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Non-Canonical English Syntax

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2025

Edited by
Sven Leuckert  and
Teresa Pham
Sven Leuckert
Affiliation:
Technische Universität Dresden
Teresa Pham
Affiliation:
Universität Vechta

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Chapter
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Non-Canonical English Syntax
Concepts, Methods, and Approaches
 , pp. i
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/cclicenses/

Non-Canonical English Syntax

The term non-canonical syntax generally refers to deviations from ‘typical’ word order. These represent a fascinating phenomenon in natural language use. With contributions from a team of renowned scholars, this book presents a range of case studies on non-canonical syntax across historical, register-based, and non-native varieties of English. Each chapter investigates a different non-canonical construction and assesses to what extent it can be called ‘non-canonical’ in a theory-based and frequency-based understanding of non-canonical syntax. A range of state-of-the-art methodologies are used, highlighting that an empirical approach to non-canonical syntactic constructions is particularly fruitful. An introduction, a synopsis, a terminological chapter, and three section introductions frame the case studies and present overviews of the theory behind non-canonical syntax and previous work, while also illustrating open questions and opportunities for future research. The volume is essential reading for advanced students of English grammar and researchers working on non-canonical syntax and syntactic variation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Sven Leuckert is a research associate and post-doc at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. His publications include Topicalization in Asian Englishes (2019) and Indian Englishes in the Twenty-First Century (with Lange, Bernaisch, and Yurchenko, 2023).

Teresa Pham is a research associate and post-doc at the University of Vechta, Germany. Her notable publications include Intertextual References to Shakespeare (2014). With Sven Leuckert, she led the scientific network Syntax Beyond the Canon funded by the German Research Foundation.

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