The University of Melbourne

Department of Linguistics & Applied Linguistics

Honours Thesis 2006

The Subjunctive
in
Australian English

Jill Vaughan

Supervisor: Dr. Jean Mulder

 Acknowledgements

I would like to offer my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Jean Mulder, for her support
and advice over the year. Her wisdom has been invaluable and her patience unending.

I would further like to thank the staff and students of the Department of Linguistics and
Applied Linguistics and the Department of French, Italian and Spanish Studies whose
encouragement and guidance have been greatly appreciated. My thanks are also extended
to the staff at the Baillieu Library, the Paris VII Bibliothèque des Lettres et Sciences
humaines and the Bibliothèque publique d’information, who were extremely
accommodating of all my requests.

Finally, I am greatly indebted to family and friends for much needed and appreciated
help, understanding and tea breaks.

ii
Table of Contents

1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Focus ....................................................................................................................2
1.2 What is the subjunctive?.......................................................................................2
1.2.1 Semantic classification of forms ..............................................................2
1.2.2 Syntactic classification of forms ..............................................................3
1.2.3 Alternatives to the subjunctive.................................................................5
1.2.3.1 Periphrastic alternants ..........................................................5
1.2.3.2 The indicative .......................................................................6
1.3 Overview ..............................................................................................................6

2 Literature review...............................................................................................................7
2.1 Historical perspectives..........................................................................................7
2.2 Approaches to the subjunctive..............................................................................8
2.3 Relevant research..................................................................................................9
2.3.1 British and American English ..................................................................9
2.3.2 Australian English..................................................................................11
2.3.3 New Zealand English .............................................................................12
2.3.4 Colonial lag or Americanisation? ..........................................................13
2.4 Summary ............................................................................................................15

3 Methodology ...................................................................................................................16
3.1 Corpora ...............................................................................................................16
3.1.1 The ICE-AUS corpus .............................................................................16
3.1.2 Other corpora .........................................................................................17
3.2 Limitations of corpus data ..................................................................................18
3.3 Research questions .............................................................................................19
3.4 Specific issues ....................................................................................................20
3.4.1 Trigger expressions ................................................................................20
3.4.2 Ambiguity & disambiguation ................................................................21
3.4.3 Multiple subordination...........................................................................22
3.4.4 Expressions with non-mandative meaning ............................................22

4 Results of corpus analysis...............................................................................................23

4.1 Suasive expressions ............................................................................................23
4.1.1 Subjunctives vs. modals.........................................................................24

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 4.1.2 Subjunctives vs. indicatives ...................................................................26
4.1.3 Other periphrastic alternants ..................................................................27
4.1.4 to-infinitives ...........................................................................................27
4.1.5 Variant patterning according to lexeme .................................................27
4.1.6 Inventory of verbs in subjunctive form..................................................28
4.1.7 Omission of that .....................................................................................28
4.2 Subordinators......................................................................................................29
4.2.1 Subjunctives vs. modals.........................................................................32
4.2.2 Subjunctives vs. indicatives (& ambiguous forms) ...............................35
4.2.3 Other periphrastic alternants ..................................................................35
4.2.4 Variant patterning according to lexeme .................................................36
4.3 Distribution of modal auxiliaries........................................................................36
4.4 Distribution of indicatives ..................................................................................37
4.4.1 Levelling of subjunctive/indicative forms .............................................37
4.5 Passive vs. active subjunctives ...........................................................................38
4.6 Negation .............................................................................................................39
4.7 Contextual subjunctives......................................................................................40
4.8 Hypercorrection..................................................................................................40
4.9 Formulaic subjunctives.......................................................................................41
4.10 Suppose and wish .............................................................................................42
4.11 The subjunctive across text types .....................................................................43
4.11.1 Spoken vs. written texts .......................................................................44
4.11.2 Register ................................................................................................45
4.11.3 Traditional associations........................................................................45
4.12 Summary ..........................................................................................................46

5 Diachronic & synchronic analyses..................................................................................47

5.1 Diachronic comparisons .....................................................................................47
5.2 Synchronic comparisons.....................................................................................48
5.2.1 British English........................................................................................49
5.2.2 American English...................................................................................50
5.2.3 New Zealand English .............................................................................51
5.2.4 Interaction of four varieties....................................................................51
5.2.5 Predictions..............................................................................................52

6 Accounting for corpus findings ......................................................................................54

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 6.1 General trends.....................................................................................................54
6.1.1 Attitudes towards the subjunctive ..........................................................54
6.1.2 Psycholinguistic factors .........................................................................55
6.2 Australian approaches to language.....................................................................55
6.2.1 Prestige models & standards ..................................................................56
6.2.2 Australian approaches to communication ..............................................57
6.3 Individual variation ............................................................................................58
6.3.1 Age 58
6.3.2 Socioeconomic background ...................................................................58
6.4 Appropriateness..................................................................................................59
6.5 Summary ............................................................................................................60

7 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................61

References..........................................................................................................................64

Appendices.........................................................................................................................68

v
1 Introduction

I’d be careful about using people’s

names if I were going to write on toilet
walls!

Well I’d be careful about using this word

if I WAS going to write on toilet walls!
‘Were’ is only for ‘you’, ‘we’ & ‘they’, not
‘I’! Think about it!

Actually, it’s technically correct – the

verb is in the subjunctive mood, like as
in ‘so be it’. The subjunctive is pretty
much dead in English though so
maybe they should ‘think about it’!
(Toilet wall, Cinema Nova, Carlton 12/06/04)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the subjunctive in modern English is on its

deathbed. It has been described variously as “a vestigial survival” (Strang 1968), “a
rather feeble and restricted device” (Foster 1976:220), “a literary trick” (Jespersen 1962:
294) and even “probably simply a conspiracy” (Coffey 2000). Most grammar books
published before 1975 concur: the subjunctive will soon no longer be. And yet, as early
as the 1950s linguists had begun to highlight some curious goings-on in American
English. Barber (1964: 133) notes “a surprising reversion” during and after World War II
to older subjunctive forms and by the 1970s many studies were being carried out into
subjunctive usage in American and British English, most indicating that the subjunctive
was not so moribund as previously thought (e.g. Johansson 1979, Haegeman 1986).
Interesting divergences were found to exist in its use in the two varieties.
It would not be until Peters’ work in 1998 that the status of the subjunctive in
Australian English would be examined in detail. This study offered clear evidence of the
subjunctive in this variety also, but revealed that Australian usage differs from that of
both American and British English.

1
1.1 Focus

This thesis explores the status of the subjunctive in all its manifestations in contemporary
Australian English. The scrutinising of data retrieved from the Australian component of
the International Corpus of English allowed for quantitative analyses of subjunctive
usage as well as a detailed investigation into the forms this usage takes. The study is
intended to be both diachronic and synchronic; corpus data is both compared with
previous findings on the use of subjunctive in Australian English and collated with data
from parallel corpora representing usage in other World Englishes (namely British,
American and New Zealand English). By examining not only cases where the subjunctive
is employed, but also cases where an alternative structure is attested, this study aims to
elucidate the factors influential in speakers choosing the subjunctive.

1.2 What is the subjunctive?

1.2.1 Semantic classification of forms

The subjunctive is a grammatical mood of the verb expressing what is imagined or

wished or possible. It denotes an action or a state as conceived, and not as fact. In
essence, it communicates some kind of subjectivity, conveying the speaker’s uncertainty
about the reality of an event, but its denotations are many and varied: it may be used for a
wish, a command, or an exhortation, such as “I recommend he be struck off”, or a
contingent, hypothetical, or prospective event (OED, quoted in Fowler 1965: 595) as in
“if I were Queen”.
Berk (1999:150) divides the uses of the subjunctive loosely into three categories:
the mandative, the volitional and the formulaic. Mandative subjunctives occur with an
exhaustive set of verbs, nouns and adjectives 1 , and express deontic modality:

(1) “[…] Before they left they demanded that Yiorgos the Apeface at least
pay for the octopus they had given him […]” (ICE-AUS W2F-
018(noone):22)
Volitional subjunctives occur for the most part with the verb to wish (e.g. “I wish she
were here”) and indicate counterfactuality. Formulaic subjunctives occur as the main verb

1
In this thesis, the term ‘mandative’ will be applied to the subordinate clause and to the subjunctive/variant
involved, while the term ‘suasive’ will refer to the verb, noun or adjective which governs the clause.

2
in a small set of ossified expressions, such as “come what may” and “long live…!”. To
this brief classification should be added those subjunctives that convey condition,
purpose and concession and are complements of a small group of expressions including
if, unless and lest:

(2) “[…] if there were an election next week, which way would they vote?”
(ICE-AUS S1B-027(A):173)

1.2.2 Syntactic classification of forms

In modern English, all but a few subjunctives are found in subordinate content clauses.
Those occurring in main clauses are fixed phrases, survivals from older varieties of
English and examples constitute, for the most part, a closed set. Subordinate content
clause subjunctives are comparatively flexible and productive.
Traditional grammar groups subjunctive forms into present and past subjunctives,
all verbs having a present subjunctive form identical to the infinitive or ‘base form’2, and
only the verb be retaining the past subjunctive (were). Present subjunctives have “no
concord with the subject, no backshifting of tense depending on the superordinate verb,
and no do-periphrasis in negative constructions” (Johansson & Norheim 1988: 27).
Huddleston and Pullum (2005) divide traditional grammar’s ‘present subjunctive’ into
three major categories:

(i) the subjunctive mandative construction:

(3) “Senator Evans is right to insist the human rights “lever” be a flexible
one” (ICE-AUS W2E-008(noone):54);
(ii) complement to one of a small set of subordinators (such as if, unless, lest
etc.) 3 ;
(iii) the exhaustive conditional interrogative:
(4) “[…]whether it be in infants, children or adults […]” (ICE-AUS W2B-
023(no one):203).

2
The ‘present subjunctive’ is therefore distinct from the indicative only with be and in the 3rd person
singular. Uses such as “it is important that we leave immediately” are ambiguous as in many varieties of
English the indicative is an acceptable alternative to the mandative subjunctive.
3
Huddleston and Pullum (2005: 1011) distinguish S-class subordinating conjunctions (whether,
interrogative if, that: corresponding to subordinators) and P-class subordinating conjunctions (conditional
if, though etc.: corresponding to prepositions). Since, for the purpose of this thesis, these two classes will
often be grouped together the more generic term ‘subordinator’ will be used to refer to all subordinating
conjunctions introducing content clauses.

3
 The authors employ the term ‘subjunctive’ to refer to a syntactic construction, a
clause that is finite but tenseless and contains the plain form of verb, rather than to refer
to an inflectional category. Therefore, what grammarians traditionally term the ‘past
subjunctive’ or ‘were subjunctive’, Huddleston and Pullum refer to as the ‘irrealis
were 4 ’, distancing this form from the subjunctives used in the three content clause types

listed above. This classification is surely more effective as it takes into account
differences in the syntactic behaviour characteristic of the two subjunctive subdivisions.
Unlike the ‘base form’ subjunctives, the ‘irrealis’ patterns distinctively with certain
subordinators 5 and it does not share its negation structure with other subjunctives, which

require a pre-posed not.

i.e. Irrealis were: I wish I weren’t so tall
‘Base form’ subjunctives: I request that you not be late
Thus, the irrealis expresses remoteness from factuality and be is the only verb in English
to be marked in this way.
For the purpose of the corpus interrogation undertaken in this thesis, both base
form subjunctives and irrealis were forms will be grouped under the ‘subjunctive’
heading. In the growing body of work that exists on ‘subjunctive usage’ in various
varieties of English, the irrealis has been analysed as a subjunctive form and so to depart
from this analysis would be to distance this work in some respects from previous
research, when parallels between this and other studies are valued and necessary to its
ultimate goal. To distinguish this analysis from terms used in traditional grammar though,
the irrealis will be referred to as the were subjunctive.
A corpus-based study benefits from clear and simple divisions among search
items. Accordingly, the ICE corpus will be interrogated for occurrences of expressions
that typically trigger subjunctive form (and not for the subjunctive forms themselves).
Such expressions divide naturally into a group of subordinators and a group of verbs,
nouns and adjectives occurring in mandative structures.

