Development of the Subject of BE going to in Grammaticalisation from the 1820s to 2010s in Comparison with BE about to

Michiko Yaguchi

doi:10.51094/jxiv.243

##article.authors##

Michiko Yaguchi Institute of Arts and Science, Kanazawa University https://researchmap.jp/read0072170-

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.243

キーワード:

BE going to、 BE about to、 grammaticalisation、 subject、 semi-auxiliary

抄録

This study clarifies the development of the subject of BE going to in relation to its increase in frequency from the 1820s to the 2010s by analysing the Corpus of Historical American English. To effectively demonstrate this, BE about to is also analysed. Whilst the use of BE going to in the passive and there constructions is attested to in the early stage of its grammaticalisation towards becoming a semi-auxiliary, this study suggests that there is a possibility that its use with the what subject was also a sign of initial stage of grammaticalisation. It will be also shown that subjects with simple content appeared earlier than content-rich ones. This study also demonstrates that the frequency order of these subjects in current English corresponds to the chronological order of when the earliest token appeared in the corpus.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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