The rise of the going to future in Tyneside English

Abstract

This paper investigates the relative frequencies of the two major syntactic markers of future time expression (FTE),be going toandwillin the Diachronic Electronic Corpus of Tyneside English (DECTE). In particular, the rise in the frequency ofbe going towill be examined in the light of current theories of grammaticalisation. The various grammatical constraints that have been identified in the literature as determining the distribution ofwillversusbe going towill be investigated. It will be shown that a number of interesting changes have occurred within the fifty-year period covered by the data-set. In specific areas of grammar, contrasts have been maintained (e.g. first person versus the other persons in the favouring ofwill), strengthened (e.g. subordinate clauses versus main clauses in the favouring ofgoing to), weakened (e.g. the dominance ofwillin contexts of distal future reference) or even introduced (e.g. the apodoses ofif-clauses emerging as a syntactic niche for the favouring ofwill).

Future‐time reference in world Englishes

“…These authors further subdivide all non-motion verbs into telic, activity, and stative verbs. Yet, neither their analysis nor other studies (Denis & Tagliamonte, 2018;Fehringer & Corrigan, 2015) show any statistically robust effect of main verb type. Approaching verbal collocates from a different angle, by using 'distinctive-collexeme analysis,' Gries and Stefanowitsch (2004) do find consistent differences between will and BGT.…”

“…A key finding in Szmrecsanyi (2003, p. 316) is that BGT 'is much more frequent in syntactically dependent contexts than it is in independent contexts,' and this has been corroborated in later studies as well (Fehringer & Corrigan, 2015;Torres Cacoullos & Walker, 2009). This observation requires explanation, since the default expectation is that 'main clauses are innovative, subordinate clauses are conservative' (Bybee, 2001).…”

“…In Szmrecsanyi's (2003) study, a regional contrast emerges, with negative contexts favoring will in British English and BGT in American English. Torres Cacoullos and Walker (2009, 345) find a ‘slight’ effect of negatives favoring BGT in sociolinguistic interview data from Quebec, whereas Fehringer and Corrigan (2015) detect no significant differences between affirmative and negative environments in their Tyneside data. A similar lack of statistically significant difference is reported in Denis and Tagliamonte (2018).…”

Internal constraints on the use of gaan versus zullen as future markers in spoken Dutch

“…However, this explanation does not tie in with the observation, made by a number of researchers carrying out either diachronic or apparent-time studies, (e.g. Tagliamonte 2013, Fehringer andCorrigan 2015), that this syntactic constraint is emerging over time -a development which may be somewhat surprising, as it goes against the general trend of obsolescent variants lingering on in subordinate clauses (see e.g. Bybee 2002).…”

Identity in the London Indian diaspora: Towards the quantification of qualitative data

“…The Urban Dictionary online provides the following examples of this colloquial use of proper :I was proper tired after spending the day out.‘I'm proper hungery [sic! ]’‘This food is proper good.’Pre‐verbal use of proper is attested in the North East of England, see Fehringer and Corrigan (, p. 211).…”