Definite article usage across varieties of English

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the extent of definite article usage variation in several varieties of English based on a classification of its usage types. An annotation scheme based on Hawkins and Prince was developed for this purpose. Using matching corpus data representing Inner Circle varieties and Outer Circle varieties, analysis was made on approximately 14,000 tokens of the in private dialogue, academic writing and reportage. It was found that the different percentages of usage types in the three registers across the varieties were statistically significant. However there was no clear trend that could be observed in either group. The trends of the varieties, collectively or individually, were so unpredictable that in the end there was no evidence of an overall trend. Register, consistent with Biber et al.'s claim, was instead found to be a better predictor of the usage types of the in the varieties. The classification of the varieties as either Inner or Outer Circle was therefore shown to be less influential in the quantitative variation of the morpheme than previously thought. Nevertheless, a subsequent qualitative analysis showed that the structural and situational categories in the Outer Circle did contain a number of marked usages of the, presenting themselves as the clearest cases of variation in the data.

Emergence of New Predictors Projecting the Definite Article Variability: Evidence from Nigerian English

“…Variability of the definite article system in Nigerian English has received no attention in literature. In the light of Wahid's (2013) and important work on the variability of the definite article usages across eight different varieties of English, it is important to provide insights into Nigerian variety, at the same time testing more than two predictors of register and variety. Until Wahid, many studies have either provided small datasets from which generalisations are made (see Lamidi, 2007, for the definite article in Nigerian English; Platt, Weber and Ho, 1984, for Singaporean and other Asian Englishes) or have focused on issues of omission, underuse, overuse, and misuse (Ionin, 2003;Lamidi 2007).…”

“…Until Wahid, many studies have either provided small datasets from which generalisations are made (see Lamidi, 2007, for the definite article in Nigerian English; Platt, Weber and Ho, 1984, for Singaporean and other Asian Englishes) or have focused on issues of omission, underuse, overuse, and misuse (Ionin, 2003;Lamidi 2007). Having provided some evidence from emerging varieties (Kortmann and Szmrecsanyi, 2005;Kortmann, 2006;Wahid, 2013;Akinlotan, 2016a;, identifying factors which influence the choices should suffice. In other words, apart from the established factors representing register and variety, which Wahid (2013) further attests to, it is important to find out whether the definite article usage relate to factors other than the often-tested ones.…”

“…Having provided some evidence from emerging varieties (Kortmann and Szmrecsanyi, 2005;Kortmann, 2006;Wahid, 2013;Akinlotan, 2016a;, identifying factors which influence the choices should suffice. In other words, apart from the established factors representing register and variety, which Wahid (2013) further attests to, it is important to find out whether the definite article usage relate to factors other than the often-tested ones.…”

“…The study which Akinlotan expands (2017) shows that previously untested predictors of presence/absence of premodification and determiner structure, animacy and class of the head noun, and syntactic function of the NP, account for variability in the definite article usage in our corpus. In fact, these newly tested predictors show stronger influence than a well-known predictor of register (Biber et al, 1999;Wahid, 2013). …”

“…An important syntactic system in the noun phrase (NP) is the definite article system. The definite article system in emerging varieties of English, such as Nigerian and Indian, have been shown to manifest varying degrees of variability in their usages, given different contexts (Platt, Weber and Ho, 1984;Wahid, 2013;Akinlotan, 2016b;. In addition to the fact that little has been done in quantifying this phenomenon, too little number of predictors explicating the scenarios where we might find certain definite article usages in different but specific contexts in emerging varieties has also been put forward.…”