The progressive in 19th-century English: A process of integration(54 Language and Computers)

The present volume is an empirical, corpus-based study of the progressive in 19th-century English. As the 1800s have been relatively neglected in previous research, and as the study is based on a new cross-genre corpus focusing on this period (CONCE = A Corpus of Nineteenth-Century English), the volume adds significantly to our knowledge of the historical development of the progressive. The use of two separate measures enables an accurate account of the frequency development of the progressive, which is also related to multi-feature/multi-dimensional analyses. Other topics covered include the complexity of progressive verb phrases and the distribution of the construction across linguistic parameters such as clause type. Special attention is paid to progressives that express something beyond purely aspectual meaning. The results show that the progressive became more fully integrated into English grammar over the 19th century, but also that linguistic and extralinguistic parameters affected this integration process; for instance, the construction was more common in women’s than in men’s private letters. Owing to the wide methodological scope of the study, it is of interest to linguists specializing in corpus linguistics, language variation and change, verbal syntax, the progressive, or the linguistic expression of aspect, either in synchrony or diachrony.

Table of Contents:
List of tables and figures Preface Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Material and data Chapter 3. The frequency of the progressive in 19th-century English Chapter 4. M-coefficients and factor score analysis Chapter 5. Morphosyntactic variation in the verb phrase Chapter 6. Variation with linguistic parameters Chapter 7. The not-solely-aspectual progressive: An analytical approach Chapter 8. Concluding discussion References Appendix 1. Primary material: The CONCE corpus Appendix 2. Text-level codes used in CONCE Appendix 3. Tests for statistical significance

Review :
"Smitterberg’s study provides an extremely interesting, detailed and well-written overview of the development of the progressive in nineteenth-century English. The analysis is admirably clear, systematic and convincing, and the book is an important contribution not only to the history of the progressive, but to English historical linguistics as such." - in: English Studies, Vol. 89, No. 3 (June 2008) "Smitterberg’s book deserves a prominent place in studies of the progressive… The quantitative approach taken in this study will no doubt appeal to a corpus-linguistic audience but its findings should also serve as a useful source of information for any scholar who is interested in diachronic change and cross-genre variation." - in: Journal of Historical Pragmatics 8:1 (2007) "One is immediately struck by the meticulous way in which the book has been thought out and structured. Each new topic is introduced with reference to previous studies on the subject, and the reader is carefully guided though what are often highly complex issues in such a way that one can only admire Smitterberg’s methodological rigour. … extremely valuable to scholars of English grammar, especially those working in the field of tense and aspect… [a] fascinating volume. … With this volume we are undoubtedly edging towards a more scientific and thorough knowledge of the subject." - in: International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 11:4 (2006) "Smitterberg’s The progressive in 19th-century English is a superb account of the development of the progressive, its different forms and uses in Late Modern English English (EngE). For the nineteenth century the development of the passive progressive and the progressive form of ‘be’ have been recorded, but so far there has been no comprehensive corpus-based study of the progressive using periods, genre and gender as variables. The author’s findings are corpus-based and are related to previous research throughout. The basic line of argument is that quantitative developments reveal where and to what extent the progressive became increasingly integrated into EngE. The book’s wide scope will make it a convenient and reliable reference work and should stimulate further research … a remarkable and very valuable contribution to the historical study of the English language." - in: The Linguist List 16.1798 (Wed. June 8, 2005)