Title: Spreading Patterns: Diffusional Change in the English System of Complementation
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Publication Date: 2012
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0199812756
ISBN 13: 9780199812752
Binding: Hardback
Condition: New
Weight: 566 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Spreading Patterns examines how new constructions emerge and spread through the grammar of a language, in a process called "diffusion". This is done by tracking the development of three types of complements from the Middle English period to the present day. These are subject-controlled gerund complements, for…to-infinitives, and subject-controlled participial complements. In the first half of the book, De Smet focuses on how and why patterns diffuse. In the second half, which is largely corpus-based, De Smet tests his theoretical model of diffusion on the three complement types. His work demonstrates how diffusion interacts with the grammatical system of complementation, how diffusion proceeds, step-by-step, and why diffusion is directional.

Spreading Patterns will appeal to scholars and advanced students of English, history of English, and historical linguistics.

About the Author

Hendrik De Smet is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Linguistics at the University of Leuven.

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