Re-Assessing the Present Perfect: Corpus Studies and Beyond (Topics in English Linguistics) (Topics in English Linguistics [tiel], 91)

The area of the present perfect has always been a hotly contested ground amongst linguists, and recent corpus studies have shown that variation in this realm in English is far more pervasive than previously assumed. This volume features theoretically informed analyses of the expression of the present perfect in native and non-native Englishes, and represents the state of the art in corpus-based works in this area. It Is A Well-known Fact That The Area Of The Present Perfect Has Always Been A Hotly Contested Ground, But Recent Corpus Analyses Have Shown That Grammatical Variation In This Realm In English Is Far More Pervasive Than Previously Assumed. 0this Volume Is The First Ever Book-length Treatment Dedicated To Corpus-based Work On The Present Perfect. It Offers Fresh Theoretical Insights Resting On A Solid Empirical Footing And Investigates Central Aspects Of Language Contact And Change, Grammaticalization, Typology, And Dialect Formation. It Sheds Light On This Morphosyntactic Area From Different Angles, As It Comprises Both Diachronic And Synchronic Viewpoints. Contributions Explore Variation In The Expression Of Perfect Meaning And The Multifunctionality Of Perfect Forms In A Number Of Native And Non-native Varieties, Thus Going Beyond The Traditional British/american English Paradigm, While A Second Focus Lies On Cross-variety Comparisons. 0bringing Together The Knowledge Of Leading Experts In The Field, This Book Represents The State Of The Art In Data-driven Research On The Present Perfect And Will Be Of Interest For Those Working In The Fields Of Language Variation And Change, Corpus Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, And Typology. Acknowledgements -- List Of Abbreviations -- Introduction : The Present Perfect : A Re-assessment / Valentin Werner, Elena Seoane, And Cristina Suárez-gómez -- Diachronic And Synchronic Perspectives On The Perfect In Native Varieties Of English -- From Possessive-resultative To Perfect? Re-assessing The Meaning Of [hæbb- + Past Participle] Constructions In Old English Prose / Berit Johannsen -- The To-infinitival Perfect : A Study Of Decline / Jill Bowie And Sean Wallis -- Expression Of The Perfect In Two Contact Varieties Of English / Markku Filppula -- Narrative-embedded Variation And Change : The Sociolinguistics Of The Australian English Narrative Present Perfect / Sophie Richard And Celeste Rodríguez Louro -- Perfects Across Varieties Of English -- Present Perfect And Past Tense In Black South African English / Bertus Van Rooy -- The Present Perfect In New Englishes : Common Patterns In Situations Of Language Contact / Julia Davydova -- The Perfect Space In Creole-related Varieties Of English : The Case Of Jamaican English / Elena Seoane -- The Frequency Of The Present Perfect In Varieties Of English Around The World / Robert Fuchs -- Rise Of The Undead? Be-perfects In World Englishes / Valentin Werner -- Building Bridges -- The Present Perfect In Learner Englishes : A Corpus-based Case Study On Li German Intermediate And Advanced Speech And Writing / Robert Fuchs, Sandra Götz, And Valentin Werner -- Afterthought : Some Brief Remarks On Autonomous And Speaker-centered Linguistic Approaches To The Present Perfect / Björn Rothstein -- Subject Index. Edited By Valentin Werner, Elena Seoane, Cristina Suárez-gómez. Papers Presented At The 35th Icame Conference Held At The University Of Nottingham In April 2014. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.