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In:Extravagant Morphology: Studies in rule-bending, pattern-extending and theory-challenging morphology
Edited by Matthias Eitelmann and Dagmar Haumann
[Studies in Language Companion Series 223] 2022
► pp. 207–232

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They’re proing it up hardcore

An analysis of the V it up construction

 | University of Mainz
Published online: 16 March 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.223.09sch
Abstract
The V it up construction expresses an exuberant or excessive performance of the activity denoted by the verb. The present study uses data from Twitter and the Urban Dictionary to analyse current uses of V it up. It employs the frameworks of extravagance (Haspelmath 1999/Keller 1994), expressiveness (Zwicky & Pullum 1987) and gradual transitivity (Hopper & Thompson 1980) to assess the range of heads that partake in the construction and the way it marks these as verbs. Results show that the construction is productively used with verbs converted from various word-classes and even with phrases in the open slot. The construction’s ability to take these extravagant heads goes hand in hand with its penchant for imperatives and progressives, which emphasise the action and are thus excellent verbalisers.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Properties of the V it up construction
    • 2.1Linguistic description of V it up and its components
    • 2.2Speakers’ intuitions about V it up
  • 3.Extravagance, expressiveness and transitivity
    • 3.1Extravagance
    • 3.2Expressiveness
    • 3.3Transitivity and prototypicality
  • 4.Data and method
  • 5.Analysis: V it up on Twitter
    • 5.1Promiscuity with regard to input category & input basehood
    • 5.2Transitivity and prototypicality
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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