Written Corpus: Grammatical Item Analysis: NOT

The Corpus

The data for the written corpus was obtained from the internet. Five websites were viewed and retrieved, and all of them are related to hobbies. The websites are, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Fishes, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Articles (issues on fishing), New Gunung Online: Gear Page, Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia and Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page.

The pages from Anuar’s Fishing Site, which are Fishes and Articles (issues on fishing) were viewed and retrieved on 21st July 2004 from http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/ olympia/martial/70/ and http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/article1.html respectively. Fishes deals with the types of fish which can be found and caught in Malaysia. It also explains the details of the fishes and how to fish them. Articles (issues on fishing) on the other hand, consists of two articles; Sportsfishing for Dummies talks about the types of fishing equipment, and Is fishing a game or just a hobby or just to cari makan?? talks about issues of game fishing. New Gunung Online: Gear Page was viewed and retrieved on 21st July 2001 from http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbourside/83/. It deals with the types of necessary equipment and gear suitable for jungle trekking in Malaysian climate and weather. Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia was viewed and retrieved on 22nd July 2004 from http://www.bikehash.freeservers.com. The web site offers details of the various mountbiking trails found in Peninsular Malaysia. Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page was viewed and retrieved on 25th July 2004 from http://members.tripod.com/%7EKerg/dan/index.html. The page tells the history and experience of a martial artist, and how he got to be who he is today.

Grammatical Item Analysis

For the grammatical item analysis, the negation aspect is selected for both spoken and written corpora, which is not. Not, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1989), basically has three meanings:

1.   a.  used with auxiliary verbs and modals to for the negative; often contracted to (n’t) in speech or informal writing,
     b.   used with non-finite verbs to give the negative,

2.   a.  used after believe, expect, hope, trust etc. instead of a clause beginning with that or containing a negative verb,
     b.  used to indicate the negative alternative after questions with are you, do you etc.,

3.  a.   used to reply in the negative part or all of a question, and
     b.   used to deny the significance of the following word or phrase.

Written Corpus

In the written corpus, NOT occurs 53 times and the contracted form N’T occurs 21 times. It is expected that NOT to have a high frequency in the corpus, it being written texts. Similar to what we see in spoken corpus, NOT collocates mainly with modals, be-copula and auxiliary verbs do in the corpus (35 occurrences).

1.         Preceded by modals

3	Betis in Kelantan. As such, the track may	not	remain unsealed for much longer. Start
12	Liquid from inside the garment will	not	evaporate out as usual, because the humidity
15	I was greatly frustrated that I could	not	control the fight and I truely understood
17	drag is set too high, the free spool may	not	function properly on these reels

2.         Preceded by be-copula

4	try to be smart! These lines are	not	only extremely thin but also very strong,
5	the body temperature well, but its	not	a good choice when its hot.
6	climbing. Therefore climbing gears are	not	necessary in order to reach the summit
10	a man brings his fist to your face is	not	the same moment the blow lands,
13	Tilapia is not a good fighter thus it is	not	considered as a game fish. Besides
14	ground. Goretex lining on boots is	not	recommended. This lining will cause
18	reason, GAME. Again, if you think it is	not	a game, you are wrong. Calculate
21	clothings is not recommended and is	not	suitable in Malaysian equatorial rainforest
27	is one more important thing. Tilapia is	not	not a good fighter thus it is not considered
31	photograph Goretex clothings is	not	recommended and is not suitable
32	that deduces one’s self defence ability is	not	determined by age, sex, and size ; How
35	You might say that the Toman is	not	good eating, has a flat taste and
36	bites and scratches. For people who are	not	familiar with moving through thick
37	causing it to smell bad. Most rucksack are	not	made of waterproof material. Waterproof
42	coastal waters to the open ocean, but is	not	found along the Pacific coast of North
43	bushings within the reel housing. This was	not	designed for nothing, the exclusive features
45	and caught. Then the whole thing is	not	a game fishing. Real freshwater game
48	is dead upon retrieval. This is definitely	not	a game or sport. But if you used a
49	(over what was simple enough, but its	not	important in this story … just so that
53	be a dirt track on your right. The turning is	not	obvious, it’s been a long time since I’ve

