentials with plural reference in a corpus of Quebec English to determine the status of variable agreement as a vernacular universal. Excluding the frequent invariant form there’s from analysis, both structural and processing considerations are shown to operate. A separate multivariate analysis provides support for the hypothesis that there’s is a lexicalized form with its own set of constraints. Cross-variety comparison reveals little evidence of regional diversification and suggests instead that differences observed between studies reflect the distribution of data in each corpus. Similarities of language-internal constraints across studies provide support for variable agreement as a vernacular universal.
2022. Minority language maintenance and the production‐prescription interface: Number agreement in New York Yiddish. Journal of Sociolinguistics 26:2 ► pp. 221 ff.
BOBERG, CHARLES
2012. English as a minority language in Quebec. World Englishes 31:4 ► pp. 493 ff.
2009. Was/werevariation: A perspective from London. Language Variation and Change 21:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Hazen, Kirk
2014. A new role for an ancient variable in Appalachia: Paradigm leveling and standardization in West Virginia. Language Variation and Change 26:1 ► pp. 77 ff.
Hilton, Katherine
2018. Social meaning in a shifting grammatical landscape: The perception of nonagreement in existential there constructions. Journal of Sociolinguistics 22:2 ► pp. 233 ff.
Hilton, Katherine & Sunwoo Jeong
2019. The role of context in sociolinguistic perception. Linguistics Vanguard 5:s1
2017. There's three variants: Agreement variation in existentialthereconstructions. Language Variation and Change 29:2 ► pp. 187 ff.
Meyerhoff, Miriam & James A. Walker
2013. An existential problem: The sociolinguistic monitor and variation in existential constructions on Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Language in Society 42:4 ► pp. 407 ff.
2015. Linguistic Emergence on the Ground. In The Handbook of Language Emergence, ► pp. 265 ff.
Rupp, Laura & David Britain
2019. Verbal –s in Existential there Sentences. In Linguistic Perspectives on a Variable English Morpheme, ► pp. 237 ff.
Rupp, Laura & David Britain
2019. Introduction. In Linguistic Perspectives on a Variable English Morpheme, ► pp. 1 ff.
Schreier, Daniel
2016. Super-leveling, fraying-out, internal restructuring: A century of presentbeconcord in Tristan da Cunha English. Language Variation and Change 28:2 ► pp. 203 ff.
Smith, Jennifer & Mercedes Durham
2019. Sociolinguistic Variation in Children's Language,
Squires, Lauren
2013. It don't go both ways: Limited bidirectionality in sociolinguistic perception. Journal of Sociolinguistics 17:2 ► pp. 200 ff.
STARKS, DONNA & LAURA THOMPSON
2009. Agreement patterns in existential constructions in the New Zealand Niuean community1. World Englishes 28:3 ► pp. 319 ff.
Suárez‐Gómez, Cristina, Lucía Loureiro‐Porto & Robert Fuchs
2020. World Englishes and grammatical variation. World Englishes 39:3 ► pp. 370 ff.
Tagliamonte, Sali A.
2011. Variation as a window on universals. In Linguistic Universals and Language Variation, ► pp. 128 ff.
Tagliamonte, Sali A. & R. Harald Baayen
2012. Models, forests, and trees of York English: Was/were variation as a case study for statistical practice. Language Variation and Change 24:2 ► pp. 135 ff.
Trudgill, Peter
2008. English Dialect “Default Singulars,” Was versus Were, Verner's Law, and Germanic Dialects. Journal of English Linguistics 36:4 ► pp. 341 ff.
Wilson, Guyanne
2020. Variability and acceptability in Trinidadian English. World Englishes 39:3 ► pp. 462 ff.
[no author supplied]
2011. References. In The Present Perfect in Non-Native Englishes, ► pp. 311 ff.
[no author supplied]
2013. Reference Guide for Varieties of English. In A Dictionary of Varieties of English, ► pp. 363 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.