4
a modal, rather than syntactic, category.
5
Namely if and as if, subordinators most strongly marked for hypothesis.

4
1.2.3 Alternatives to the subjunctive

In none of the content clauses outlined above is the subjunctive compulsory. English has
two major variants of the subjunctive verb phrase: the periphrastic alternant and the
indicative.

1.2.3.1 Periphrastic alternants

Periphrastic alternatives to the subjunctive almost always involve the use of a modal
auxiliary in a ‘specialised modal-construction’ (Huddleston & Pullum 2005: 994),
whereby individual modals take on specialised meanings, distinct from their roles in main
clauses.

(5) “[…] Johnston was unusual in insisting that 'history, biography and
textuality' must always combine in such research.” (ICE-AUS W2A-(no
one):20)
Subjunctives and modals are not always semantically equivalent in these contexts; the
range of modals available allow for nuances in meaning that are not always
communicable with the single subjunctive form. It should be noted that in some analyses,
the modal paraphrases are included in the subjunctive category (e.g. Stern, Bolitho &
Lutton 1993) on the basis of semantic, and not syntactic, classification. This approach is
not be adopted in this work.
Included in the group of periphrastic alternants is the small set of what will
henceforth be referred to as quasi-modals.

(6) “[…] And even while I wondered whether I ought to turn back, I
thought of my father's arriving at the school […]” (ICE-AUS W2F-013(no
one):18)
These constructions behave in a very similar manner to the modal auxiliaries but they
differ in their grammatical form: they generally consist of 2 or 3 words and almost
always end in ‘to’. Unlike the modals, quasi-modals inflect fully. The class of quasi-
modals is not yet closed as it is a relatively new addition to English grammar and its
boundaries are not yet rigid (Berk 1999: 138). Quasi-modals are often termed semi-
auxiliaries, but the former is employed in this thesis to emphasise the group’s partial
admittance into the modal category, which lends itself to the investigation at hand. In
much of the discussion in this work the modal auxiliaries and the quasi-modals are

5
treated together as subjunctive paraphrases, and so references to the modal category
should generally be understood to include the quasi-modals.

1.2.3.2 The indicative

In many varieties of English, the indicative is a perfectly acceptable alternative in

contexts where the subjunctive is traditionally found 6 . Often the semantic force of the
utterance is made sufficiently clear by other elements to render a subjunctive form
superfluous.

(7) “ […] I think that young women particularly are demanding that the [sic]
those changes are made […]” (ICE-AUS S1B-037(E):82)
However, since the subjunctive and the indicative are only distinct with be and in
3rd person singular forms, many cases are ambiguous as to form (but generally not
as to meaning).

1.3 Overview

Chapter two highlights important concepts and findings from previous research carried
out in areas pertinent to the current study and situates this thesis in the body of work on
subjunctive usage in Australian, American, British and New Zealand English. In chapter
three, details are provided of the methodology of the investigation undertaken, while
chapter four sets out the results of the corpus interrogation. Chapter five uses the findings
presented in the previous chapter to effectuate first an analysis into change in Australian
subjunctive usage in the past decades, and second a survey of regional variation in the use
of the subjunctive. Chapter six offers explanations for the findings of the corpus-based
study. In the final chapter, the themes of chapters four, five and six are drawn together to
construct a complete picture of the status of the subjunctive in contemporary Australian
English.

6
Övergaard (1995:61) notes that the indicative is not admissible in AmE after suasive verbs, nouns and
adjectives.

6
2 Literature review

Before embarking upon an analysis of the subjunctive in contemporary Australian

English it is vital to situate the current study within the body of work pertaining to the
subjunctive both in Australian and in other Englishes and within work carried out in the
more general field of Australian English grammar. This will illuminate pertinent
approaches to issues within subjunctive usage and can thereby help to guide the direction
this thesis will take.

2.1 Historical perspectives

The modern-day subjunctive can be traced back to two reconstructed Proto Indo-
European moods: the subjunctive and the optative. In Proto Indo-European, the
subjunctive was used to designate hypothetical events and situations contrary to fact,
while the optative expressed wishes and hopes. These moods were closely related and in
many Indo-European languages they have been combined. The subjunctive in Modern
English is reflective of certain five thousand year-old processes in verb inflection for the
optative mood.
Need and Schiller (1990: 323-5) outline the nature and forms of the subjunctive in
Old English, explaining that it represented non-factuality and was morphologically rich.
However, the same processes that ate away much of Old English morphology effectuated
the reduction of the subjunctive paradigm, resulting in the gradual appearance of forms
indistinguishable from the indicative. Mustanoja (1960: 452) suggests that all formal
differences between the indicative and the subjunctive were lost by 1500. Middle English
pre-modals developed into modal auxiliaries which facilitated the avoidance of potential
indicative and subjunctive ambiguity, and provided more effective means for specifying
modality. As a result, subjunctives decrease considerably in Middle English, greatly
outnumbered by the periphrastic alternants. Stein (1990: 237-8) posits two major
directional changes in the development of the subjunctive since this time. The early

7
Modern English period is marked by an increase in subjunctive usage. This is later
countered by a renewed decrease in usage, albeit at a slower pace, a trend echoed by
much prescriptivist commentary in recent times (see 2.2). As Rydén (1979: 16, cited in
Övergaard 1995: 37) comments, “the development of a syntactic pattern is not always
unidirectional”. This observation is reinforced by the widely acknowledged mandative
subjunctive ‘revival’ in American English during the 20th century (see 2.3.2).

2.2 Approaches to the subjunctive

The subjunctive is a phenomenon which incites surprisingly impassioned commentary

from many sources: John W. Peters extols the virtues of subjunctive “magic” in his 1987
work In defence of the subjunctive while W. Somerset Maugham was so moved as to
assert that “the subjunctive is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of
its misery” (1949: 323). Even Fowler, known for his enthusiasm for the preservation of
‘distinct forms’, states that “assuredly no one will ever find it either possible or
worthwhile to do so [fully analyse the English subjunctive] now that the subjunctive is
dying” (1965: 595). He further remarks that many subjunctives in contemporary English
are either ‘revivals’ “especially by poets, for legitimate enough archaic effect”,
pretentious and obsolescent ‘survivals’, or new ‘arrivals’ born of an age where “the
grammar of the subjunctive is not natural but artificial”. Needless to say, Fowler believes
the last two categories are to be discouraged.
Hudson (1993: 399) offers some suggestions as to why the subjunctive “is to
many people a bewildering, even threatening phenomenon”, citing, among other possible
explanations, its decline in hypothetical structures and the non-distinctive nature of its
forms. Some interesting commonplaces associated with the subjunctive are outlined by
Nichols in her 1987 work on the use of the suasive subjunctive among students at
Winona State University in Minnesota. She suggests that it is commonly believed that
“only people who read widely recognize and use the subjunctive” and that the
subjunctive “typically occurs in formal English” (1987: 140). These notions are clearly
related as formal language tends to be associated with higher levels of literacy. Nichols

8
also notes the volume of subjunctive commentary within certain circles, as “people who
consider themselves literate not only use the subjunctive but also talk about it” (1987:
140-1).

2.3 Relevant research

Particularly since the 1970s, studies have been carried out into the use of the subjunctive
in the two major ‘centres of gravity’ for English in the world today: British and American
English. Australian English at that time was not a fully institutionalised variety, but since
the publication of the Macquarie Dictionary in 1981it has become recognised as a
“nearly full centre” (Clyne 1995: 22) and linguists worldwide have taken increasing
interest in Australian English grammar. New Zealand English has undergone a similar
process of codification since the 1997 publication of the Oxford Dictionary of New
Zealand English. Schneider (2003) tracks the progression of AusE and NZE from the
time of their ‘foundation’ (or ‘phase one’ (2003: 244)) through to their current, and final,
stage of ‘differentiation’ (‘phase five’). This stage is characterised by the birth of new
dialects, a phenomenon increasingly attested in AusE particularly, and represents an
“explicit declaration of linguistic independence” (269) with these varieties distancing
themselves from previous exonormative orientations.

2.3.1 British and American English

Studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s on British and American usage (e.g. Johansson
(1979), Turner (1980)) began to dispel the myth that the subjunctive was moribund.
Writings on the topic up to that time had tended towards the gloomy, predicting the
imminent decline of the subjunctive, but these investigations showed its active and
productive use, particularly in American English where it seems to have had a revival,
with a reversion to earlier structures taking place during and after WWII.
In 1988, Johansson & Norheim published a comparison of data from the Brown
and LOB corpora and the results confirmed the surprising differences in the use of the
subjunctive in the two varieties. They found that the “mandative subjunctive is not only
more frequent in American English than in British English but also has a wider range of

9
application” (1988: 31). Modal constructions with should were overwhelmingly preferred
in the British corpus. The were subjunctive, on the other hand, appeared to be used more
or less to the same extent in both corpora, and was widely attested, easily outnumbering
indicatives in hypothetical-conditional clauses. Johansson & Norheim also suggest that
the mandative subjunctive may be on the rise in British English, but hesitate to make any
definite claims without consulting more recent corpora.
Övergaard’s (1995) extremely comprehensive diachronic and synchronic analysis
of the two Englishes covers the subjunctive’s development throughout the 20th century,
with data analysed from texts sampled at various intervals (1900, 1920, 1940, 1960, and
1990). She confirms Johansson & Norheim’s conjecture that mandative subjunctive
usage is growing, constituting a reversion back to the morphologically marked
subjunctive which can be described variously as “paradigmatic levelling, re-
generalisation, or even re-grammaticalisation” (1995: 89-90). She further explains that
the mandative probably reached its peak in AmE between 1940 and 1960 7 . The “rapid

and enormous development of the mass media after the Second World War” (1995: 51)
meant that American texts were dispersed throughout Europe, leading to a renewed use of
the non-inflected subjunctive in British English in the decades that followed. Övergaard
also notes the differing uses of the indicative in the two varieties: “indicative verb forms
in dependent/complement clauses in mandative sentences have been recorded only in the
BrE corpora” (1995: 67) Indicatives are not admissible as mandative subjunctive
alternants in American English.
Hundt (1998b) compares data from four parallel corpora (for AmE, BrE, AusE
and NZE) in order to create a ranking of the varieties in subjunctive usage and to ask
whether the mandative subjunctive is still restricted to formal contexts. She also
addresses the perceived revival of the mandative subjunctive in British English and finds

7
Övergaard (1995: 45) attributes the mandative subjunctive ‘revival’ mainly to the large numbers of
German, Italian, Polish, Lithuanian and Bohemian immigrants in the US at the time of large-scale
industrialisation and rapid growth of Mid-Western cities. Immigrants tended to form separate groups within
society, each with distinct languages. In many of these languages the subjunctive was a common feature,
and so it can be assumed that, in learning English, immigrants favoured the old subjunctive form. The
subjunctive is attested in some pre-existing American ‘vernacular’ dialects, and the combination of the two
would make the morphological subjunctive the predominant choice in the whole area, motivating the
nation-wide ‘revival’ to the mandative subjunctive.

10
that the usage in this variety has not yet caught up with American English, but suspects
that the spread of the subjunctive in AmE is slowing down after the rapid increase in the
first half of the century (1998b: 163). Further developments in British English include
the increased use of the indicative as an alternative to the subjunctive in mandative
sentences. Hundt also notes the beginning of a stylistic neutralisation of the mandative
subjunctive, with forms occurring in a wide range of text types.

