THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIGHT VERBS IN ENGLISH: AN EMPIRICAL, CORPUS-BASED STUDY
THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIGHT VERBS IN ENGLISH: AN EMPIRICAL, CORPUS-BASED STUDY
Author(s): József AndorSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Editura Universităţii de Vest din Timişoara / Diacritic Timisoara
Keywords: light verb; constructional variant; non-compositional; deverbal noun; corpus-based; frequency
Summary/Abstract: This paper provides a corpus-based investigation of the distribution and collocational force of five light verbs: have, take, make, do, give, in complex predicate patterns based on data gained from the British National Corpus. Focus of analysis: (i) surveying the representation of light verb constructions in standard, learners’ dictionaries of English, (ii) meaning and usage-based factors of light verb + NP vs. full verb constructional variants, (iii) semantic/pragmatic differences between variants with different light verbs preceding the same NP.
Journal: B.A.S. British and American Studies
- Issue Year: 2010
- Issue No: 16
- Page Range: 189-201
- Page Count: 13
- Language: English
