What else is there to say about existential <i>there</i> ?

Abstract There is a dearth of studies on existential there -occurrence in written Nigerian English. Based on the 400,796-word written sub-corpus of International Corpus of English Nigeria (ICE-Nigeria) and its 17 genres containing 510 files, this study examines existential there -clauses (ETCs) in written Nigerian English. The material was printed for data extraction and was revisited several times, focusing on distribution and frequency, syntactic positions, predicators, complements, and adjuncts. Systemic Grammar underlies the study. The data comprises 661 ETCs. The occurrence rate is 1.65 in 1000 words and is highest in Exams (2.62). ETCs are most frequent as independent clauses and least as subjects. While BE represents 98 percent of predicators, and indefinite pronouns account for 6.3 percent of complements, a ( n ) and no are the highest modifiers. 53 percent of ETCs derive from kernel sentences, but their 0.5 percent occurrence as complements of let -type imperative clauses questions existing theory and description.

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Publication Details

Journal
English World-Wide A Journal of Varieties of English
Published
2026-02-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.25029.ade
Primary Topic
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Type
article
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0.00
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article

What else is there to say about existential there ?

Roseline Abonego Adejare, Richard Oliseyenum Maledo
English World-Wide A Journal of Varieties of English
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
article

What else is there to say about existential there ?

Roseline Abonego Adejare, Richard Oliseyenum Maledo
article en

Abstract

Abstract There is a dearth of studies on existential there -occurrence in written Nigerian English. Based on the 400,796-word written sub-corpus of International Corpus of English Nigeria (ICE-Nigeria) and its 17 genres containing 510 files, this study examines existential there -clauses (ETCs) in written Nigerian English. The material was printed for data extraction and was revisited several times, focusing on distribution and frequency, syntactic positions, predicators, complements, and adjuncts. Systemic Grammar underlies the study. The data comprises 661 ETCs. The occurrence rate is 1.65 in 1000 words and is highest in Exams (2.62). ETCs are most frequent as independent clauses and least as subjects. While BE represents 98 percent of predicators, and indefinite pronouns account for 6.3 percent of complements, a ( n ) and no are the highest modifiers. 53 percent of ETCs derive from kernel sentences, but their 0.5 percent occurrence as complements of let -type imperative clauses questions existing theory and description.

English World-Wide A Journal of Varieties of English
Lagos State University (NG), Delta Air Lines (United States) (US)
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 47%
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
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