Speaker
Description
This study proposes which separate descriptions or pulled-together descriptions, of semantically similar constructions, are better for English–Japanese dictionary learners (EJDLs.).
Corpora have made it possible to describe the detailed information of phraseological units in EJDLs under the entry of the main component. This means that each phraseological unit is described separately in EJDLs, but not as a cross-reference, although it is semantically similar to a phraseological unit. This study aims to show the pulled-together description of a newly observed construction with a causative use [make O to do], [have O do], [let O do], and [get O to do] whose semantic interpretations are given priority over grammatical correctness based on the data obtained from corpora and the corpus pattern analysis research method.
Numerous studies have regarded the construction [make O to do] (e.g., * There are several points which made me to think so.) as unacceptable. However, corpora data show that the construction [make O to do] is observed in both spoken and written English (e.g., He finally chose the third option because the first option would make him to lose his pension right. (COCA, 2006, ACAD)).
Research has demonstrated that the newly observed construction [make O to do] implies a weaker causative than the original construction and that it is formed by an analogy of the construction [get O to do]. Also, the other constructions—[have O to do], [let O to do], and [get O do]—are observed in the corpora; they are semantically different from the original constructions. When the original constructions change, the compelling forces that they have become weakened. These findings demonstrate that the pulled-together descriptions of newly observed constructions are user-friendly, especially for beginner-level English–Japanese learners.
