Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Spreading Patterns : Diffusional Change in the English System of Complementation - Hendrik De Smet

Spreading Patterns

Diffusional Change in the English System of Complementation

By: Hendrik De Smet

eText | 12 December 2012

At a Glance

eText


$193.62

or 4 interest-free payments of $48.41 with

 or 

Instant online reading in your Booktopia eTextbook Library *

Why choose an eTextbook?

Instant Access *

Purchase and read your book immediately

Read Aloud

Listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you

Study Tools

Built-in study tools like highlights and more

* eTextbooks are not downloadable to your eReader or an app and can be accessed via web browsers only. You must be connected to the internet and have no technical issues with your device or browser that could prevent the eTextbook from operating.
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.
on
Desktop
Tablet
Mobile

More in Linguistics

The Miracle of Language - Richard Lederer

eBOOK

Burn This Book : Notes on Literature and Engagement - Toni Morrison

eBOOK

How to Write a Sentence : And How to Read One - Stanley Fish

eBOOK

Dictionary of American Slang - Barbara Ann Kipfer

eBOOK

RRP $21.99

$17.59

20%
OFF

This product is categorised by