2.3.2 Australian English

Peters’ 1998 investigation into the status of the subjunctive in Australian English, The
Survival of the Subjunctive: Evidence of its Use in Australia and Elsewhere, is based on
data from the Australian ACE corpus (1986) as well as the Brown and LOB corpora and
results from a 1993 elicitation survey of Australian usage. Peters’ work is the single most
important resource on the use of the subjunctive in AusE and the one to which this thesis
owes much of its direction. Parallel findings from Peters’ work and this study will allow a
diachronic analysis of the development of the subjunctive in Australian English in recent
times.
Peters divided her corpus-based research into an investigation of the subjunctive
following each of a set of 15 suasive verbs (and equivalent nouns) and 4 suasive
adjectives associated with the mandative subjunctive, and an investigation of the
subjunctive in adverbial clauses expressing condition, concession and purpose. Her
findings revealed widespread usage of the mandative subjunctive across a range of text
types, and the variety of verbs found in subjunctive form point to its productive nature.
She also notes the possibility of substituting the subjunctive with a modal paraphrase in
many cases. The corpus results for subjunctive in adverbial clauses showed substantial
use of the were subjunctive and, to a lesser extent, of the base form. Peters calls attention
to a possible stiffening of the were subjunctive into if x were, reflected by some evidence
of hypercorrect uses. The modal paraphrases, however, were by far the most frequently
chosen alternant in adverbial clauses, displaying a much wider range than with the

11
suasive expressions. The indicative was found to be another widely attested alternative in
this category.

Peters compares these results with Brown and LOB data and finds that Australian
usage of the mandative subjunctive is more in line with data from the American corpus,
while frequencies of the non-mandative subjunctive in ACE are significantly lower than
those in both Brown and LOB, suggesting that the subjunctive in hypothetical conditional
clauses is on the wane in AusE. Results from an elicitation test conducted through the
newsletter Australian Style in 1993 provided valuable sociolinguistic information,
particularly indicating that the hypothetical subjunctive was more popular among older
speakers, while the mandative subjunctive showed no such graduation according to age.

Australian English grammar is situated with respect to other World Englishes in

Collins’ 2003 work Australian English Grammar: Fact or Fiction?. In analysing various
features of AusE grammar, Collins is able to judge that the differences between this
variety’s grammar and the grammars of AmE and BrE are of “a relative rather than
absolute nature” (2003: 1). He notes that in some areas, Australian English follows the
example set by American English, while in others British and Australian English take the
lead. His findings indicate that while Australian English has to some extent moved away
from the grammatical norms of British English, this does not necessarily herald a large-
scale Americanisation of the variety. Peters (2001) puts forward some explanations for
the unique features of Australian English grammar, suggesting that Australian
communication is marked by a preference for more direct interaction and that speakers
tend to avoid structures that seem “unnecessarily formal or stuffy” (2001: 176). She also
points to written language in Australian English increasingly reflecting spoken styles, and
comments that “the rapprochement between writing and speech is a force in the continual
vitalisation of written style”.

2.3.3 New Zealand English

While Peters’ 1998 work highlights the intermediate stance of Australian English
between British and American usage, Hundt’s (1998a) research into the another major
Southern Hemisphere variety, New Zealand English Grammar: Fact or Fiction?, asks

12
whether there were any discernable differences between AusE and NZE in this regard.
She finds that even though the frequencies in Australian corpus data (ACE) would appear
to indicate a more advanced revival of the subjunctive in this variety, application of the
chi-square test reveals that the difference is not statistically significant. She notes that
indicatives occur in mandative contexts in NZE as they do in AusE, and that negation is
“catching on” in NZE, as in AusE and BrE, no doubt through the influence of AmE
(1998a: 96). Furthermore, she reports that speakers now seem to have an awareness that
modals, particularly should, sound British, and that the mandative subjunctive sounds
American. Hundt calls attention to the need for diachronic data in New Zealand English,
but her analysis of resources available leads her to comment that:

“While there is no statistically significant difference between the two

Southern Hemisphere varieties in the use of subjunctives, the two differ in
their relation to the centre of gravity for this change: AusE has come closer to
the pattern observed in AmE of the 1960s than NZE.” (1998a: 97)
Collins and Peters’ 2004 investigation into the notion of an ‘antipodean standard’ reveals
many identical grammatical trends in AusE and NZE, but points to a closer association
between NZE and BrE than between AusE and BrE, probably due to a Australia’s more
diverse immigration history. The different levels of BrE influence in the two varieties
make it less likely that they could be seen as constituting a common standard (608).

2.3.4 Colonial lag or Americanisation?

Hundt (1998a) outlines a pluricentric model of English, specifying the influences

individual varieties exert upon others. As regards the four varieties discussed in this
thesis, AmE and BrE are depicted as having a relationship of mutual influences, all the
while affecting the development of the younger varieties, AusE and NZE. AusE and NZE
also influence each other and to a lesser extent act upon BrE and AmE, exercising a post-
colonial influence.
Görlach (1987) investigates the appropriateness of using the term ‘colonial lag’ to
account for grammatical features in certain varieties of English. He addresses the notion
of the alleged conservative character of American English and other ‘colonial’ varieties

13
in attempting to ascertain the directionality of the development of linguistic features. His
findings show that the widespread belief that “the speech of emigrant communities is
particularly conservative, preserving certain pronunciations, forms and words long after
their obsolescence in the mother country” (1987: 41) is not necessarily reflected in the
usage of various varieties. In fact, many linguistic developments in varieties such as
Australian English are characteristic, not of retention, but of innovation, and in fact can
be seen as more progressive than British and American English. There is a good deal of
evidence to regard the ‘mother countries’ as more retentive than the ‘daughter’ societies.
It must be noted, however, that the syntax of World Englishes is comparatively
homogenous, with differences in the use of the mandative subjunctive among the few
syntactic variables attested in the corpora. The term ‘colonial lag’ was popular among
certain authors as it played to the commonplace that “colonials were not quite up-to-date
and not conversant with modern metropolitan developments” (1987: 55). However, the
phenomenon is largely a myth, and one that draws attention away from the fact that in
many respects it is British English that is lagging behind the newer varieties.
Another term frequently invoked to account for Australian usage in recent times
takes a different stance. The supposed ‘Americanisation’ of Australian English is
addressed by Sussex (1989) and Taylor (1989). Sussex observes that AmE is “making a
sustained incursion into Australian English” (1989: 168), probably due to the
proliferation of American influences on language use in advertising, the media, and sport.
Transference tends to occur where a deficiency is felt in AusE, and so can serve to save
time, fill a semantic gap or give greater stylistic freedom. As Taylor states, “AusE
speakers do not necessarily transfer willy-nilly” (1989: 253). While American English
has certainly been growing in prestige since World War II due to the close contact
between the two nations at that time and while this relationship continues to influence
Australian English grammar, perhaps changes reflect, as Peters (1998b) proposes, an
‘Australianisation’ of American linguistic resources rather than any mass
‘Americanisation’ of Australian English.

14
2.4 Summary

In sum, the literature highlights that predominant approaches to the subjunctive have
been varied, but that, until recently, grammarians have tended to focus on the decline, the
lack of productivity and the formal nature of this structure, in some cases discouraging
speakers from using it in particular contexts.
Previous research tends to point to an increasing influence of AmE upon AusE
and NZE, particularly as regards the mandative subjunctive, and a gradually widening
gap between usage in both Southern Hemisphere varieties and BrE grammatical norms,
exemplified by significant differences in the use of modal paraphrases in mandative
constructions in these varieties.

15
3 Methodology

As the aim of this study is to investigate the use of the subjunctive in Australian English
through the analysis of data from natural and representative language, work was chiefly
corpus-based. While other resources were invaluable in informing my findings, it is the
corpus data which constitutes the major part of my conclusions.

3.1 Corpora

3.1.1 The ICE-AUS corpus

The corpus data for this study is drawn from the Australian component of the
International Corpus of English (ICE-AUS). This corpus, compiled at Macquarie
University, Sydney, by Dr. Pam Peters from 1991 to 1995, consists of one million words
of spoken and written Australian English (500 text samples each containing 2,000
words), permitting the language samples collected to be considered to an extent
representative of most varieties of AusE. ICE-AUS is part of the world-wide ICE
consortium, originally proposed by Sidney Greenbaum in 1988 “to provide the resources
for comparative studies of the English used in countries” across the world where English
is either the first or an official language (Greenbaum, 1996: 3). All ICE corpora contain
language sampled from specified text categories (see appendix 1) and were compiled
between 1990 and 1996 in order to facilitate accurate synchronic comparisons.
The ICE-AUS corpus was interrogated to ascertain the distribution of the
subjunctive across lexemes, across syntactic categories, across semantic domains and
across text types. Two lists were compiled of expressions typically associated with the
subjunctive, the first of suasive expressions and the second of subordinators, and the
corpus was searched for each expression listed. The division of labour between the
subjunctive and its alternatives after each expression was then recorded, tabulated and
analysed.

16
3.1.2 Other corpora

Data collected from ICE-AUS was examined and compared with findings from previous
studies based on the major corpora of the 20th century (see 2.3). The Brown University
Corpus of Edited American English and the Lancaster—Oslo/Bergen Corpus of British
English (LOB), both compiled in 1961, provide parallel language samples for the two
major centres of gravity of “standard” English (Johansson & Norheim 1988). As in ICE,
they contain one million words made up of 500 text samples in various categories of
fiction and non-fiction. These corpora, however, represent only written language, and so
some concessions must be made in the interpretation of ‘parallel’ data. While the text
categories in Brown and LOB differ somewhat from those specified for ICE (see
appendices 1 and 2), the samples are nonetheless very much comparable across the
corpora and provide useful information as to the distribution of phenomena across text
types. Despite the time difference between this data and the findings from the current
investigation of ICE-AUS, these corpora are invaluable in placing AusE on a continuum
of World Englishes regarding the nature of the use of the subjunctive. In fact, the time
difference in the data is of use in determining the directionality of the influences of AmE
and BrE upon AusE and NZE. In the compilation of these corpora, the basic sampling
principle was to randomly select “not only the titles from the bibliographical sources but
also the particular section of a text using a random-number table” (Hundt 1998a: 22).
This approach was modified by either the availability of materials or length of texts
(whenever a single text did not contain the 2000 words required for the sampling, the
next suitable article was chosen).

Hundt’s 1998 study of the mandative subjunctive makes use of the more recently
compiled 1991 LOB corpus (FLOB) and the 1992 Brown corpus (Frown), providing
valuable cotemporary information about regional variation (when compared with data
from Australian and New Zealand corpora 8 from that time), though differences in the

approaches to interrogating the corpus mean that clear comparisons are not always
possible with ICE-AUS. The next step in this investigation would be to include

8
Hundt (1998a) uses the Wellington Corpus of Written New Zealand English ( WCNZE) as her major
resource for the status of the mandative subjunctive in NZE.

17
contemporary data from the British and American components of ICE; however such
analyses are outside the scope of this thesis.

The Australian Corpus of English (ACE), also complied at Macquarie University,

was designed to match Brown and LOB in size and structure but its samples post-date the
earlier corpora by 25 years. Peters’ 1998 analysis of the subjunctive in ACE has allowed
for a diachronic investigation of the evolution of the subjunctive in Australian English in
the past decades.

3.2 Limitations of corpus data

Relying on corpus data as the chief resource in an investigative survey of language use
can have its limitations. The most striking of these is perhaps the lack of sociolinguistic
information about the speakers whose language samples have been recorded in the
corpus. Linguistic phenomena cannot be fully understood out of context of the speakers
who produce them. The language choices made by speakers reflect aspects of their social
identity and data can be graduated according to such aspects as age, gender and socio-
economic background. Without this information, inferences cannot be made as to the
influence of an individual’s social identity upon his or her language use. The ICE
corpora, unlike their predecessors, do contain some sociolinguistic information about
speakers, although it is not readily available, and given the scope of this thesis a detailed
analysis or such information was not possible. Instead, other resources were called upon
in order to gain a demographic perspective. Elicitation tests are perhaps the method of
investigation which most effectively provides such information. While no current
elicitation test results are available, data from previous works will be consulted, several
of which date from the early 1990’s, allowing immediate comparisons with ICE-AUS
language samples. Johansson (1979), Turner (1980) and Algeo (1992) have gathered
elicitation data shedding light on the use of the subjunctive in both British and American
English, and the test conducted by Peters in 1993 through the second issue of Australian
English allowed not only for specific phenomena to be targeted, but also for the extent of
the influence of age upon linguistic choices to be ascertained. Further to this problem,

18
Peters (1998: 101) points out the difficulty of achieving truly random sampling of natural
language, even in a corpus of the size of ICE-AUS:

“In corpora like Brown, LOB and ACE, the writers included are inevitably a
somewhat restricted group in terms of the overall population, while elicitation
surveys can and should put usage questions to the wider community.
Elicitation tests may tell us more about what is taught than what is actually
practised, but that is part of the picture”.
Of course, elicitation tests tend to suffer from the observer’s paradox (Labov 1972b),
potentially interfering with the high priority given to the exclusive use of data from
natural language, but the inclusion of such tests in this study are intended for the most
part only to temper and inform findings based on corpus data, and not to replace them.

