Cover not available
Part of
Grammatical Change in English World-Wide
Edited by Peter Collins
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 67] 2015
► pp. 335–372

Patterns of regularisation in British, American and Indian English

A closer look at irregular verbs with t/ed variation

| Ghent University
| Ghent University
This paper explores ongoing processes of verb regularisation (see Lieberman et al. 2007) in British, American and Indian English in a selection of thirteen verbs that allow both irregular (t) and regular (ed) forms. We examine the extent to which inter- and intra-varietal differences reflect the status of Indian English as a ‘semi-autonomous’ variety (Mukherjee 2007), using synchronic and diachronic data. We seek explanations for internal variation via consideration of the impact of frequency and vowel change on retention. The results reveal unique patterns for Indian English: while there is no clear link between frequency and retention, regularisation does tend to occur more in cases without vowel change. Keywords: verb regularisation; Indian English; corpus linguistics; language variation and change
Published online: 24 February 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.67.14dec
References (52)
References
Anderwald, Lieselotte. 2012a. Clumsy, awkward or having a peculiar propriety? Prescriptive judgements and language change in the 19th century. Language Sciences 34: 28–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012b. Throve, pled, shrunk: The evolution of American English in the 19th century between language change and prescriptive norms. Studies in Variation, Contacts and Change in English 10. Helsinki: Varieng.Google Scholar
. 2012c. Variable past tense forms in 19c American English: Linking normative grammars and language change. American Speech 87: 257–293. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Balasubramanian, Chandrika. 2009. Register Variation in Indian English [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 37]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bhat, Rakesh M. 2004. Indian English: Syntax. In A Handbook of Varieties of English, Vol. 2: Morphology and Syntax,Bernd Kortmann, Kate Burridge, Rajend Mesthrie, Edgar Schneider & Clive Upton (eds), 1016–1030. Berlin: Mouton de GruyterGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Johansson, Stig, Leech, Geoffrey, Conrad, Susan & Finegan, Edward. 1999. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Bybee, Joan. 1985. Morphology: A Study of the Relation Between Meaning and Form [Typological Studies in Language 9]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. From usage to grammar: The mind's response to repetition. Language 82: 711–733. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan, Perkins, Revere & Pagliuca, William. 1994. The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Crystal, David. 2003. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Filppula, Markku, Klemola, Juhani & Paulasto, Heli. 2009. Digging for roots: universals and contacts in regional varieties of English. In Vernacular Universals and Language Contacts - Evidence from Varieties of English and Beyond, Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola & Heli Paulasto (eds), 231–259. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gargesh, Ravinder. 2004. Indian English: Phonology. In A Handbook of Varieties of English, Vol.1, Edgar Schneider, Kate Burridge, Bernd Kortmann, Rajend Mesthrie & Clive Upton (eds), 993–1002. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Gupta, Anjuli. 1991. The failure of English as a lingua franca in India. In English in India: Issues and problems, Anjuli Gupta & Kapil Kapoor (eds), 58–80. Delhi: Academic Foundation.Google Scholar
. 1996. Reading A: English and empire: teaching English in nineteenth-century India. In Learning English: Development and Diversity, Neil Mercer & Joan Swann (eds) 188–194. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, Sebastian. 2007. From web page to mega-corpus: The CNN transcripts. In Language and Computers, Marianne Hundt, Nadja Nesselhauf & Carolin Biewer (eds), 69–85. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Hohenthal, Annika. 2003. English in India: Loyalty and Attitudes. Language in India, 05/05/2003, <[URL]> (15 May 2014).Google Scholar
Hooper, Joan. 1976. Word frequency in lexical diffusion and the source of morphophonological change. In Current Progress in Historical Linguistics, William Christie (ed.), 96–105. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar
Hundt, Marianne. 1997. Has BrE been catching up with AmE over the past thirty years? In Corpus-based Studies in English. Papers from the 17th International Conference on English Language Research on Computerized Corpora (ICAME 17), Stockholm, May 15-19, 1996, Magnus Ljung (ed.), 135–151. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
. 2009. Colonial lag, colonial innovation or simply language change? In One language, two Grammars? Differences between British and American English, Günter Rohdenburg & Julia Schlüter (eds), 13–37. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hundt, Marianne & Vogel, Katrin. 2011. Overuse of the progressive in ESL and learner Englishes – fact or fiction? In Exploring Second-Language Varieties of English and Learner Englishes: Bridging a Paradigm gap [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 44], Joybrato Mukherjee & Marianne Hundt (eds), 145–166. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jespersen, Otto & Haislund, Nielsen. 1942. A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles: Morphology. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Kachru, Braj B. 1994. English in South Asia. In The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. V: English in Britain and Overseas. Origins and Development, Robert Burchfield (ed.), 497–626. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kovecses, Zoltan. 2000. American English: An Introduction. Peterborough: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Lanssens, Noortje. 2012. Spelling variation across varieties of English: A corpus-based exploration of World Englishes. MA paper, University College Ghent.
