Topicalization in Asian Englishes - Forms, Functions, and Frequencies of a Fronting Construction (Paperback)

Shortlisted for the 2020 ESSE Book Award in English Language and Linguistics This monograph is the first comprehensive study of topicalization in Asian second-language varieties of English and provides an in-depth analysis of the forms, functions, and frequencies of topicalization in four Asian Englishes. Topicalization, that is, the sentence-initial placement of constituents other than the subject, has been found to occur frequently in the English spoken by many Asians, but so far the possible reasons for this have never been scrutinized. This book closes this research gap by taking into account the structures of the major contact languages, the roles of second-language acquisition and politeness as well as other factors in order to explain why topicalization is highly frequent in some varieties such as Indian English and much less frequent in other varieties such as Hong Kong English. In addition to exploring major and minor forces involved in explaining the frequency of topicalization, the forms and functions of the feature are assessed. Central questions addressed in this regard are the following: Which syntactic constituents tend to be topicalized the most and the least frequently? Which discourse effects does topicalization achieve? How can we approach topicalization methodologically? And, lastly, which influence do language processing and production have on topicalization?

General

Imprint:	Routledge
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Routledge Studies in World Englishes
Release date:	September 2020
First published:	2019
Authors:	Sven Leuckert
Dimensions:	234 x 156mm (L x W)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	240
ISBN-13:	978-0-367-66233-2
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Sociolinguistics Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Psycholinguistics > Bilingualism & multilingualism Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure > General
LSN:	0-367-66233-7
Barcode:	9780367662332

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!