Particle verbs across first and second language varieties of English

Abstract

Particle verbs are a very common and highly productive feature at the lexis-grammar interface and are thus particularly prone to undergoing structural nativization resulting in variety-specific usage patterns of frequency and innovation. In addition, particle verbs have been noted to display distinct, stylistically marked distribution patterns across text types. In the present paper, we investigate particle verbs with up in nine first and second language varieties of English, based on the International Corpus of English. We conduct quantitative, genre-based comparisons and qualitative discussions of innovative forms, and complement our findings with online data. In addition to novel particle verbs with up , we find supranational genre conventions and regional clusters in the distribution of particle verbs with up . Keywords: particle verbs; World Englishes; lexicogrammar; genre analysis