Lexis-Grammar Interface in Chinese English: A Corpus Study of the Prototypical Ditransitive Verb GIVE

Abstract

This chapter investigates the lexis-grammar interface of Chinese English from a corpus linguistics perspective. Utilizing large-scale corpus data collected from an online discussion forum, we have focused on the prototypical ditransitive verb GIVE and examined its verb-complementation patterns, direct object slots collocates, the relationship between complementation patterns and collocates, and the relationship between collocates and verb tense. Using WordSmith Tools (Scott 2004, WordSmith tools (Version 4.0) [Computer software]. Oxford University Press, Oxford), we have randomly sampled and analyzed 500 uses of GIVE in the dataset. The results suggest that there exist certain associations between specific lexical items and grammatical constructions in Chinese English, an Expanding-Circle variety of English. The relationship between lexis and grammar, or lexicogrammar, as illustrated in the case study of GIVE, can be taken as a concrete instantiation of structural nativization in local varieties of English.