three is company?

Three is company?On the use and characteristics of augmentation in English absolutes

Nikki van de PolKU LeuvenFWO - Flanders

Structure of the talk• Theoretical background

• The absolute construction• The early history of augmentation

• Data – Methodology• Research questions• Data• Methodology

• Results• Conclusion• References

Theoretical background

The Absolute Construction (AC)(1) The public legal obstacle having been removed, however, caution required that the final lifting of the

ban depend upon the Law Society changing its rules. (BNC, Solicitors' partnerships: the law in practice. 1992)

(2) But with Niki and Andre working at the ministry of finance, what else could I do? (Leuven Drama Corpus, The Duel, 1968)

• non-finite construction• predicate + (pro)nominal subject• predicate = participle (prototypically) or noun/NP, adjective/AdjP, adverb/AdvP,

prepositional phrase, infinitive• Two main types: augmented: introduced by a preposition (in PDE typically

with(out)) (2) or unaugmented: not introduced by a preposition (1)• wide range of semantic relations with the matrix clause often similar to those

expressed by finite (subordinate) adverbial clauses

The early History of Augmentation• If in OE and especially in ME a specific meaning needs to be stressed,

a relevant preposition is added to the absolute.

• These so-called augmented absolutes have more specific and restricted meanings than unaugmented absolutes and the introductory preposition functions as a kind of conjunction.

• After: anteriority: ... after which Solempnyte fynysshed an honorable feest was holden within the great Halle of Westmynster... (The new chronicles of England and France 1516)

• Upon: short-time anteriority: …at whiche tyme uppon the more knowledge had, ye wolde assemble al the noble men… (PENN, letters to Surrey, 1520-1528)

• Before: posteriority: And if upon Examination it shall appeare that any of the aforesaid Goods were carried out unlesse for Exportation or before sufficient Security given for their Exportation… (PENN, Statutes VII, 1695-1699)

A Brief History of Augmentation (2)

• According to the literature, there were more than 20 different prepositions being used as augmentor in ME (full list in Visser 1973).

• With-absolutes were used since OE and expressed manner/accompanying circumstance

• With: manner/accompanying circumstance: …he stant by-fore þe jugge, witis heed enclined, wit his ægen icast adoun,… (Helsinki corpus, Rievaulx's De Institutione Inclusarum, 1420-1500)

Data – Methodology

Research Questions

• Although augmented ACs tend to be simply described as ‘regular’ (unaugmented) ACs preceded by a preposition, there appear to be several differences -- subtle as well as more striking -- between the two types (Kortmann 1995).

• Therefore the current presentation will investigate1. how augmentation developed in ModE and PDE2. how the choice between augmented and unaugmented ACs

correlates with the following factors• i. ease of processing, as transpires from coreferentiality preferences (Kortmann

1995: 213) • ii. occurrence in various registers• iii. the semantic relation with the matrix clause (temporal, causal, etc.)• iv. degree of productivity

3. Whether there is any broader linguistic importance to the phenomenon of augmentation

Methodology• Corpus-based research• EModE + LModE (1500-1914)

• most registers: PENN parsed corpora of English • poetry: personal selection of poems• near spoken language (LModE only): direct speech tagged

fragments from the Old Bailey Corpus

• PDE (1968-1994)• most registers: BNC• Drama: Leuven drama corpus

• Search methods• For Penn: used the corpus’s parsing system; searched for AC-

tags and filtered out wrong codings manually• For the others: read the entire subcorpus and filtered out ACs

manually

DataEModE (1500-1710) LModE (1700-1914) PDE (1960-2005)

Religious writing 310,725 115,728 931,123

Fiction 112,438 65,626 469,583

Law 115,621 65,748 344,408

Narrative non-fiction 754,972 417,463 743,684

Science and handbooks

334,019 204,992 479,355

Drama 110,078 70,338 159,777

Poetry 82,867 81,951 142,234

(near)spoken English / 211,037 340,924

9621 ACs in total (3484 for EModE, 2153 for LModE and 3984 for PDE)

Coreference• Semantic identity between the AC subject and an element

of the matrix clause (3) or the entire preceding discourse (4)

(3) A group of children, their dirty faces streaked with tears, clung to her tattered gown. (BNC, Crown in darkness,1991)(4) So they were browghte yn and rede. That done, one of them was gyven to the knyghte marshalles man,… (PENN, Troubles of Mownt, 1555)

Basic semantic relations• Purely adverbial (i.e. reason (5), condition, concession, anteriority,…)

(5) These are the things that we have both missed out on over the last few years, both of us working at all times. (BNC, Kylie Minogue: the superstar next door. 1989)

• Elaboration (includes addition and exemplification) i.e. additional context is provided without any specific adverbial relation being stressed

(6) Of the land he had surrendered, all the Essex land and Lavenham (Suff.) went to the queen and her feoffees, with the rest of the Suffolk land going to John Howard. (BNC, Richard III, 1991)

• Accompanying circumstance (contains simultaneity, vaguest type of adverbial relation and therefore a sort of bridging subtype)

(7) The lights changed and the truck pulled off with Chase trying to keep his balance and looking thoroughly bemused. (BNC, Angel Hunt, 1991)

