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The ICE metadata and the study of Hong Kong English
Author(s) -
HANSEN BEKE
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/weng.12282
Subject(s) - modal verb , metadata , modal , linguistics , verb , world englishes , computer science , bridging (networking) , geography , artificial intelligence , world wide web , philosophy , computer network , chemistry , polymer chemistry
Studies of L1 varieties of English have shown that the modal domain has been reorganised over time. In particular the frequency of the core modal verb must has decreased, while the frequency of the semi‐modal verb have to has increased. As an area of ongoing change in L1 varieties, the modal and semi‐modal verbs have also attracted the interest of linguists working in the field of L2 varieties. However, the virtual absence of diachronic corpora for most ESL varieties presents a challenge for this area. This paper meets this challenge by exploring the potential of the neglected ICE metadata for bridging the diachronic gap in world Englishes. Information from the ICE‐Hong Kong (ICE‐HK) metadata is used to construct an apparent‐time scenario of the use of must , have to and ( have ) got to in the spoken section of ICE‐HK.