Changing English by Markku Filppula Juhani Klemola Anna Mauranen Svetlana Vetchinnikova

Author:Markku Filppula,Juhani Klemola,Anna Mauranen,Svetlana Vetchinnikova
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2017-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

4.4Bar and spare

Bar and spare are both found with the from-less complement in the CNZNE data but not the BNC data. In total, NZE yields six from-less tokens of bar, and one of spare, all of which are in the 1995–98 sub-section. Table 6 presents the relevant data.

Table 6: Bar and spare in NZE (1995–98 and 2010–12)

CNZNE 1995–98 CNZNE 2010–12

bar + NP + -ing 0.1 (6) –

bar + NP + from + -ing 1.2 (51) 1.0 (59)

spare + NP + -ing 0.0 (1) –

spare + NP + from + -ing 0.1 (4) 0.0 (2)

Numbers outside brackets represent normalised frequencies per one million words; bracketed numbers represent raw figures.

Expanding the search to take in the entire BNC and COCA reveals that the spare + NP + -ing pattern is in fact also to be found in both BrE and AmE, as attested by the following tokens.

(18) I have fetched in enough buckets of coal this afternoon to spare you having to carry them in tomorrow. (BNC, fiction, HGE 1179)

(19) His slouch hat spared him being cut by the mirror shards raining down around him. (COCA, FIC, 2008)

With AmE generally not conducive to the from-less complement, the fact that there are several other examples of this type in COCA – as well as the issue of from-less passivisation in NZE, BrE, and AmE (§3.1) – separates spare from the other verbs here, and makes it a worthwhile topic for further research. In the meantime, it will not be classified here, due to low numbers and incomplete data.

Bar + NP + -ing, also the subject of an expanded search of the BNC and COCA, is found only in NZE – with a fairly convincing six tokens – and in AmE. One token, from NZE, is given below.

(20) Wellington lawyer Tony Ford said the law barred relatives claiming exemplary damages after a death. (Evening Post 1996)

The bar + NP + -ing pattern could be a candidate for scenario (b): ETE innovation. A complication, however, is presented by the fact that bar + NP + -ing is found only in the 1995–98 section, and not the later section of the CNZNE. Future research will have to determine whether the case for innovation can be upheld.

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