3.         Preceded by auxiliary verbs do

2	voice, but also the authorities too do	not	really care We lack game fishermen. The
9	means exhaustive; for example, it does	not	include Sungai Long. If you have information
22	10-20 lb.test). It’s important that you do	not	stray too far from the recommended specs
23	lever drag reel, it’s important that you do	not	stray too far beyond the recommended
25	with this big mama. After all, its does	not	only come with quality, but its also come
28	mountaineering activity in Malaysia does	not	involves climbing. Therefore climbing
34	maps available for sale to the public do	not	yet cover the whole of peninsular Malaysia
38	his case, sparring with an opponent did	not	mean physical contact. He felt that
39	remarked that the point system does	not	represent one’s ability in controlling street
41	a house and a fork on the trail that I did	not	see, and on another occasion, an exhausted

As spoken corpus, sometimes NOT in the study is also found to be followed adjectives, nouns or noun phrase, usually as compliments to the be-copula. For instance:

1.         Followed by Adjectives

4	try to be smart! These lines are	not	only extremely thin but also very strong,
6	climbing. Therefore climbing gears are	not	necessary in order to reach the summit
13	Tilapia is not a good fighter thus it is	not	considered as a game fish. Besides
14	ground. Goretex lining on boots is	not	recommended. This lining will cause
21	clothings is not recommended and is	not	suitable in Malaysian equatorial rainforest
31	photograph Goretex clothings is	not	recommended and is not suitable
32	that deduces one’s self defence ability is	not	determined by age, sex, and size ; How
35	You might say that the Toman is	not	good eating, has a flat taste and
36	bites and scratches. For people who are	not	familiar with moving through thick
49	(over what was simple enough, but its	not	important in this story … just so that
53	be a dirt track on your right. The turning is	not	obvious, it’s been a long time since I’ve

2.         Followed by Nouns or Noun Phrase

5	the body temperature well, but its	not	a good choice when its hot.
10	moment a man brings his fist to your face is	not	the same moment the blow lands,
18	reason, GAME. Again, if you think it is	not	a game, you are wrong. Calculate
27	there is one more important thing. Tilapia is	not	a good fighter thus it is not considered
45	and caught. Then the whole thing is	not	a game fishing. Real freshwater game
48	is dead upon retrieval. This is definitely	not	a game or sport. But if you used a

Besides that, NOT is also followed by verbs in base form when used with a modal or auxiliary verb do. We can see instances of this in:

3	Betis in Kelantan. As such, the track may	not	remain unsealed for much longer. Start
12	Liquid from inside the garment will	not	evaporate out as usual, because the humidity
15	I was greatly frustrated that I could	not	control the fight and I truely understood
17	drag is set too high, the free spool may	not	function properly on these reels
2	voice, but also the authorities too do	not	really care We lack game fishermen. The
9	means exhaustive; for example, it does	not	include Sungai Long. If you have information
22	10-20 lb.test). It’s important that you do	not	stray too far from the recommended specs
23	lever drag reel, it’s important that you do	not	stray too far beyond the recommended
34	maps available for sale to the public do	not	yet cover the whole of peninsular Malaysia
38	his case, sparring with an opponent did	not	mean physical contact. He felt that
39	remarked that the point system does	not	represent one’s ability in controlling street
41	a house and a fork on the trail that I did	not	see, and on another occasion, an exhausted

However, different from the spoken corpus, in the written corpus, NOT is also used to deny the importance of the following word or phrase, or to form the negative quite significantly. We can see this in:

