Author:

Abstract:

This study is part of the project "Exploring probabilistic grammar(s) in varieties of English around the World" and explores the underlying constraints that shape syntactic variation in new varieties of English. More precisely, my research is concerned with the probabilistic constraints that influence the choice between the s-genitive (e.g. my brother's wife) and the of-genitives (e.g. The wife of my brother) and the extent to which these constraints are socially or regionally malleable. Situated thus at the cross-roads of research in sociolinguistics, probabilistic grammar and World Englishes, I aim to tease apart the extent to which speakers' grammatical knowledge differs across a wide set of varieties of the same language.