English Coordinate Constructions: A Processing Perspective on Constituent Order

Description

Drawing on extensive corpus-based research, this book explores the nature and behavior of coordinate constructions in three case studies, covering order in copulative compounds, binomials (bare phrases), and more complex phrases. Historically, research on order in coordination has concentrated on so-called irreversible binomials, but Lohmann's research places significant focus on reversible ad hoc coordination and also presents a detailed comparison between irreversible and reversible binomials. This book uses empirical analyses to explore a wide range of factors, ranging from pragmatic to phonetic influences on the ordering process. It also offers readers a processing perspective on the results obtained, and puts forth a processing explanation for the characteristics of irreversible binomials. The book is ideal for researchers and advanced students working in English linguistics, syntax and psycholinguistics, and due to the multifactorial methodology applied it will be of particular interest to quantitatively minded corpus linguists.

Arne Lohmann is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of English at Universitat Wien, Austria.

'A tour de force of modern variation linguistics - and a cutting edge demonstration of how processing affects the ordering in coordinated structures along phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic parameters.' Britta Mondorf, Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz, Germany