Results

The development of augmentation

EModE LModE PDE0

50

100

150

200

250

Augmented and unaugmented ACs EModE-PDE

Nor

mal

ized

freq

uenc

y n

= 10

0,00

0 7%22%

44%

4%1%

1%

• Strong increase (p<0.001) of the relative frequency of with-augmented ACs vs. unaugmented ACs • Other augmentation types (e.g. after, before) are all but lost• Possible reason: grammaticalization of with from specific augmentor into semantically empty absolute marker. (van de Pol & Cuyckens 2011)•ACs with other augmentors probably came to be seen as wrongly formulated finite subordinate clauses with ellipsis (‘After silence commanded’ sounds better as ‘After silence had been commanded’)

The development of augmentation• The grammaticalization

theory is supported by the fact that PDE with-augmented ACs can express the exact same range of semantic relations as their unaugmented counterparts. (cf. also Stump 1985:13 & Kortmann 1995)

• This was not yet fully the case in EModE and the with-AC semantics were probably even more restricted before that.

unaugmented ACs with-augmented ACs0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Semantics PDE ACs mixed

result

reason

goal/purpose

posteriority

manner/accompanying circumstance

manner

elaboration

contrast

condition

concession

anteriority

accompanying cir-cumstanceunaugmented ACs with-augmented

ACs

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Semantics EModE ACs

mixedresultreasongoal/purposeposterioritymanner/accompanying circumstancemannerelaborationconditionconcessionanteriorityaccompanying circumstance

Despite-augmentation• About the only other augmentor still available in PDE seems to be one

that was not present in previous periods and thus relatively new ‘despite’

(8) Nevertheless, despite this work spanning almost half a century, it can be understood as forming a coherent and systematic theory. (BNC, Public law and political theory, 1992)

• It is perhaps not surprising that it is the meaning that is situated highest in the cline of semantic specificity/informativeness (Kortmann 1991: 121) that should sometimes require a more semantically specific augmentor again

• Indeed, even with-augmented ACs usually are accompanied by the adverb ‘even’ to support their concessional interpretation

(9) Complex component testing even with ATE available can take hours. (BNC, Artificial intelligence techniques for improving aircraft maintenance efficiency. 1991)

Augmentation and coreference

unaugmented with-augmented0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Augmentation and coreference in PDE• With-augmentationoccurs much more often (p<0.001) in cases where there is no coreference relation between the AC subject and an element of the matrix clause. As such, it seems with-augmentation helps to increase ease of processing when the connection to the matrix clause is looser

• The same tendency can already be observed for ModE


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Augmentation and coreference in LModE


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Augmentation and coreference in EModE

Augmentation and register

0%40%80%

Augmentation and register in EModE

religious writing

fiction law narrative non-fiction

science and handbooks

drama poetry (near-) spoken

language

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Augmentation and register in LModE

religi

ous w

riting

fictio

nlaw

narra

tive n

on-fic

tion

scien

ce an

d han

dboo

ksdra

mapo

etry

spok

en la

ngua

ge0%

40%80%

Augmentation and register in PDE

unaugmented with-augmented

Apart from the steady increaseof the proportion of with-ACsthe most interesting developmentis that the registers that originallydisplayed the highest with-ACfrequencies, are the mostconservative in PDE, showing thehighest proportion of unaugmentedACs

In addition (near-) spokenEnglish also appears to have a marked preference for with-augmented ACs

Augmentation and register

written language (near-) spoken language0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Augmentation and channel in LModE

written language spoken language0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Augmentation and channel in PDE

• If we look at the comparison between channels, i.e. written versus spokenregisters, we can indeed see a marked preference for with-augmented ACs in (near-) spoken English• This may again tie in with the fact that ‘with’ as ‘absolute marker’ enhances ease of processing to a certain degree. Such a trait is more useful in spoken language where the hearer cannot go back to adjust a faulty interpretation in the way a reader can.• Although the difference is less outspoken in PDE, it is highly statistically significant (p<0.001) in both periods.

Augmentation and semantics

• With-augmented ACs started out as slightly more innovative in their use of mere elaboration & border adverbial meanings (p = 0.055)

• In PDE with-ACs represent more adverbial relations than unaugmented Acs (p<0.001)

• Probably the development started with with-ACs because they originally had a manner/accompanying circumstance meaning

• In PDE speakers/writers may prefer the more accessible augmented variant to express a meaning they more typically associate with conjunction initiated finite subordinate adverbial clauses


20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Augmentation and semantics in EModE

elaborationaccompanying cir-cumstanceadverbial


20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Augmentation and semantics in LModE



20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Augmentation and semantics in PDE


Augmentation and semantics (2)


10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Cause and other semantic relations in EModE


10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Cause and other semantic relations in LModE


10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Cause and other semantic relations in PDE • We can observe the change of with-ACs

into expressing purely adverbial relations probably most clearly in the causal domain

• (p<0.001 for the with-ACs increase in causal use between LModE and PDE andfor the fall in causal use of unaugmentedACs in the same period)