1	(sheet 76) is indispensible. Even so,	not	all the trails are marked on the map
8	driftnets, especially in the Pacific but	not	here in Malaysia, but use of these
7	ample shade and ensure a pleasant, even if	not	hardcore, ride. The main trail is
11	for commercially for its fine flesh but	not	here in Malaysia, which is often sold smoke.
19	All in the name, of? Certainly	not	self-defence. Indeed everyone knows
24	a joker tried to make money out of this (	not	the same ones who fought with me, weird huh?)
26	all the trails are marked on the map, and	not	all the marked trails still exist.
30	- Very cheap – Light -	Not	dangerous – Suitable for group
33	these plants, gloves is essential, but	not	always. Hat / Cap: photograph
40	if you prefer the more adventurous way by	not	hiring a guide, a map and compass
44	and make them pay for their crime	not	by fines or jail sentences but make them
47	trekker in Malaysia, they prefer	not	to bring tent. A flysheet (large plastic sheet)
51	- Strong wind may blow away lights -	Not	adjustable – Very cheap – Light
52	while sparring with a partner. I controlled	not	using the hook even though he only

We can see from the analysis that NOT when used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, are not contracted. Perhaps, because the corpus is in written mode, the authors tend to utilize formal mode of using NOT. It is also possible that, as in spoken corpus, NOT is used its non-contracted form to stress the negative form of the statement.

The contracted form of NOT, N’T, occurs 21 times in the written corpus, and is found to occur with only auxiliary verb do: 13 times with do, four times with did and four times with does. As the spoken corpus findings, the study also found that, because N’T is used with auxiliary verb do, it is followed by base form of verb. For example:

1	My advice, if you become snagged,	don’t	pull with the rod. Rather, point the rod
2	regardless of size, age and sex. The bigger	don’t	always win. In sports karate a
3	the new braided, super thin diameter lines.	Don’t	try to be smart! These lines are not
4	individual to choose which one is better.	Don’t	leave the empty cartridge in the jungle.
5	of trails. However, be careful that you	don’t	get lost if you are unfamiliar with the
6	on to determine if a martial art is good, I	don’t	want to learn something and train so
7	backpacking trip. Sleeping Mat	Don’t	leave without them. This gear is
8	surprisingly technical singletrack trails. I	don’t	know the name of this park, and the directions
9	over the surface. The flesh is delicious, i	don’t	think so, and is often sold under its Hawaiian
10	Polo club, and through some pig farms. I	don’t	remember much else of the trail, except
11	obstacles to overcome. Better still, you	don’t	know if you will ever get a bite
12	them, you have to back off and untangle.	Don’t	try to tear through the vine, or it will
13	reel and 7. Ugly Stick Tiger. Hey why	don’t	I tell you a little bit about my
14	to be so hard (quite unbreakable) but I	didn’t	really feel pain. I convinced myself that
15	The native people ( orang asli )	didn’t	wear much except for ornaments.
16	too! Why??” At that time I thought I	didn’t	train hard enough so I went back to
17	photograph The third guy I countered	didn’t	turn out properly, I started panicking
18	the fist. Dan speaks from experience. He	doesn’t	claim to know everything, he insists
19	department (being fodder for mosquitoes	doesn’t	count), the RRI area has sufficient
20	in Malaysia, especially the orang asli ,	doesn’t	even have any navigation tools (map
21	kickboxing. I’m learning something that	doesn’t	depend on age for the ability to protect

A similar patter can be observed in both spoken and written corpora. It is interesting to find that NOT is only contracted with auxiliary verbs do, does and did. Perhaps the speakers are more comfortable to contract NOT with the most common form of contraction in Malaysian English. Although we also see that NOT being used in non-contracted form with auxiliary verbs do, does and did, we do not see contracted form N’T being used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs.

Conclusion

In the grammatical item analysis, negation NOT and the contracted form N’Tis selected for analysis. The most interesting finding in this section is that NOTcollocates with only grammar function words, such as modals, be-copula orbe-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, but not with any specific content word. This could suggest that the topic of discussion in written corpus is varied and of different genres. Therefore, patterns of collocation of content words are inadequate to be analysed.

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