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1 results

  • Chapter 8 - The President wide awake at 3:14 AM tweeting about CNN

  • from Part II - Non-Canonical Syntax in Register-Based Varieties of English
  • Edited by Sven Leuckert, Technische Universität Dresden, Teresa Pham, Universität Vechta
  • Book:
    Non-Canonical English Syntax
    Published online:
    23 December 2025
    Print publication:
    28 August 2025, pp 157-182
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  • Summary

    Two major conceptualisations of non-canonical syntax can be distinguished: constructions that represent a departure from ‘basic’ grammar, and constructions that represent a departure from typical or normal use. The present paper documents a case where both perspectives are important: the use of Non-Canonical Reduced Structures (NCRSs) in TV news broadcasts. NCRSs are long, elaborated utterances with no main finite verb, but many embedded phrases and non-finite clauses. As such, they represent a striking departure from the rules of basic/canonical grammar. However, these structures are also non-canonical in that they are rare or virtually unattested in most other registers – both spoken registers (including conversation) and written registers. Surprisingly, though, the corpus analysis shows how a heavy reliance on NCRSs is becoming the norm in certain types of TV news broadcasts, and thus in that sense, these structures are becoming canonical in that register.