Levin, Magnus. 2009. The formation of the preterite and the past participle. In One Language, Two Grammars. Differences between British and American English, Günther Rohdenburg & Julia Schlüter (eds), 60–86. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lieberman, Erez, Michel, Jean-Baptiste, Jackson, Joe, Tang, Tina & Nowak, Martin A. 2007. Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language. Nature 449 (7163): 713–716. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mair, Christian. 1998. Corpora and the study of the major varieties of English: Issues and results. In The Major Varieties of English: Papers from MAVEN 97, Växjö, 20-22 November 1997. Hans Linquist, Staffan Klintborg, Magnus Levin & Maria Estling (eds), 139–157. Växjö: Acta Wexionensia.Google Scholar
Mondorf, Britta. 2009. Synthetic and analytic comparatives. In One Language, Two Grammars? Differences between British and American English, Günther Rohdenburg & Julia Schlüter (eds), 86–107. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, Joybrato. 2007. Steady states in the evolution of New Englishes: Present-Day Indian English as an equilibrium. Journal of English Linguistics 35: 157–187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, Joybrato & Gries, Stefan T. 2009. Collostructional nativisation in New Englishes: Verb-construction associations in the International Corpus of English. English World-Wide 30: 27–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, Joybrato & Hoffmann, Sebastian. 2006. Describing verb-complementational profiles of New Englishes. English World-Wide 27: 147–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, Joybrato & Schilk, Marco. 2008. Verb-complementational profiles across varieties of English: Comparing verb classes in Indian English and British English. In The Dynamics of Linguistic Variation: Corpus Evidence on English Past and Present [Studies in Language Variation 2], Terttu Nevalainen, Irma Taavitsainen, Päivi Pahta & Minna Korhonen (eds), 163–181. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nihalani, Paroo, Tongue, Ray, Hosali, Priha & Crowther, Jonathan. 2004. Indian and British English: A Handbook of Usage and Pronunciation, 2nd edn. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Peters, Pam. 2009. Irregular verbs: Regularization and ongoing variability. In Peters et al. 13–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peters, Pam, Collins, Peter & Smith, Adam (eds). 2009. Comparative Studies in Australian and New Zealand English: Grammar and Beyond [Varieties of English around the World G39]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Rohdenburg, Günther. 2003. Aspects of grammatical iconicity in English. In From Sign to Signing [Iconicity in Language and Literature 3], Wolfgang Müller & Olga Fischer (eds), 263–285. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sahgal, Anju. 1991. Patterns of language use in a bilingual setting in India. In English Around the World, Jenny Cheshire (ed.), 299–307. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sailaja, Pingali. 2009. Indian English. Edinburgh: EUP.Google Scholar
Schilk, Marco. 2006. Collocations in Indian English: A corpus-based sample analysis. Anglia 124: 276–316. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schilk, Marco, Bernaisch, Tobias & Mukherjee, Joybrato. 2012. Mapping unity and diversity in South Asian English lexicogrammar: Verb-complementational preferences across varieties. In Mapping Unity and Diversity World-Wide: Corpus-Based Studies of New Englishes [Varieties of English around the World G43], Marianne Hundt & Ulrike Gut (eds), 137–166. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schilk, Marco & Hammel, Marc. 2012. The progressive in South Asian and Southeast Asian varieties of English – mapping areal homogeneity and heterogeneity. Paper presented at ICAME 33, Corpora at the centre and crossroads of English linguistics, Leuven.
Schlüter, Julia. 2009. Phonology and Grammar. In One Language - Two Grammars? Differences between British and American English., Gunther Rohdenburg and Julia Schlüter (eds), 108–129. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Edgar. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011. English Around the World: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Sedlatschek, Andreas. 2009. Contemporary Indian English. Variation and Change [Varieties of English around the World G38]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharma, Devyani. 2001. The pluperfect in native and non-native English: A comparative corpus study. Language Variation and Change 13: 343–373. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sheorey, Ravi & Nayar, Bashkaran. 2002. Learning and teaching English in India: Looking in from outside. Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics 28: 13–24.Google Scholar
Tottie, Gunnel. 2002. An Introduction to American English. Malden MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. 1999. A window on the past: "Colonial lag" and New Zealand evidence for the phonology of nineteenth-century English. American Speech 74: 227–239.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter & Hannah, Jean. 2002. International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, 4th edn. London: Arnold.Google Scholar