E-raamat: Converging Grammars: Constructions in Singapore English [De Gruyter e-raamatud]

Citing the main inspiration for this collection as a question--should Singapore English be understood (in construction terms) as actually a dialect of English or a different language altogether?--Ziegler approaches the problem of construction in contact situations using data from the more difficult areas of contact, such as those in which the transparency of substrate modelling is not so clearly in evidence, and attempts to create a theoretical platform based on the use of ambiguous construction frameworks. He seeks to contribute toward resolving many of the problems that arise from applying a strict construction-based descriptive approach to cases of languages in which the syntax and the lexicon derive from different languages. Nine chapters are: introduction; Singapore English; construction grammars and the paradox of “mixed” construction types; transitivity and causativity; experiential aspect; the past tense construction; bare noun constructions; the merger construction; concluding remarks. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

This volume provides a much-needed, critical overview of the field of constructions and construction grammar in the context of Singapore English, and poses the question of identifying a construction in contact when the lexicon is derived from one language and the syntax from another. Case studies are illustrated in which the possibility of a 'merger'-construction is offered to resolve such problems. The book is intended for students of construction theories, variation studies, or any researcher of contact grammars