3.3 Research questions

The ICE-AUS corpus was analysed to answer the following questions:

(i) in which structures/contexts do Australian speakers use the subjunctive?
(ii) how frequently do Australian speakers use the subjunctive in these
structures/contexts?
(iii) what are the alternatives (e.g. modals, quasi-modals, indicatives) to the
subjunctive employed by speakers?
(iv) how has subjunctive usage changed in Australian English since 1986 (ACE)?
(v) how does the use of the subjunctive in AusE compare with its current use in
British, American & NZ English? (& other World Englishes?)
(vi) are corpus-based findings supported by data from other sources? (e.g. elicitation
tests)
(vi) what factors play a role in deciding the use of subjunctive/periphrastic alternant?
In order to answer these questions, the corpus was interrogated for the use of the
subjunctive or its alternatives after a set of 13 suasive verbs and nouns, a small number of
suasive adjectives and a group of 16 subordinators traditionally associated with the
subjunctive. The data was collated by dividing the results thus:
(i) those containing overt subjunctives;
(ii) those containing overt indicatives (in mandative structures only – see 4.2.2);
(iii) those which were ambiguous;

19
 (iv) ambiguous forms which could be disambiguated as being either subjunctive or
indicative;
(v) those containing modals;
(vi) those containing quasi-modals.

Any alternatives which did not fit into these categories were noted. These results were
then tabulated and analysed in detail, employing statistical procedures, with the aim of
ascertaining the distribution of the subjunctive across lexemes, across syntactic
categories, across semantic domains and across text types. The data was compared with
results from previous corpus interrogations firstly to gain a diachronic perspective on the
subjunctive in Australian English, and secondly to investigate regional variation in the
use of the subjunctive in the various Englishes used across the world. While such
statistical analyses are essential to any thorough corpus-based investigation of linguistic
phenomena, they can serve only as a foundation for a more detailed analysis. As Chafe
(1992: 89) points out:

“Corpora-based observations and theorizing have to be supplemented with

introspections, inventions, and experiments, all of which can carry us beyond
the accidental limits of a corpus. But introspections and inventions without
corpora are fatally limiting.”

3.4 Specific issues

3.4.1 Trigger expressions

It is impossible to assemble an exhaustive list of expressions which trigger a choice

between the subjunctive and its variants in the corpus. Even if all known mandative
expressions, for example, are included in the search, the researcher cannot be sure of
extracting all mandative subjunctives since, as Övergaard (1995: 82) points out, “the
matrix need not contain an explicitly mandative verb/noun for the utterance to have
mandative meaning”. I have relied on previous studies to advise me in this regard. The
data pool suggested by Hoffman (1997: 99ff) includes 276 expressions but would be too
large to be conducive to the kind of detailed analysis undertaken in this study. Algeo
(1992: 601) lists 25 verbs, 29 nouns and 18 adjectives; Johansson and Norheim (1988:
29) suggest 17 verbs, their corresponding nouns and 5 adjectives. Instead, Peters’ list

20
(1998: 92-96) was applied: 16 verbs, 8 corresponding nouns, 4 adjectives and 16
subordinators (although some lexemes were removed and some added based on corpus
findings). In using this particular set, not only was the range of expressions broad enough
to thoroughly investigate subjunctive usage, but it allowed for clear parallels to be drawn
between language data in the ACE corpus and that sampled from ICE-AUS, facilitating a
diachronic analysis of subjunctive usage in AusE.
A further aspect to be considered is where the choice between the subjunctive and its
variants has been avoided entirely. In the ICE-AUS corpus, the to-infinitive was the most

frequent choice after mandative verbs such as advise, ask and direct.

(8) “He advised new ministers to spend time in their departments especially in the

early stages.” (ICE-AUS S2B-012(B):25)

While the investigation of such choices can certainly add an interesting dimension to the
current study, their inclusion in the data analysis would necessitate the investigation not
only of examples where a subjunctive is present, but also of examples where it could
possibly have been present. This kind of analysis is clearly not appropriate for the
interrogation of a corpus of the size of ICE-AUS. Therefore, this study has had to be
limited to finite subordinate clauses, although the presence of alternative structures is
acknowledged throughout.

3.4.2 Ambiguity & disambiguation

In many varieties of English the indicative is an acceptable alternative to the subjunctive.

However, since the subjunctive and the indicative are distinctive only for the verb be,
when they are in the third person singular form in the present tense and when they are
negated, many examples are ambiguous. In some cases it is possible to disambiguate the
verb form on the basis of the sequence of tenses, i.e. if the verb in the matrix clause
requires back-shifting. Example (8) illustrates an ambiguous form and example (9) a
disambiguating tense sequence:

(9) “We can no longer insist that our trading partners do business with us in
English.” (ICE-AUS W2E-004(noone):34)

21
 (10) “No You insisted I fill your glass.” (ICE-AUS S1A-033(B):254)
The question remains, though, whether or not to include those forms which remain
ambiguous in the data analysis. Johansson and Norheim (1988) do include them, while
Övergaard (1995) chooses to count all non-distinct forms as subjunctives. While this
approach might be appropriate for American English, where indicatives are extremely
rare in mandative constructions, it would not be fitting for an investigation of Australian
English where the indicative constitutes a fairly widespread alternative to the subjunctive.
In this study, therefore, Peters’ approach (1998) will serve as a guideline. The non-
distinct forms will be analysed as separate from the subjunctive and indicative categories,
and these non-distinct forms will be further divided according to whether or not they can
be disambiguated through the sequence of tenses.

3.4.3 Multiple subordination

Cases of multiple subordination are common in the corpora. While some previous
researchers have chosen to count all subordinate clauses in their subjunctive tally, I will
include only the first subordinate clause as two clauses containing subjunctives
subordinated to the same expression do not constitute two choices of the subjunctive over
another variant, they represent the same choice. All subordinate clauses, however, will be
examined in order to ascertain the range of verbs used in the subjunctive.

3.4.4 Expressions with non-mandative meaning

One further consideration to bear in mind when dealing with mandative expressions is the
fact that some items (e.g. insist, suggest, advise) can be used with both mandative and
non-mandative meaning. Compare the non-mandative (i) with the mandative (ii):

(11) “[…]You (i) suggested the film and packaging are not matched using
these numbers but rather other identifiers. This may be the case but could I
(ii) suggest that the identifiers on the film and package be checked […]”
(ICE-AUS W1B(noone):39)
Where these expressions occur with non-mandative meaning, the examples have not been
included in the quantitative analysis.

22
4 Results of corpus analysis

4.1 Suasive expressions

The first set of results (Table 1) shows the distribution of the subjunctive, the indicative,
and modal verb paraphrases after a selection of suasive verbs and verbal nouns. Table 2
shows the same after a selection of suasive adjectives.
The list of expressions reflects the list Peters used in her 1998 study, but some
expressions were excluded from the final count as they did not occur in mandative
constructions in the corpus. Those excluded were beg, desire, direct (and directive),
mandatory, proposition, stipulate, stress and urge. Like in Peters’ study, clear cases of
the subjunctive have been distinguished from forms which are ambiguous, i.e. forms
which could be interpreted equally as subjunctive or as indicative. Those non-distinct
forms which can be disambiguated as subjunctives by virtue of syntax (see section 2.2.2)
are listed separately. The use of the indicative as an alternative to the subjunctive has also
been quantified for the suasive expressions. Peters did not include the indicative in this
way in her study but others have done so (e.g. Hundt 1998b) and its inclusion provides a
more complete account of the variants found in mandative constructions. The modal
verbs found following each expression are listed along with the small group of quasi-
modals (expressing obligation) attested in the data.

23
Table 1: choice of subjunctive or its alternatives after suasive verbs/verbal nouns in ICE-
AUS
suasive verbs subj. disambiguated ambiguous indic. modal quasi-modal modals &
& nouns quasi-modals
advise 2 – – – – –
ask 1 – 2 – – –
demand 9 – 3 2
insist 2 1 2 1 1 1 must, have to
insistence – – – – 1 – can
move 7 – 1 – – –
order 1 – – – – –
propose – – 1 – – –
recommend – – 3 1 1 – should
request 2 – 6 3 – –
require – – 3 3 – –
suggest 2 3 12 1 7 should (4),
could, must,
would
suggestion – – – – – 1 ought to

TOTAL 26 4 33 11 10 2

Table 2: choice of subjunctive or its alternatives after suasive adjectives in ICE-AUS

suasive subj. disambiguated ambiguous indic. modal quasi-modal modals &
adjectives quasi-modals
desirable – – 1 – 1 – could
essential 3 – 2 2 1 – must
important 2 – 10 8 4 1 should (2),
can, will;
have to
necessary – – 1 – – –

TOTAL 5 – 14 10 6 1

4.1.1 Subjunctives vs. modals

As the tables show, the subjunctive tally is considerably larger than that of the modals.
There are 35 subjunctives attested in mandative constructions (29% of the total – see
table 3 for percentage analysis), compared to only 19 modals (15.5% of the total). In any
case, this is probably only a modest estimate of the extent of the use of the subjunctive in
mandative constructions as complete disambiguation of the group of non-distinct forms

24
would surely yield further subjunctives. It would, however, be unwise to assume the non-
distinct forms were all subjunctives. Övergaard (1995) was justified in making this
assumption in her work on the Brown corpus since indicatives are very rare in mandative
constructions in AmE and therefore “no non-inflected forms in the American corpora can
be regarded as ambiguous as regards mood” (69). Australian English, on the other hand,
makes extensive use of the indicative as an alternative to the subjunctive in such
constructions and so the possibility must be considered that ambiguous forms may
represent covert indicatives.

Table 3: Percentages of choices after suasive verbs/verbal nouns and suasive adjectives
Frequency % of total

Subjunctive (incl. disambig) 35 29%

Ambiguous 47 38.5%
Indicative 21 17%
Modals 19 15.5%

TOTAL 122 100%

Of the periphrastic alternatives to the subjunctive should is easily the most common,
representing 37% of the modals. Must comes in as a clear second at 15.75%. Can, could
and the quasi-modal have to/had to are next at 10.5% each. Table 4 sets out the modal
hierarchy.

25
Table 4: Range of modals and quasi-modals found following suasive expressions
Frequency % of total modals
Modals:
should 7 37%
must 3 15.75%
can 2 10.5%
could 2 10.5%
will 1 5.25%
would 1 5.25%
Quasi-modals:
have to/had to 2 10.5%
ought to 1 5.25%

TOTAL 19 100%

4.1.2 Subjunctives vs. indicatives

The language samples gleaned from the corpus show a clear preference for the
subjunctive over the indicative in mandative constructions: 36 subjunctives versus only
19 indicatives, although it is worth noting that the addition of some of the non-distinct
forms disambiguated as indicatives would bring this total closer to that of the subjunctive.
All the same, these results offer unequivocal evidence of the widespread use of the
mandative subjunctive in current AusE.
When the subjunctives, the indicatives and the ambiguous forms are tallied
together and compared to the total for the modals (103 to 19) an overwhelming
preference for morphologically marked forms over periphrastic variants becomes
apparent. This aligns Australian English with trends in the mandative subjunctive in AmE
and not in BrE, which generally favours modal constructions (see 5.2). However, as
previously mentioned, AmE does not readily admit the indicative in such constructions;
indeed, as Algeo (1992: 611) states, “the indicative in mandative constructions is a
Briticism”. These indications seem to point to an intermediate positioning of Australian

26
English between these two world standards, a concept which will be explored further in
chapter 5.

4.1.3 Other periphrastic alternants

Ideally, a thorough corpus-based investigation of the use of the subjunctive should not
only examine those cases where the choice has been made to employ the subjunctive, but
also all cases where the subjunctive could have been chosen but was not. Certainly, the
quantification of the division of labour between the subjunctive, the indicative and modal
paraphrases covers much of this ground, but other choices such as to-infinitive structures
should be acknowledged, if not addressed in depth given the limits of the scope of this
thesis.

