Natural syntax of Belfast English (I) subject-verb agreement, (II) imperative
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2009
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Adam Mickiewicz University
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Abstract
The framework of this paper is Natural Syntax initiated by the author in the tradition of (morphological)
naturalness as established by †Willi Mayerthaler and Wolfgang U. Dressler.
Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory. The naturalness judgements are couched in
naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or “axioms”) listed at the beginning
of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in what are known as deductions, the
chief components of each being a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment
of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignment are distinguished and related
to Henning Andersen’s early work on markedness.
Natural Syntax is exemplified here with two syntactic phenomena found in Belfast English
and partly deviating from Standard English: (I) subject-verb agreement, (II) the imperative. The
language data are taken from Henry (1995), and close attention has been paid to the (TG-
)interpretations adduced in that monograph.
Some recent work related to Natural Syntax: Orešnik (2007a-e, 2008a-c) and Orešnik and
Cvetko-Orešnik (2009, only work written in English is mentioned).
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Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, vol. 45.2 (2009), pp. 107-143