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A comparison of phrasal verbs in Singapore English with British and American English
Author
Qiu, Carolyn Wanhui
Supervisor
Green, Clarence
Abstract
Phrasal verbs have long been studied by many linguists (e.g. Leech & Svartvik, 1977) Some recent corpus studies on phrasal verbs which focused more on the frequency and meaning usage have allowed for some insight into phrasal verbs in British and American English. Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad, and Finegan (1999), as well as Gardner and Davies’ (2007) corpus-based studies have shed light on some phrasal verbs in British English. Liu (2011) built upon the findings by Biber et al. (1999) and Gardner and Davies (2007), generated and studied the frequencies of phrasal verbs in British and American English. Garnier and Schmitt (2015) looked into the meaning usage of these 150 phrasal verbs in American English.
Liu’s (2011) comparative study on phrasal verbs in British and American English resulted in an exhaustive list of frequencies for a total of 150 phrasal verbs in both varieties. Garnier and Schmitt (2015) then sampled these 150 phrasal verbs in a American English to derive at the major meaning senses for these phrasal verbs (between 50.5 to 100% coverage for each), as they viewed Gardner and Davies’ (2007) estimates for meaning senses for all 150 to be too high (between 480-560 senses in total) to be useful for teaching and learning. Liu’s (2011) lists allowed one to look into the frequencies of phrasal verbs in either British or American English or in both varieties at the same time. Garnier and Schmitt’s (2015) list allowed one to look into the major meaning senses of phrasal verbs. All three studies had pedagogical implications for teaching and learning. This study uses important information from these corpus studies, as well as other relevant publications.
This study generated frequencies in a Singapore corpus, for the 150 phrasal verbs found in Liu (2011), and compared them with their frequencies in a British corpus and an American corpus. These similarities and differences are highlighted within the study. The study also matched the meaning senses for 20 phrasal verbs in the Singapore corpus, with the meaning senses listed by Garnier and Schmitt (2015). Some meaning senses were not found in the Singapore corpus. Lastly, the study looked at the most common lexical forms of 20 phrasal verbs and found that some did not match those in American English. Overall, the study found that the frequency usage of phrasal verbs in Singapore English shows resemblance to both British and American English, although there is more support that it slightly favours British English. Also, the study uncovered that some meaning senses and lexical forms may be absent in Singapore English.
Liu’s (2011) comparative study on phrasal verbs in British and American English resulted in an exhaustive list of frequencies for a total of 150 phrasal verbs in both varieties. Garnier and Schmitt (2015) then sampled these 150 phrasal verbs in a American English to derive at the major meaning senses for these phrasal verbs (between 50.5 to 100% coverage for each), as they viewed Gardner and Davies’ (2007) estimates for meaning senses for all 150 to be too high (between 480-560 senses in total) to be useful for teaching and learning. Liu’s (2011) lists allowed one to look into the frequencies of phrasal verbs in either British or American English or in both varieties at the same time. Garnier and Schmitt’s (2015) list allowed one to look into the major meaning senses of phrasal verbs. All three studies had pedagogical implications for teaching and learning. This study uses important information from these corpus studies, as well as other relevant publications.
This study generated frequencies in a Singapore corpus, for the 150 phrasal verbs found in Liu (2011), and compared them with their frequencies in a British corpus and an American corpus. These similarities and differences are highlighted within the study. The study also matched the meaning senses for 20 phrasal verbs in the Singapore corpus, with the meaning senses listed by Garnier and Schmitt (2015). Some meaning senses were not found in the Singapore corpus. Lastly, the study looked at the most common lexical forms of 20 phrasal verbs and found that some did not match those in American English. Overall, the study found that the frequency usage of phrasal verbs in Singapore English shows resemblance to both British and American English, although there is more support that it slightly favours British English. Also, the study uncovered that some meaning senses and lexical forms may be absent in Singapore English.
Date Issued
2018
Call Number
PE1315.P5 Qiu
Date Submitted
2018