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Ugandan English: Its sociolinguistics, structure and uses in a globalising post-protectorate
Edited by Christiane Meierkord, Bebwa Isingoma and Saudah Namyalo
[Varieties of English Around the World G59] 2016
► pp. 201–226

The use of ditransitive constructions in Ugandan English

The chapter shows substantial divergences between Ugandan English and Standard British/American English in the use of ditransitive constructions. For example, while a benefactive double object construction and its equivalent prepositional phrase construction, e.g. I’ve poured you some tea and I’ve poured some tea for you respectively are widespread in Standard British/American English, the double object construction is dispreferred and quintessentially regarded as ungrammatical in Ugandan English. Moreover, the prepositional phrase construction is frequently used in its non-canonical ordering (e.g. I’ve poured for you some tea) in Ugandan English, without necessarily being conditioned by pragmatic requirements, as is the case in Standard British/American English. The study shows that the divergences are mainly caused by substrate influence from Ugandan Bantu languages.

Keywords: benefactive construction, canonical ordering, double object construction, non-canonical ordering, prepositional phrase construction, Ugandan English
Published online: 20 October 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g59.09isi
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