Use and acceptability of particle verbs with unique meanings in Sri Lankan English

Abstract

This article presents the findings regarding the use and acceptability of a selection of particle verbs that have unique meanings in Sri Lankan English (SLE). The article is based on an earlier study conducted by me that aimed at exploring the extent to which certain grammatical and lexico-grammatical features of SLE occur in semi-formal writing, and the level of acceptability associated with them among first language English speakers in Sri Lanka by means of an acceptability study (AJT) based on corpus data. The original study included an analysis of 37 lexicogrammatical features of SLE, but the present article focuses on only seven particle verbs that have interesting localised meanings in Sri Lanka. The corpus data for the study were drawn from the Sri Lankan component of the corpus of South Asian Varieties of English (SAVE) and the Sri Lankan English Newspaper Corpus – 2015. The acceptability study is based on a sample of 80 first language speakers of English in Sri Lanka who responded to an AJT containing sample sentences drawn from the two corpora which included the target particle verbs. The findings revealed that a significant number of these particle verbs with unique meanings do appear in naturally occurring SLE writing, but there is a general lack of a strong consensus regarding the acceptability of a majority of them. On the other hand, the particle verb come down with its unique meaning has a comparatively higher level of acceptance although it appears minimally in the corpora.