Augmentation and productivity• With respect to productivity both variants are about equally

productive and remain so over the three periods under investigation (as based on a preliminary count using MI scores)


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Augmentation and productivity in EModE


10%

20%

30%

40%

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60%

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90%

100%

Augmentation and productivity in LModE


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

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90%

100%

Augmentation and productivity in PDE

Augmentation and the gerund/postmodifier network• Overlap with ‘regular’ prepositional postmodifiers

(10) He showed us a toy that he had made as a boy: a little square box of painted wood with a glass panel (NO AC, prepositional phrase as postmodifier)

(11) He showed us a toy that he had made as a boy: a little square box of painted wood with a glass panel on top

(12) He showed us a toy that he had made as a boy: a little square box of painted wood with a glass panel set in the top (BNC In the echoey tunnel. 1991, original example)

(13) He showed us a toy that he had made as a boy: a little square box of painted wood, a glass panel having been set in the top (prototypical unaugmented AC)

TYP

ICA

L A

C U

SE

PO

STM

OD

IFIE

R L

IKE

US

E

Augmentation and the gerund/postmodifier network• Overlap with gerunds

(14) I don't claim to know that God exists, I only claim that he does without my knowing it, and while I claim as much I do not claim to know as much; indeed i cannot know and God knows I cannot. (Leuven drama corpus, Jumpers, 1972) (NO AC, gerund)(15) Life was fraught enough for the Stevenses as it was, with the constant care of Jennifer, without her adding to their problems. (BNC False impressions. 1990)(16) Nobody walks out of there without me saying, Yes it's good for you. (BNC, interview, 1991)(17) He loved to wake and hear the large house stirring, with himself enfolded in it. (BNC, Van Gogh: a life, 1990)(18)The first part of Gaudium et Spes returns again and again to the theme of Christ, the New Adam who fully reveals man to man, himself making man's vocation clear (BNC Modern Catholicism: Vatican II and after 1991)(19) … but it had never occurred to her, she being neither proud nor ashamed of it, nor even thinking it very out of the ordinary. (BNC, King Solomon's carpet, 1992) (prototypical unaugmented AC)

TYP

ICA

L A

C F

OR

M

GE

RU

ND

LIK

E F

OR

M

Augmentation and the ing-form/modifier network augmentation increases overlap with postmodifiers and gerunds and creates fuzzy boundaries construction is less isolated and thus less likely to disappear than in other Germanic languages such as Dutch where usually only the postmodifier overlap exists

Conclusion

Conclusion• With-augmentation is the only frequently used type of

augmentation in PDE because with has become a semantically empty AC-marker capable of expressing any semantic relation unaugmented ACs can

• Semantically, augmented ACs have in fact come to express purely adverbial meanings more often than their unaugmented counterparts over time

• However, the higher the semantic specificity of the AC the higher the chance of a different, more specific augmentor showing up (e.g. despite) even in PDE

Conclusion (2)• There are signs that with-augmentation increases ease of

processing as augmentation is used more often in the spoken language and in cases where the AC is more distant from the matrix because of lack of coreferentiality.

• There is virtually no difference in productivity between augmented and unaugmented ACs

• The overlap of ACs with gerunds and postmodifying clauses; enhanced by the phenomenon of augmentation, makes the construction less isolated and thus less likely to disappear than in other Germanic languages such as Dutch

References• Berent, G. P. 1975. 'English absolutes in functional perspective'. In R.E. Grossman et al. eds. Papers

from the parasession on functionalism: A paravolume to CLS 20, 10-33.• BNC: The British National Corpus, later part 20th century, 100 m words. Department of Linguistics,

University of Oxford. (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/corpus/index.xml? ID=intro).• Helsinki Corpus of English Texts: Diachronic and Dialectal, 750-1700, 1.5 m words.

Department of English, University of Helsinki. Third edition, (http://icame.uib.no/ hc/).• Huber, Magnus; Nissel, Magnus; Maiwald, Patrick; Widlitzki, Bianca. 2012. The Old Bailey Corpus.

Spoken English in the 18th and 19th centuries. www.uni-giessen.de/oldbaileycorpus, (access 04-06-2013).

• Kortmann, B. 1991. Free adjuncts and absolutes in English: problems of control and interpretation. London & New York: Routledge.

• Kortmann, B. 1995. 'Adverbial participial clauses in English'. In M. Haspelmath & E. König eds. 1995. Converbs in a cross-linguistic perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 189-237.

• PPCEME: The Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Early Modern English, 1500-1710, 1.7 m words. Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania. CD-ROM, first edition, (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/hist-corpora/).

• PPCMBE: The Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Modern British English, 1700-1914, 1 m words. Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania. CD-ROM, first edition, (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/hist-corpora/).

• Stump, G. T. 1985. The semantic variability of absolute constructions. Dordrecht: Reidel.

References (2)• van de Pol, Nikki and Cuyckens, Hubert. 2011. Present-day English absolutes: a multiple-source

construction? Presentation at the International workshop on Gradualness in change and its relation to synchronic variation and use. Pavia, 30-31 May 2011.

• Visser, Frederikus Theodorus. 1973. An historical syntax of the English language. Leiden: Brill.

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