Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-23-2024
Volume
6
Issue
3
Abstract
In this paper, I describe a recently observed grammatical construction that the YGDP has termed "lonely transitives" (LonTs). Used by some speakers of English in informal contexts, the construction consists of a traditionally transitive verb used without an object. LonTs can only be used if there is sufficient prior linguistic or situational context to recover the null object and if the sentence retains the same meaning as the verb used with an overt object. Using the results of a survey I conducted, I discuss the syntactic distribution of LonTs and suggest that it may be much wider than previously established in respect to a variety of syntactic factors.
Recommended Citation
Do, Linda. 2024. I have a survey on lonely transitives! Do you want? Yale Working Papers in Grammatical Diversity 6 (3), 1–20.