Chapter published in:
Explorations in English Historical Syntax
Edited by Hubert Cuyckens, Hendrik De Smet, Liesbet Heyvaert and Charlotte Maekelberghe
[Studies in Language Companion Series 198] 2018
► pp. 203–234

Complexity and genre distribution of left-dislocated strings after the fixation of SVO syntax

| Universidade de Vigo
This paper investigates the diachronic development of strings that include both a left-dislocated constituent and a coreferring resumptive in the subsequent clause, thus resembling the reportedly speech-like and informal contemporary Left Dislocation construction. The data is analyzed according to a range of factors relating to the inner configuration of such strings and examined by means of the pertinent statistical tests. The purpose is to arrive at a clearer and broader picture of (i) the general decline of left-dislocated strings, (ii) the factors determining their structural complexity, and (iii) their role as prospective markers of orality in Modern English speech-related texts.
Keywords: Left Dislocation, complexity, orality, genre, Modern English
Published online: 13 August 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.198.09tiz
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