4.1.4 to-infinitives

Following several of the suasive verbs the finite that-clause is by no means the most
favoured structure. In the majority of sentences retrieved these search items were
followed by a non-finite to-infinitive:

(12) “He advised new ministers to spend time in their departments especially
in the early stages”. (ICE-AUS S2B-012(B):25)
As Haegeman (1986: 69) points out in her study of British English, any suasive
expression that takes the subjunctive can also be followed by a to-infinitive clause,
although some items accept it more readily than others. This structure is a widespread
complementation pattern in the corpus but it is not evenly distributed across the pool of
suasive expressions. The to-infinitive clause is a frequently chosen variant after several
items, such as advise, ask and direct, while other items, like demand or insist are more
commonly found followed by a finite that-clause.

4.1.5 Variant patterning according to lexeme

Definitive assertions cannot be made regarding the distribution of variants across

lexemes, given that some items returned only one or two sentences from the corpus
search. However, it is possible to observe some patterning of the subjunctive & indicative
vs. modal auxiliary dichotomy. The suasive expressions followed most frequently by the

27
inflected forms, with little or no evidence of periphrasis, are those expressions commonly
associated with a higher register or a more formal linguistic domain, such as legal
language. Demand and move are the clearest examples of this association, both items
found only with inflected forms. In contrast, expressions such as recommend and suggest
display more of a balance between variants, perhaps due to their usage in a wide range of
domains, including everyday language. Such expressions are more flexible in their
application, and speakers are therefore at liberty to use the variant they believe is most
appropriate.

4.1.6 Inventory of verbs in subjunctive form

The verb be is, of course, the single most widely attested verb in subjunctive form in the
corpus, in both its lexical and auxiliary usage. However, instances of 15 other lexical

verbs were recorded in subjunctive form:

buckle, discriminate, fill, freeze, get, go (x3), have, keep, lodge, make, pay,
provide, remain, report, walk
This range reflects the productivity of the mandative subjunctive in Australian English,
mirroring to an extent usage in American English, but not in British English where LOB
attests only 3 verbs other than be in the subjunctive (Johansson & Norheim 1988: 30).
The set of verbs which can appear in subjunctive form in Australian English is open-
ended and shows no sign of stiffening (unlike the were subjunctive – see 4.2.4).

4.1.7 Omission of that

Table 5 displays the division of labour between mandative sentences where the
complementiser that appears and those where it has been omitted. The search was not
limited to subjunctives, but includes examples with indicatives as well as the periphrastic
alternants. A search of the corpus turned up 103 cases where the complementiser was
used and 19 where it was not. Typically, the omission of that is a marker of informality.
This notion is supported by the corpus findings as two thirds of the examples without that
were retrieved from the oral language categories. It seems that the omission of the

28
complementiser is more permissible preceding the morphologically marked forms that
the paraphrases. Only one example was found of complementiser exclusion before a
periphrastic variant, the quasi-modal have to:

(13) “And my mother was a very odd um dominating woman who insisted he
had to have his own shop.” (ICE-AUS S1A-034(B):206)

Table 5: use of complementiser ‘that’

with that without that
advise 1 1
ask 3 0
demand 12 2
insist 5 3
insistence 1 0
move 4 4
order 0 1
propose 1 0
recommend 3 2
request 11 0
require 6 0
suggest 20 5
suggestion 1 0
desirable 2 0
essential 7 1
important 25 0
necessary 1 0

TOTAL 103 19

4.2 Subordinators

The first set of results (Table 6) shows the distribution of the subjunctive, the indicative,
and modal paraphrases after a selection of subordinators.
The list of expressions is again based on Peters’ study in order to aid diachronic
analysis. A few minor alterations have been made to her list in response to the findings
from ICE-AUS. The first is the removal of the subordinator on condition that due to a
lack of relevant examples in the data; the second is the addition of proviso to the list of
search items. As a noun, strictly speaking this item does not belong with the

29
subordinators which feature on the list. However, of the two occurrences of this item in
the corpus, one is in the expression on the proviso that. This expression is followed by a
subjunctive and clearly does belong on the subordinator list. The other occurrence of the
item (the simple proviso that…) was grouped with the first for the sake of convenience,
although it has more in common with the suasive expressions. This overlap does
highlight a core semantic element in all items associated with the subjunctive and
supports the notion that the role of the subjunctive extends beyond the merely syntactic.
Again results were divided into clear subjunctives and those examples which are
ambiguous as to whether they should be interpreted as subjunctives or as indicatives. The
‘disambiguated’ category has been removed as with the subordinators there is no matrix
verb to facilitate disambiguation by tense sequencing. The distribution of modals and
quasi-modals is also quantified and individual items listed in a separate column. The data
pool retrieved for the subordinators was much larger than that of the suasive expressions.
For this reason, the extent of the use of the indicative has not been indicated in the table.
The very large number of instances, particularly of examples with if, meant that a detailed
analysis of all indicatives would be outside the limits of this thesis. Instead, the use of the
indicative vs. the subjunctive has been examined following one particular expression (see
4.2.2). This allows a more precise examination and will provide an indication of more
general trends in the use of the indicative.
The data retrieved from ICE-AUS was sorted to distinguish the use of the
conditional if 9 from the interrogative if, and also to contrast the use of the base form

subjunctive from the were subjunctive. Examples with so that were examined to ensure
only those expressing purpose (and not result) were included.

9
Subjunctive forms generally occur only in ‘remote’ conditional constructions which differ from ‘open’
conditionals in that they entertain “the condition as being satisfied in a world which is potentially different
from the actual world” (Huddleston & Pullum 2002: 748). For this reason, only remote conditionals are
included in the tallies for subjunctives, ambiguous forms and the limited analysis of indicatives (see 4.2.2).
The modals, however, are considered as paraphrases for the subjunctive and as such an investigation of
their distribution cannot be limited only to remote conditionals, as open conditionals are often possible in
subjunctive paraphrasing. The subjunctive in the sentence: if I were able to have it overnight I would read it
can equally be paraphrased as the remote if I could have it overnight I would read it or as the open if I can
have it overnight I’ll read it (ICE-AUS: S1A-035(A):45). Therefore the modal category includes instances
of remote as well as open conditionals.

30
Table 6: choice of subjunctive or its alternatives after selected subordinators in ICE-AUS

Subordinators subj. ambiguous modals quasi-modal modals & quasi-

modals
as if (were) 5 12 5 – could (3), should,
might
as though (base form) – – 2 – can, would
-- as though (were) 1 2
even if (were) – 4 1 1 might; have to
even though (base form) – – 6 – may (4), can, must
however (+adj.) (base form) – 1 2 – may (2)
if (conditional) (were) 25 51 121 56 can (68), could
(29), would (15),
will (5), may,
might, must,
should; be to (32),
is going to (18),
have to (6)
-- if (interrogative) (were) – 4 46 – can (14), could
(12), would (11),
will (7), should (2)
in order that – – 1 – Might
lest (base form) 2 – – –
provided (that) – 2 – –
proviso (base form) 1 – 1 – Must
so that (purpose) – – 54 – can (22), could
(base form) (13), will (9), may
(5), would (4),
might
though (base form) – – 7 – can (2), could (2),
might, would, will
though (were) – 2 – –
unless (base form) – 22 8 – can (7), would
(were) – 2 – –
whatever – 20 10 – might (7), could
(2), may
wherever – 5 6 – can (2), would (2),
could, might
whether (base form) 11 29 78 – Should (24), could
(15), can (13), will
(13), would (10),
may, might, shall
-- whether (were) – 5 – 4 have to (2), have
got to, ought to

TOTAL 45 161 348 61

31
4.2.1 Subjunctives vs. modals

Again the table shows some significant use of the subjunctive. 45 cases were attested in
the corpus and while this total is larger than that of the suasive expressions it is in fact
meagre when compared with the extent of modal usage after the list of subordinators (348
modals and 61 quasi-modals attested). The percentage analysis presented in Table 7
clearly presents this distribution. 10 Only 7% of the data pool analysed showed active

subjunctive use, while in 67% of cases a modal paraphrase had been chosen. Therefore,
in contrast with the findings for the suasive expressions, the subjunctive is very much a
minor construction after subordinators. The ambiguous category, of course, must be taken
into consideration in the quantitative analysis. Certainly, some of the 161 examples listed
as ambiguous must represent a subjunctive choice, but the final assessment remains the
same: in contemporary Australian English the modal category represents the major
construction following the set of subordinators examined.
It is interesting to note the distribution of base form subjunctives and were
subjunctives. After the subordinators the use of the were subjunctive is much more
significant (69% of subjunctives), found typically after as if and the conditional if,
subordinators which clearly express the hypothetical and the unreal. Subjunctives found
in the base form (mostly be) were generally following whether. The distribution of the
two subjunctive types almost constitutes a clean division in Australian English: the base
form being typically found after suasive expressions and the were subjunctive after
subordinators.
The range of modals associated with the set of subordinators (9 modals and 5
quasi-modals) is considerably broader than the range found after the suasive expressions
(6 modals and 2 quasi-modals), although the fact that the subordinator modal count is
around twenty times that of the suasive modal count surely plays some role here. This
indicates an expanding range of subjunctive paraphrases, not only limited to modals (see
4.2.3), with subordinators. The percentage analysis set out in Table 8 allows for parallel
comparisons between the two sets of expressions and reveals significant differences

10
The percentage distribution does not, however, represent all occurrences of the subordinators in the
corpus as the indicative and all periphrastic alternants besides the modals have been excluded from this
analysis.

32
within the hierarchies of the modal distributions of the two. While should was by far the
most frequently chosen modal after the suasive expressions (37%), it represents only 7%
of modal choices after the subordinators. Instead, can makes up nearly a third of these,
followed by could and would at 19% and 11% respectively. Must, the second most
favoured option with the suasives, made only a very minor contribution to the
subordinator data pool, with less than one percent of the total. These differences reflect
the respective kinds of modality typical of suasives and of the set of subordinators.
Suasives express deontic modality and the preference for should and must support this.
The subordinators tend towards epistemic modality (although also express deontic
modality) and accordingly employ modals more commonly associated with that type of
modality: can, could and would. See section 4.4 for a more thorough analysis of modal
distribution.

Table 7: Percentages of subjunctive vs. modals choices after selected subordinators

Frequency % of total

Subjunctive 45 7%
Ambiguous 161 26%
Modals 409 67%

TOTAL 615 100%

33
Table 8: Range of modals and quasi-modals found following selected subordinators
Frequency % of total modals

Modals:

can 130 32%

could 77 19%

would 45 11%

will 35 8.5%

should 28 7%

might 15 3.5%

may 14 3.25%

must 3 0.5%

shall 1 0.25%

Quasi-modals:

be to 32 8%

be going to 18 4.5%

have to 9 2%

ought to 1 0.25%

have got to 1 0.25%

TOTAL 409 100%

34
4.2.2 Subjunctives vs. indicatives (& ambiguous forms)

Due to the very large data set retrieved for the list of subordinators, and the widespread
use of the indicative within the data set, it was decided to investigate the division of
labour between the subjunctive and the indicative in the expression if it were / if it was
(see appendix 3). The relevant language samples found numbered only 17 and so a more
detailed examination of cases was possible.
The tally reveals roughly 35% of subjunctives and 65% of indicatives, supporting
the finding that the subjunctive is indeed the minor construction following subordinators
in ICE-AUS. Its use is dwarfed by both the use of modal paraphrases and the use of the
indicative. The data set was examined to identify any factors influencing the choice
between the subjunctive and the indicative. No discernable differences were found in the
structures in which they occurred and not even the text type exerted a significant
influence over usage. Both if it were and if it was were spread more or less evenly over
written and spoken texts, although it is worth noting that if it was is attested three times in
the ‘private dialogue’ category, while if it were does not appear in this category. This
may indicate a slight bias of the indicative structure towards less formal registers, but this
bias is not statistically significant, a finding which is at odds with the widespread
association of the were subjunctive with formal styles. Differences can therefore in part
be attributed to individual preferences, a notion that is explored in section 5.3. In any
case, it is clear that in Australian English the indicative is readily admitted following
subordinators typically associated with the subjunctive, and indeed, along with modal
paraphrases, accounts for the majority of the language samples retrieved from the corpus.

