Variation in Non-finite Constructions in English

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Introduction

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 1-14

3. Variation Between Sentential Complements: The Case of Work At -ing and Work On -ing

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 15-35

4. Semantic Roles and Complement Selection: A Case Study on the Matrix Adjective Frightened

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 37-60

5. Complement Selection and the Syntactic Status of Infinitival to: The Case of the Verb Submit

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 61-80

6. Exceptions to Bach’s Generalization in Inner and Outer Core Varieties of English: The Case of Warn Against -ing

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 81-103

7. New Light on -Ing Complements of Prevent, with Recent Data from Large Corpora

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 105-129

8. Conclusion

   • Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

   Pages 131-138

9. Back Matter

   Pages 139-145

   PDF

This book sheds new light on the nature of gerunds in English, utilizing data from very large electronic corpora in order to compare pairs of patterns viewed as constructions. It serves as a contribution to the study of complementation, an under-researched area of investigation which bridges observations at the intersection of lexico-grammar, syntax and semantics. As a result, the reader develops their understanding of the meaning and use of each pattern within the system of English predicate complementation as it has evolved in recent times. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of English linguistics, especially English grammar. 

• language variation
• subject object control
• British English (BrE)
• American English (AmE)
• Hansard corpus
• British National Corpus (BNC)
• adjectives
• Covert Noun Phrase Objects
• Bach's Generalization
• pragmatics
• Inner Core
• Outer Core
• matrix predicates
• verb valency
• corpus linguistics

• Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

  Mark Kaunisto, Juhani Rudanko

Mark Kaunisto is a Senior Lecturer at Tampere University, Finland. His work includes corpus-based studies on morphological rivalry, word-formation, neologisms, and usage guidebooks.


Juhani Rudanko is Professor Emeritus at Tampere University, Finland. His latest work focuses on the evolution of predicate complementation in recent English and the application of linguistic pragmatics to the analysis of political debates in the early American Republic.

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