Social meaning in a shifting grammatical landscape

The perception of nonagreement in existential there constructions

Bibliographic Data

ID3660923
AuthorsKenneth Hilton (0000-0001-8865-1163, Stanford University California U.S.A, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume22
Issue2
Pages233-249
Publication date2018-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sociolinguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-6441 • E-ISSN: 1467-9841
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/josl.12280
OpenAlexW2794942742
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited22

Although number nonagreement is typically stigmatized and relatively uncommon in English, it is the norm in existential there constructions. Specifically, the nonagreeing form there's + NPpl enjoys widespread use and acceptance - most speakers use there's more frequently than even plural forms (e.g. there are) to introduce plural nouns. Moreover, it has been argued that there's + NPpl is becoming more frequent and socially accepted over time. This study uses social perception experiments to analyze whether there's + NPpl is becoming the unmarked form for introducing plural nouns in the present tense. The results of these experiments demonstrate that (1) there's + NPpl is sociolinguistically distinct from other singular, nonagreeing forms (e.g. there is), (2) the use of there's + NPpl appears to lack any social stigma, even among listeners who describe themselves as very bothered by nonstandard language use, and (3) the prescriptively correct present tense plural agreeing form there are is perceived as somewhat hyperstandard

Epistemology · Existentialism · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Norm (philosophy · Noun · Perception · Plural · Present tense · Verb · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub