A multivariate account of particle alternation after bare-formtryin native varieties of English

Abstract

This multifactorial study reviews the determinants of particle alternation after uninflectedtryin varieties where English is native. The effects of a number of previously discussed and novel predictors are probed in data from well-known corpora. The results confirm the inclinations of North American varieties (try to) in contrast with those of the Australasian, British and Irish varieties (try andin speech buttry toin writing). The previously reported general effects of the tense oftry, mode andhorror aequiare also corroborated. As regards the effect of register, the study contributes the finding that following Latin-based infinitives favortry toin most varieties, especially in writing. The article discusses the status of the substantiated effects with respect to the notions of conventionalization and entrenchment: crucially, the higher degree of conventionalization oftry toin North American varieties (a) makes the use of this variant less conditional on the sequential need to license euphony and (b) neutralizes the general contextual/register distinction for the alternation. From a usage-based viewpoint, the findings suggest that the higher frequency of a multiword sequence in a specific variety, and the higher degree of activation in the language users’ minds, can make it less contingent on general probabilistic constraints.