4.2.3 Other periphrastic alternants

The range of periphrastic alternants to the subjunctive (and the indicative) extends
beyond the modal paraphrases. As was discussed in 4.1.3, an analysis of the use of the
subjunctive should include not only subjunctives, but also all cases where a subjunctive
could possibly have been used. With the suasive expressions the to-infinitive structure
was a very common alternative. The boundaries of subjunctive periphrasis after
subordinators are less clear, but it is interesting to observe the use of catenative

35
expressions in this role. Cases containing catenatives such as happen to and want to, in
the following example, exemplify just how disparate possible subjunctive paraphrases
can be:

(14) “[…]if you were to to [sic] take what I hope is an extreme in this
example if you wanted to um address a you know a small language group in
the Himalayas and part of that was writing in that language then you know I'd
have extreme difficulty with that idea […]” (ICE-AUS S1B-003(A):172)
This catenative is also found in the informal form wanna, incorporating the infinitival

marker of the catenative complement into the head word:

(15) “[…]I think job creation any fool can do if you wanna spend somebody
else's money and borrow from overseas” […] (ICE-AUS S1B-030(B):116)

4.2.4 Variant patterning according to lexeme

As discussed in 4.2.1, the were subjunctive is more frequently chosen than the base form
subjunctive after the subordinators. The were subjunctive is typically found after items
expressing the counterfactual or the hypothetical (namely as if and the conditional usage
of if) and so, statistically, the subjunctive is more widely attested following these
expressions than any others. The modals are most densely distributed following items
expressing concession and purpose, such as though, even though and so that. This is
probably attributable to the widespread awareness of the association between if and the
subjunctive, and as Peters (1998: 101) suggests, to the stiffening of this pattern into “a
formulaic if x were”. Expressions not associated with this kind of rigidity are therefore
more commonly found followed by the indicative or a periphrastic alternant.

4.3 Distribution of modal auxiliaries

The distribution of modal forms has been discussed in some depth in sections 4.1 and 4.2
with regard to the sets of suasive expressions and subordinators. However the behaviour
of this group of periphrastic alternatives to the subjunctive merits a closer look. There is
more choice in the use of modals than in subjunctive use, and for this reason meaning is
easier to specify with modals. Therefore, as Övergaard (1995: 54-5) points out:

36
 “There is a crucial difference between the non-inflected subjunctive and the
periphrastic alternants: the subjunctive can replace all periphrastic alternants,
but not vice versa, i.e. the modals are more specified both in meaning and
usage.”
Semantic nuancing of the governing word is possible with modal auxiliaries.
Whereas the subjunctive expresses futurity and volition, modals can convey a
range of deontic, epistemic and dynamic meaning. Modals also display varying
degrees of semantic strength and the choice of modal often correlates with the
strength of the governing expression in mandative constructions. This is
particularly apparent with the suasive expressions: items expressing weaker
obligation, such as suggest and recommend, are followed most frequently by
should and to a lesser extend by could and would, all modals reflecting this
weaker force. Equally, when items expressing stronger obligation, such as insist,
are followed by a modal construction, they are most typically found with must or
have to.

4.4 Distribution of indicatives

In Australian English, the use of the indicative is widespread in contexts where the
subjunctive might be expected. This leads to much potential ambiguity of form given that
the indicative and the subjunctive are distinct only in the 3rd person singular. This reflects
usage in British English, but contrasts sharply with American English where the
indicative is not generally an acceptable alternative in mandative expressions.

4.4.1 Levelling of subjunctive/indicative forms

The ambiguity of form of many subjunctives and indicatives can cause these two
categories to overlap, particularly with expressions commonly found with both, such as
insist and suggest. These types of words elicit different types of modality and in some
cases it is not clear which type of modality is intended, e.g. I insist that you read the
newspaper every morning. With extensive use of the indicative after such verbs, the
boundaries between moods can begin to blur and the indicative sometimes encroaches on
subjunctive territory, being used to express volition. Such trends may indicate some
levelling of the forms of the subjunctive and the indicative, which occurred in a similar

37
way in Old and Middle English (Övergaard 1995: 67). If levelling does occur in present
tense forms the same may then occur in past tense forms.

4.5 Passive vs. active subjunctives

Like the subjunctive, the passive voice has long been associated with more formal
registers. It would follow then, that passive subjunctives should belong in the domain of
formal language. However, an examination of the subjunctives in the corpus in the
passive reveals that this is not necessarily the case.
The active is by far the more common form of the subjunctive (51 actives vs. 28
passives). For example:

(16) “He's still he's still willing to put the pressure on the dog but she stood
and demanded that he walk through” (ICE-AUS: S2A-016(C):220)
However, at 35% of the total, the passive construction (as in example (15)) is by no
means insignificant.

(17) “Initially the captors demanded the cash be dropped by plane but they
were talked out of that idea and decided on a pickup at sea.” (ICE-AUS: S2B-
005(B):21)
Hundt (1998b: 167) states that in LOB, most mandative subjunctives occur with the
passive whereas the Brown corpus shows a more even distribution between the active and
the passive. Based on this assumption it would appear that Australian English is more in
line with passive subjunctive usage in American English. Quirk et al. (1985:157 note d)
point to a tendency in British English to “choose the subjunctive more especially when
the finite verb is be (e.g. in the passive voice)” and Turner (1980: 276) refers to the verb
be as “a stronghold of the subjunctive”. This may be, but corpus data indicates that the
active subjunctive outnumbers the passive in the British, American and Australian
English corpora.
It is interesting to note the distribution of passive subjunctives across oral and
written texts. Övergaard (1995: 76) claims that a lower percentage of passive sentences is
to be expected in oral texts, but the passive subjunctives in ICE-AUS are in fact evenly
distributed across both types, with 14 occurrences in each. It is also of significance that

38
in 8 out the 13 passive subjunctives following suasive verbs, the complementiser 11 that

has been omitted. This is further evidence that the passive subjunctive seems to be losing
its formal connotations.

4.6 Negation

It is fairly widely acknowledged that negation of the base form subjunctive takes the form
of a pre-posed not and does not include do-support. Explanations for this are generally
based around the idea that this positioning of the adverb allows for the negation to be
underlined, as not will attract stress and will be irreducible. Övergaard (1995: 73)
suggests it as an example of rhythmic analogy, explaining that its development may have
been analogous to the structure of other verb phrases containing stressed adverbs.
Among the subjunctives retrieved from ICE-AUS, only 7 negative constructions
were found; 6 of these were retrieved from the data pool of subjunctives following the list
of subordinators and all 6 contained the were subjunctive. The lack of negatives in
mandative structures is accounted for rather pragmatically by Johansson and Norheim
(1988: 30) who suggest that “it is more natural to command what is to be done that what
is not to take place”. The one occurrence of the negated base form subjunctive
exemplifies the aforementioned pre-posed not:

(18) “Instead he allocated him the secondary portfolio of Commerce and

Industry, with stern demands that Hewson not buckle against his leadership”.
(ICE-AUS W1E-009(noone):34)
It is interesting that the sole example of the negated base form does not contain be when,
as Huddleston and Pullum note (2002: 995), “negative subjunctives with verbs other than
be are […] rare and formal”. Given, however, the paucity of examples of negation in the
corpus, it would be unwise to draw any definitive conclusions from this fact. Of the 6
negated were subjunctives, 2 showed negative inflection (weren’t rather than were not)
demonstrating the reduction impossible with the base from.

11
While that, strictly speaking, belongs in the category of subordinators, the term ‘complementiser’ will be
used here to distinguish this item from the set of subordinators which trigger a choice between the
subjunctive and its variants.

39
4.7 Contextual subjunctives

While interrogating the corpus by searching for individual items on an exhaustive list of
expressions typically associated with the subjunctive is a very effective method to
ascertain the extent of subjunctive usage in Australian English, it cannot possibly provide
an account of all cases of the subjunctive in the corpus. As discussed in 3.2.1, particularly
with the mandative subjunctive, the sentence does not necessarily have to contain an
obvious suasive expression for the sentence to have mandative force. In such cases the
mood of the verb is such an essential element of the overall utterance that it provides
enough mandative force not to necessitate an overtly mandative governing expression. As
Övergaard (1995: 82) suggests, “the context and the subjunctive in the noun clause
together with the matrix (the performative prefix) convey the pragmatic message of
volition and futurity”.
A phenomenon perhaps related to contextual subjunctives is the shift in certain
expressions traditionally followed by the indicative, through continual association with
subjunctive connotations, to begin to take subjunctive complements. Övergaard (1995:
66) puts forward on condition that and with the understanding that as examples of this
process, and claims that they are even found with periphrastic alternants in some corpora.
A search of ICE-AUS yielded no significant examples of this phenomenon. However,
this does not mean it is not occurring in Australian English. The nature of the process
means it is difficult to target the lexemes affected, which makes quantification in a
corpus-based study almost impossible.

4.8 Hypercorrection

Peters (1998: 97) notes a couple of examples of hypercorrection among the interrogative
use of if in the ACE corpus. No subjunctives are attested in the ICE-AUS corpus after the
interrogative if 12 but this does not necessarily signify that hypercorrection has waned in

Australian English since this time.

12
One example was found of what appear to be base form subjunctives following the interrogative if:
S2A-004(B):164 See if he serve and volley here.
It is possible that this usage exemplifies some kind of hypercorrect extension of the use of the base
subjunctive, but since it is impossible to be certain, this example has been omitted from the quantitative
analysis.

40
 Example (19) shows the use of the were subjunctive in an open conditional
construction. Traditional grammar states that after the conditional if, subjunctives should
only be used in remote conditionals (and not open) (see footnote 9).

(19) “On terra nullious, Mr Justice Brennan said: If it were permissible in

past centuries to keep the common law in step with inter national law, it is
imperative in today's world that the common law neither be, nor be seen to
be, frozen in an age of racial discrimination.” (ICE-AUS W2C-
005(noone):129)
Since this example expresses neither the counterfactual nor the hypothetical, but is in fact
referring to a particular past time, it constitutes a generalisation of the were subjunctive in
conditional structures, reflecting hypercorrect usage.

Hypercorrection is an interesting phenomenon which is extremely revealing of

approaches to prestige dialects and of the understanding of formal grammar rules. It is
unsurprising that example (15) and the example Peters quotes both pertain to if x were;
indeed this structure is almost certainly the cause of the majority of hypercorrect uses. As
Peters (1998: 97) suggests, there is a “lingering awareness” of formal rules which guides
some speakers in their linguistic choices. The was/were dichotomy has long been the
subject of prescriptivist usage commentary and so some speakers, aware of this issue but
not fully understanding its intricacies, tend to err on the side of caution by applying the
subjunctive form more widely than is strictly necessary.

4.9 Formulaic subjunctives

Many speakers probably do not associate the productive present subjunctive with the
small set of stalwart formulaic independent clause subjunctives that, as Stern et al (1993:
62) comment, “are all slightly quaint, though they serve useful, if somewhat specialized,
purposes”. The formulaic subjunctive does tend to have moderately formal stylistic
implications and can be seen as fairly old-fashioned, but a corpus search revealed that
some of the stock subjunctive expressions are very much in active use and are by no
means restricted to formal registers. A small set of the more typical formulaic
subjunctives was compiled and the corpus was interrogated to ascertain the extent of their
use. The list included:

41
 as it were, be it…, … be damned, be that as it may, come what may, far be it
from me, (God) bless you, (God/heaven) forbid, God save, if needs be, so be it
The most striking result was for as it were which was attested 9 times in the corpus,
mostly in the spoken language categories, reflecting its frequent use in everyday
language. In several cases, this expression is employed with full semantic content,
signifying ‘so to speak’:

(20) “Firstly, there is the discussion of singers, in which despite even the
evidence in front of their ears, as it were, of Mr Bartell D'arcy, all the best
singers were long ago.” (ICE-AUS W1A-013(noone):113)
However, a few examples would suggest that as it were is becoming, for some speakers,
little more than a verbal tic.

