The 'intrusive as'-construction in South Asian varieties of English.

ABSTRACT It has been observed (Nihalani et al. 1979; Yadurajan 2001) that Indian English differs from other varieties of English in that it allows 'intrusive as' in complex-transitive constructions, especially with the verbs call, name and term. However, the construction is not restricted to Indian English, but represents a pan-South Asian feature that is gaining ground in the written language across South Asian varieties of English. This paper will provide a corpus-based analysis of the forms, functions and distribution of 'intrusive as'-constructions in South Asian Englishes, and consider possible motivations for this innovation in verb complementation patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]