A Corpus-based Multivariate Study On English Dative Alternations

Under the theoretical framework of construction grammar,a multivariate study was conducted to explore factors restricting English dative alternations based on authentic data from fiction and news sub-corpora in COHA and multifactorial analysis method,which aims to reveal the nuances between ditransitive constructions and prepositional dative constructions in actual language use.After the selection and annotation of 14 variables,the main factors influencing the dative choices and their importance ranking are visualized by R software.Major findings are as follows:(1)There is a significant difference between frequency distributions of the two dative variants in fiction and news genres.Specifically,compared with fiction,dative alternations are less frequently used in newspapers.The number of ditransitive constructions is noticeably higher than that of prepositional dative constructions in both sub-corpora.(2)Dative constructions guided by distinct dative verbs are unevenly distributed in frequency.Among the nine dative verbs,give is most typically occurring in dative alternations,followed by show and send.Words like ask,pay,and leave are less frequently used.(3)According to CIT and CRF analyses,there are six significant factors affecting the dative choices,which are ranked in the order of importance: recipient length,recipient type,recipient definiteness,theme type,theme definiteness,and the year.The use of ditransitive constructions and prepositional dative constructions varies around 1977;When recipient is a personal pronoun,ditransitive constructions are preferred;When recipient is long,prepositional dative constructions tend to be applied;When theme belongs to demonstrative,indefinite,or impersonal pronoun,the two dative variants are applied in roughly equal proportions.From a constructionist point of view,this study examines the alternating use of the two dative variants in actual contexts,which has great implications for future research.For linguistic research,this study will provide empirical support for the investigation of differences between ditransitive constructions and prepositional dative constructions while conveying the concept of “ownership transfer”.For grammar teaching,the analysis of significant factors affecting English dative alternations can provide inspiration for English teaching of this aspect in the future,which will facilitate the grammar teaching mode with a shift in focus from linguistic form to constructional meaning.