(21) “When somebody faints, the action doesn't affect another entity It's as it
were a self-contained sort of process.” (ICE-AUS S2A-022(noone):117 )
So be it and be it returned significant results, both scattered intermittently throughout the
corpus. In all examples be it is found in combination with or, but is directly followed by
prepositional, noun and adjective phrases. Be that as it may returned only one occurrence,
while the other expressions did not appear in the corpus at all. These findings seem to
point to some kind of split within the category of formulaic subjunctives. Those
expressions with widespread and flexible uses in discourse (particularly as it were) are
very much active in Australian English. Expressions with more specified meaning,
though, are not at all widely attested.
The group of fossilised expressions is not necessarily a closed set. Peters’
observations about the stiffening of if x were are again relevant (see section 4.10). This
item may well be a new member of the formulaic subjunctive category in the near future.

4.10 Suppose and wish

Huddleston and Pullum (2002) list examples with suppose, such as suppose she were in
London now, and examples with wish, such as I wish she were here (what Berk (1999:
150) calls ‘volitional subjunctives’) as possible contexts for the use of the were
subjunctive. The ICE-AUS corpus was searched for such occurrences but neither returned
any results attesting definitive subjunctive usage. Suppose returned one non-distinct form

42
and one modal auxiliary, while wish was found with a scattering of indicatives and to-
infinitive constructions. These findings are in line with the results for the subjunctives
after the subordinators as they point to a definite decline in were subjunctive usage.

4.11 The subjunctive across text types

Commentary on the concentration of subjunctives in “formal and legalistic” text styles

(Quirk et al 1985: 157) is commonplace in analyses of its distribution in various corpora.
In LOB, the subjunctive is most widely attested in informative prose while the Brown
corpus shows a slightly more even distribution (Hundt 1998b: 167). Table 9 displays the
division of labour between subjunctives and modals across the 12 text types which divide
up ICE-AUS. Indicative and ambiguous forms were omitted from the count in order to
facilitate a more detailed analysis.

Table 9: distribution of subjunctives and modals across text types

Suasive expressions Subordinators
Subjunctives Modals Subjunctives Modals
Dialogue, private 3 3 1 74
Dialogue, public 8 4 8 59
Monologue, unscripted 2 2 4 93
Monologue, scripted 6 3 7 37
Non-printed writing 1 – – 14
Letters, social & business 5 3 2 43
Printed information (learned) – 3 2 21
Printed information (popular) 2 1 6 14
Printed information (news reports) – – 1 14
Instructional writing 3 – 5 13
Persuasive writing 4 – 2 11
Creative writing 1 – 7 16

Overall, the subjunctive count is largest in the public dialogue and scripted monologue
categories, suggesting that, contrary to findings in other corpora, the subjunctive is most

43
characteristic of prepared spoken language. While there is some evidence of usage in
private, unscripted speech the tally is not nearly so significant. Among the written
categories, the mandative subjunctive is most concentrated in the letters category, with
some examples found in instructional and persuasive writing, whereas subjunctives
following the subordinators are most numerous in popular printed information, and
instructional and creative writing.
Unlike the subjunctives, the modals are most concentrated in the categories of
private dialogue and unscripted monologue, suggesting a two-way division in
preferences, i.e. for the subjunctive in prepared speech and for the periphrastics in
spontaneous speech (although the sheer number of modals attested after the subordinators
mean that this group tallies most highly in all categories). Among the suasive
expressions, modals are found only in letters and printed information. These categories
also feature predominantly in modal distribution after the subordinators, with numerous
examples also observed in creative writing, news reports and non-printed writing.
In sum, the mandative subjunctive outnumbers the periphrastic alternants in all
categories but learned printed information where no subjunctives are attested, and
scripted monologues where the two variants tally the same. Following the set of
subordinators, modals are by far the most frequent choice in all categories.

4.11.1 Spoken vs. written texts

While the mandative subjunctive is most concentrated in the two categories representing
prepared speech, the division between mandatives in spoken and written language is in
fact more or less equal, with 19 and 18 cases respectively. This would appear to reflect a
lack of restriction of the mandative subjunctive to any one register or language type,
indicating increasingly active and widespread use of this form. This is clearly at odds
with what appears to be the prevailing opinion: that “mandative subjunctives are […]
still used fairly infrequently in spoken texts” (Hundt 1998b: 170). The data retrieved for
subjunctives following the subordinators display a somewhat less balanced usage, with a
slight bias recorded towards subjunctives in written language (19 occurrences in spoken
language vs. 23 in written language).

44
 The modals show a clearer and more uniform preference for spoken language
categories with around 60% of mandative modal constructions and 63% of modals after
the subordinators occurring in speech.

4.11.2 Register

The quantification of subjunctives and modal paraphrases in the 12 text categories reveals
interesting patterning according to register. In formal registers of spoken language, the
preference is for the subjunctive, while modals occur more frequently in informal speech.
On the other hand, formal written text types (such as learned printed information) reveal
a majority of modal constructions, with subjunctive most numerous in the informal
counterparts. These divisions are blurred a little further when it is observed that perhaps
the least formal of written categories, non-printed writing, displays a clear majority of
modals, with only one subjunctive recorded. The unclear boundaries associated with this
aspect of subjunctive/modal usage may suggest that specifics such as domain and text
type play more decisive roles in influencing speakers’ choices than register does. What is
more, the decrease in passive structures (see 4.5), the paucity of negated base form
subjunctives (see 4.6), and the high level of that omission (see 4.8) attested in ICE-AUS
all point to a more register-neutral subjunctive in contemporary Australian English.

4.11.3 Traditional associations

G.H. Vallins, advising his readers on sensible subjunctive usage in his 1951 work Good
English: How to Write it, intimates that “poetry, and adolescent romantic poetry at that, is
the last stronghold of this tense” (1951: 54). Fowler (1965: 596) takes a different stance,
claiming that subjunctives “diffuse an atmosphere of formalism over the writing in which
they occur”. Data retrieved from ICE-AUS has proved that neither of these statements
holds true for modern Australian English. While subjunctives are unquestionably found
in some text types more than in others, its usage is fairly evenly spread across the
language, occurring in poetry (adolescent, romantic and otherwise), formal writing and in
almost all other contexts.

45
4.12 Summary

Analyses of data retrieved from ICE-AUS point to widespread and productive use of the
mandative subjunctive in AusE. While modal paraphrases and indicative forms are
attested across the corpus, it is the subjunctive that constitutes the major construction in
mandative structures. Findings for the were subjunctive, on the other hand, mainly found
following a small set of subordinators expressing hypotheticality or counterfactuality,
would appear to indicate a decline in this form as it is very much a minor construction in
these contexts. Modal paraphrases and indicatives are by far the more frequent choices
after the subordinators.
An examination of the subjunctive’s distribution across text types in ICE-AUS
reveals an increasingly register-neutral usage of this form. Indicators such as the frequent
omission of the complementiser that suggest that the subjunctive is no longer restricted to
formal registers and written language, but is active in most text types. Some variation is
found according to text type, though, as the subjunctive is most frequently found in
categories representing prepared spoken language.

46
5 Diachronic & synchronic analyses

The results gained from the corpus analysis (chapter 4) and data gleaned from parallel
corpora will allow us to situate the use of the subjunctive in contemporary Australian
English within the larger frame of changes in subjunctive usage in recent history and of
subjunctive usage in various World Englishes.

5.1 Diachronic comparisons

A diachronic analysis of the subjunctive in Australian English is made possible by Peters’

1998 study of the ACE corpus. The corresponding nature of her work and the
undertaking in this thesis makes for comparable data and findings, which will elucidate
any recent developments in the ways in which the subjunctive is used.
It is important to bear in mind the differences in text sampling in the two corpora.
While ICE-AUS was designed to represent a balance of spoken and written language,
ACE contains only written texts, reflecting the structure of both Brown and LOB. Given
the influence the text type can exert on speakers’ choices, this factor must be taken into
consideration when interpreting results.
Peters’ two central findings were:
(i) the maintenance of mandative uses of the subjunctive;
(ii) a substantial shift away from the use of ‘were’ subjunctives, in favour of
indicative was and a wide range of modal paraphrases.

These observations are entirely appropriate for the ICE-AUS data, as the mandative
subjunctive is widely attested, while the extent of were subjunctive usage in the corpus is
comparatively minimal, modals and indicatives accounting for the majority of cases
examined (see 4.1 and 4.2). However, a comparison of the percentage analyses of the
division of labour between the subjunctive and the modal paraphrases in the two corpora
reveals some discrepancies, indicative of some development in subjunctive usage since
the compilation of ACE. Peters leaves indicative forms out of the quantitative analysis of
the suasive expressions and so definite conclusions cannot be drawn about changes in its
usage. Ambiguous cases have also been omitted from this comparison since, as Hundt

47
(1998b: 170) comments, “non-distinct forms are […] far more frequent (in spoken texts)
than in written texts” and the bias this factor might produce could interfere in the analysis
of what is ultimately more pertinent, i.e. the subjunctive/modal paraphrase dichotomy.
After the suasive expressions, the ACE corpus shows a division of approximately
70% subjunctives and 30% modals. In the data retrieved from ICE, 65% were
subjunctives and 35% modals. While this information would appear to point to a
moderate increase in the use of modal periphrasis after the suasives, the difference is
potentially attributable to the difference in text types sampled, with a higher level of
subjunctives attested in written texts of the mid-1980s. The fact that the percentage of
subjunctives is almost as high for the spoken and written texts (both categories attesting a
similar number of subjunctives) in ICE-AUS may indicate a stylistic neutralisation of
usage (see 4.12.2), and certainly confirms the maintenance of the mandative subjunctive
Peters observes.
The ACE corpus data reveals 19% subjunctives following subordinators, while in
ICE the subjunctive tally account for 10%. This variance is somewhat more significant
than for the mandative structures and perhaps cannot be entirely accounted for by the
addition of spoken texts. These statistics appear, therefore, to reflect a slight fall in the
use of the subjunctive in adverbial clauses. The fact that 73% of the subjunctives attested
were were subjunctives strongly supports Peters’ findings that the were subjunctive is on
the wane in Australian English. It is interesting to note, though, that the ICE corpus
revealed more subjunctives after the conditional if than ACE did. This seems to confirm
Peters’ hypothesis that if x were is becoming a formulaic usage, and may be the only use
to resist the decline of the were subjunctive.

5.2 Synchronic comparisons

Hundt’s (1998a) work on the mandative subjunctive in four parallel corpora (representing
British, American, New Zealand and Australian English) is highly instrumental in
delineating current regional variation in the use of this form. Johansson & Norheim
provide data for the were subjunctive, although their American and British corpora
(Brown and LOB) predate Hundt’s (Frown and FLOB) by around three decades. As
Bauer (2002: 46) suggests, findings show that there tend not to be “striking absolute

48
grammatical differences between varieties”. Instead, where speakers of one variety prefer
structure a and speakers of another variety prefer structure b, structure a and structure b
are generally available to speakers of both varieties.

