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In:Register and Discourse through the Lens of Corpus Linguistics
Edited by Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, Dolores González-Álvarez and Esperanza Rama-Martínez
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 127] 2026
► pp. 71–90

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Chapter 3
A diachronic register approach to complex prenominal modifiers

 | University of Bremen
 | University of Helsinki
 | University of Helsinki
Published online: 24 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.127.03cal
Abstract
This chapter examines the emergence and recent diachronic development as well as the global spread of complex prenominal modifiers that involve (i) a comparison (e.g., better-than-average health) and (ii) an adjective plus infinitival clause (e.g., easy-to-understand guidelines) in two short- and long-term diachronic corpora of American English that are balanced for register. We show that these modifiers are a register feature of popular magazines and news reporting — registers subject to economy of expression and densification. Additionally, data taken from a corpus consisting of web-based newspapers and magazines from 20 different varieties of English suggest that complex premodifiers have also spread globally to comparable registers, but to varying degrees: they are much more frequent in South-East Asian Englishes than in African Englishes, which we explain by a substrate effect.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and methodology
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Long- and short-term diachronic development and register differences
    • 3.2Spread of complex prenominal modifiers to comparable
      registers in World Englishes
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (35)
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