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English genitive variation – the state of the art1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2014

ANETTE ROSENBACH
ANETTE ROSENBACH*
Affiliation:
Tanagra Wines, PO Box 92, 6708 McGregor, Western Cape, South Africaanette@tanagra-wines.co.za
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Abstract

This article is a survey of quantitative research on the choice between the s-genitive and the of-genitive in English. It provides a detailed and critical review of the methodological problems and advances as well as major findings and how these have been treated in theoretical frameworks. The article concludes with a discussion of objectives and challenges for future research. It is argued that research into English genitive variation not only enhances our knowledge of this specific case of syntactic variation but also helps us to further understand the mechanisms of syntactic alternations in general.

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Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 18 , Issue 2: Genitive variation in English , July 2014 , pp. 215 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

1

This article, written as part of the project ‘The development of syntactic alternations’ (National Science Foundation, grant no. BCS-1025602), has benefited greatly from discussions with Joan Bresnan, Benedikt Szmrecsanyi, Christoph Wolk, Marilyn Ford, Jason Grafmiller, Sali Tagliamonte and Simon Todd. I’m grateful to two anonymous ELL reviewers and to the editors of this special issue for many helpful suggestions. Thanks also to the University of Paderborn for access to their library services.

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