The Indirect Object in Educated English Brittany A
Running head: INDIRECT OBJECT USE BY EDUCATED ENGLISH SPEAKERS Kemp The Indirect Object In Educated English Brittany A. Kemp California State Polytechnic University, Pomona INDIRECT OBJECT USE BY EDUCATED ENGLISH SPEAKERS Kemp This study examined the use of dative alternation in formal and informal spoken discourse to determine how specific verbs, were used in conversations by educated native speakers. Instances of use were collected as notebook data by the primary researcher, and the data were then categorized. This study analyzed verbs that occurred in both the double object and prepositional constructions, and investigated the effects of pronouns and heavy noun phrases. Furthermore, it considered instances of dative alternation in complex forms such as relative clauses, if clauses, and wh- questions, and described these forms as they occurred in natural, unsolicited speech. This research contributes to the preexisting body of research by providing data on natural indirect object use by educated native speakers of American English. 1 Introduction Generally, grammars define an indirect object as “a second noun object that tells us to whom or for whom the action expressed in the verb is being carried out.” (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1983, p. 361) Ditransitive verbs take both indirect and direct objects in a sentence, and dative alternation, sometimes referred to as dative shift or movement, is the variation of indirect object placement within those sentences. In the double object, or postverbal, construction, the indirect object is situated immediately after the verb (Ex. 1). In the prepositional construction, the indirect object is positioned after a preposition (Ex. 2). (In both examples, Jane is the indirect object.) (1) Mary gave [Jane]IO [the cat]DO.
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