5.2.1 British English

Data from FLOB (Hundt 1998a) reveals that the subjunctive is chosen over modal
paraphrases in 39.6% of mandative constructions in contemporary British English. This
differs greatly from Australian usage at 65% and proves that Australian English is much
more advanced in the development of this structure. The mandative subjunctive is,
however, very much on the increase in British English, the FLOB results showing a
marked rise from LOB where subjunctives were attested in only 12.9% of cases.
No data is provided in Johansson and Norheim regarding the balance between the
were subjunctive and modals in LOB but a quantification of was/were following some of
the subordinators is carried out and this analysis can be directly compared with the
investigation of the indicative after the conditional if (see 4.2.2). Johansson and Norheim
find 62.75% of the sentences retrieved to contain subjunctives, while the interrogation of
ICE-AUS finds only 35%. This is in line with Peters’ comment that the were forms seem
to have “declined more severely in the Antipodes” (1998: 98), but she adds that more
recent data on both BrE and AmE record a fall in were subjunctive numbers also.
Övergaard (1995: 62) observes that the indicative is attested in LOB as an alternative to
the mandative subjunctive, a usage that is mirrored in the ICE corpus (see 4.1.2). She also
notes that the distribution of passive subjunctives in LOB (and Brown) is 31%. As
discussed in section 4.5, 35% of subjunctives in ICE-AUS were in the passive voice,
pointing to a degree of uniformity in this respect. A final point of interest is Hundt’s
observation that the subjunctive in British English appears to be approaching a more even
distribution across text types, reflecting the increasingly register-neutral character of the
subjunctive in Australian English.

49
5.2.2 American English

The influence of mandative subjunctive usage in AmE upon other varieties is widely
acknowledged in the literature (e.g. Taylor 1989, Hundt 1998b). Results of a comparison
of data from ICE-AUS and Brown/Frown largely support this observation. Following
suasive expressions in the Frown corpus, the subjunctive is attested in 89.5% of cases,
firmly establishing the modal paraphrases as the minor construction in mandative
contexts. The 65% found in Australian English indicate that usage resembles that of
American English more closely than British, but the evolution of the subjunctive in these
structures is by no means as far developed as in AmE. Use of the were subjunctive after
if in AmE is not significantly different from the percentages recorded for BrE: this form
is attested in 66.67% of cases. This further underlines the supposed decline of the were
subjunctive in the Southern Hemisphere varieties of English, since in both Northern
Hemisphere varieties the tally outnumbers Australian English significantly.
American usage is marked by a complete lack of indicatives in mandative
structures, a feature clearly not shared by AusE. Övergaard (1995: 68) even states that
there is no ambiguity as regards form in AmE as all non-distinct forms can be safely
assumed to be subjunctives. She also remarks on the preposed not negation which has
become common in AmE, but is not widely attested in the British corpora. Australian
English usage of this structure could therefore reasonably be attributed to American
influence.
The mandative subjunctives in the Brown corpus (Hundt 1998a: 167) are
characterised by an even distribution across text types. Australian English is gravitating
towards such a distribution, and has very nearly achieved it (see 4.12). In most respects,
the use of mandative subjunctive in Australian English would appear to be heavily
influenced by American usage, although frequencies indicate an intermediate stance
between AmE and BrE. The were subjunctive, on the other hand, does not closely
resemble usage in either of the Northern Hemisphere varieties. The supposed worldwide
wane in the were subjunctive is most developed in AusE, with BrE and AmE showing
signs of following in the same direction.

50
5.2.3 New Zealand English

Data from WCNZE (Hundt 1998b: 165) pertaining to the use of the mandative
subjunctive in NZE reveal no significant differences between current usage in New
Zealand and Australia, with subjunctives making up 66.7% of NZE mandatives compared
to the 65% of ICE-AUS. In any case, discrepancies can no doubt again be attributed to
the lack of spoken texts in WCNZE. No data was available to ascertain the extent of were
subjunctive usage in NZE. These indications support Hundt’s assessment that “while
differences between NZE and AusE can be observed in terms of accent and vocabulary,
the two are virtually indistinguishable when it comes to grammar” (1998b: 171), although
an investigation of the distribution of the subjunctive in the ICE-NZ would be extremely
useful in confirming this statement.

5.2.4 Interaction of four varieties

Australian English grammar cannot be said to exhibit ‘colonial lag’ as its features are not
characterised by a retention of British English grammatical norms. Nor does it reflect a
wholesale ‘Americanisation’, since influences other than American usage play an
important role in the development of this variety’s language. Instead, Australian English
continues to establish itself as a ‘centre of gravity’ for World English and can be seen to
reciprocate influences from other varieties. This reflects Clyne’s (1992) ‘pluricentric’
model which recognises interacting varieties other than BrE and AmE and allows for the
development of new epi-centres. The case of the use of the subjunctive clearly
exemplifies this status of Australian English in relation to the three other Englishes
spoken in Britain, America and New Zealand.
The use of the mandative subjunctive in AusE reflects most patently the influence
AmE can exert over other varieties. It has been clearly established in previous sections
that the global mandative subjunctive ‘revival’ is most advanced in AmE and is
underway in BrE. While no discernable differences were found between AusE and NZE
in this respect, Hundt (1998a: 97) points out that “the two differ in their relation to the
centre of gravity for this change”. Australian usage more closely resembles that of AmE
than New Zealand usage does, supporting Collins and Peters’ suggestion that these two

51
Southern Hemisphere varieties no longer constitute a common standard (2004: 608). A
ranking of the four varieties is evident in this ‘revival’ (see Figure 1):

Figure 1: Ranking of 4 varieties in the ‘global revival’ of the mandative subjunctive

BrE NZE AusE AmE
--------|-------------------------------------|--------|------------------------------|------>
time

The evolution of the were subjunctive differs considerably from that of the
mandative, with AmE no longer taking a leading role. In the absence of relevant data on
NZE usage, it is impossible to place this variety within the ranking, although based on the
work carried out into the interaction of NZE with other World Englishes it is probable
that it would fall just behind AusE, nearly matching this variety in the level of decline of
the were subjunctive. AmE and BrE record very similar frequencies of were subjunctives,
at twice that of AusE, although the time differences between the two sets of corpora must
be taken into account. Analysis of the were subjunctive in recent American and British
corpora could confirm the direction of change in these varieties. Figure 2 sets out this
ranking:

Figure 2: Ranking of 4 varieties in the decline of the were subjunctive

AmE BrE NZE AusE
--------------------------|------|----------------------------------------------|-----|------------>
time

5.2.5 Predictions

The history of the development the subjunctive has been marked by numerous and
unpredictable changes in its directionality. While current trends in its use seem to have
taken a firm hold on AusE, there is no way of being certain that drift will not change
direction once more. Grammar does not exist in a vacuum, and social influences have the
potential to shape the language we speak, such as immigration in America acting as a
catalyst in the revival of the mandative subjunctive (Övergaard 1995: 45). Records show

52
that syntactic variants can co-exist over long periods of time, but eventually one variant is
likely to replace the other, regardless of their original frequencies (50).

53
6 Accounting for corpus findings

Three major areas of influence upon subjunctive usage can be identified to help account
for the findings of the corpus-based analysis detailed in chapter 4. These areas are:
(i) factors innate in the subjunctive itself;
(ii) factors related to regional variation;
(iii) factors specific to individual speakers.
The first category may shed some light on the general trends observed in subjunctive
usage in all varieties of English examined, while the second will illuminate why
Australian usage might differ from that of other Englishes. The final set of factors
pertains to speakers’ idiolects and individual particularities that might influence the
extent to which they employ the subjunctive.

6.1 General trends

6.1.1 Attitudes towards the subjunctive

Individual variation in the extent to which the subjunctive is used can in part be attributed
to differences in how speakers view the subjunctive, largely based on various degrees of
awareness of formal grammatical rules. This influence is particularly observable in the
choice between was and were which has long been the subject of prescriptive usage
commentary. The relatively low were subjunctive count in AusE may reflect an
adherence to prescriptivist warnings, such as Fowler’s (1965: 595), as he recommends
sparing use of the subjunctive, or it may perhaps point to a lack of awareness or
understanding of the subjunctive, resulting in complete avoidance. Since the
consequences of both approaches are largely the same, it is difficult to ascertain which
applies best to AusE speakers. The survey conducted through Australian Style (Peters
1998) provides further elucidation of the matter, one informant suggesting that “after if
the use of the subjunctive to suggest counter factuality is redundant”. If some speakers do
indeed take this stance then the decline of the were subjunctive may in fact represent a
suppression of unnecessary and unproductive linguistic features, a process essential to the
evolution of language. With the mandative subjunctive, on the other hand, the

54
subjunctive is sometimes an essential part of the overall mandative force of an utterance
(e.g. with insist and advise), and so is generally not felt to be redundant in the same way
as the were subjunctive might be.
Hypercorrect uses may be indicative of an over-zealous approach to the
application of the subjunctive. Some speakers, aware of the traditionally formal
associations of the use of the subjunctive, might seek to exploit these connotations to
show that such language styles are highly valued. This is probably not always a conscious
decision but instead may be revelatory of the ways in which some speakers use language
to construct personal identity.

6.1.2 Psycholinguistic factors

Övergaard (1995: 49) discusses the possibility that a rise or fall in subjunctive usage
might reflect the psycholinguistic assumptions at work in syntactic drift, i.e. that the more
complex a syntactic form is to process, the less likely it is to be favoured in the long run.
The non-inflected subjunctive is shorter than many of its alternants and in most cases its
meaning is unambiguous. Such effective functioning would point to the subjunctive as
the form speakers will prefer, especially as regards the subjunctive/modal opposition.
However, it should be recalled that the modal paraphrases are more capable of semantic
specification (as discussed in section 4.3), perhaps accounting for their overwhelming
majority following the set subordinators.
The difficulty in ascertaining which variant is least complex and most effective
may serve in part to explain the mixed preferences attested in the Australian corpus. It
would appear that while in many cases the modal paraphrases are favoured for their
ability to nuance the meaning of an utterance, in other cases the subjunctive’s concise
efficiency is more highly valued.

6.2 Australian approaches to language

Within the intricacies of subjunctive usage in AusE can be observed more general
characteristics of the way in which Australian speakers view their language.

55
6.2.1 Prestige models & standards

In the past, Australian English has looked to British English to establish a system of
grammatical norms. Since AusE is derived, historically, from this variety it was
undoubtedly natural for some speakers to follow the lead of linguistic usage in what they
thought of as ‘the mother country’. Until quite recently BrE was the undisputed prestige
model. However, developments such as the advent of the Macquarie Dictionary have
helped to consolidate AusE’s status as a ‘nearly full centre’ (Clyne 1995: 22). Sussex
(1989: 158) cites, as the major factors in Australia’s increasing linguistic autonomy:

“increasing cultural and political distancing from things British, associated

with the decline of the Commonwealth and the entry of Britain into the
Common Market, and an overall loosening of traditional ties with the United
Kingdom”.
Australian English is gradually encroaching upon areas traditionally the domain of
‘Received Pronunciation’. Peters and Delbridge (1989:136) suggest that:

“A new-found nationalism in literary writing often consolidates itself in

inward-looking tendencies before being able to take itself for granted and
reorient itself to the world at large.”
AusE would certainly appear to be moving closer to such ‘inward looking tendencies’, as
can be seen in the case of the subjunctive. The fall in were subjunctive numbers reflects a
decline considerably more advanced than either BrE or AmE, underlining the increasing
endonormativity of this variety.
In the mandative subjunctive, however, as it has been discussed, AusE seems to
be following the example set by AmE usage. As Sussex (1989: 159) notes:

“Only some of the prestige roles vacated by RP have been taken over by
Australian English counterparts. A significant proportion of these roles has
been filled – and apparently is being increasingly filled – by North American
English.”
Why, then, do Australian speakers not rely on internal influences to determine a uniquely
Australian prestige model? It could be that there is an element of cultural insecurity
which characterises Australian approaches to language, related to the phenomenon of
‘cultural cringe’ and perhaps to a history of AusE being viewed as an inferior dialect of
English. The combination of these factors would appear to result in “the ambivalent
nature of (Australian speakers’) attitudes towards Australian English” (Sussex 1989:158)

56
and the continued influence (albeit almost certainly reduced since 1989) of prestige
models from beyond Australian shores.

6.2.2 Australian approaches to communication

Peters’ (2001: 176) observation that Australian speakers tend to prefer direct styles of
communication that work “more like a face-to-face encounter” supports the findings from
the ICE corpus data. The wane of the were subjunctive denotes the decline of a structure
that has long been associated with more formal styles of writing, while the maintenance
of mandative subjunctive has been marked by a distinct levelling of formal connotations,
reflecting what Collins (2003: 15) labels the “widespread and growing colloquialisation
of the written norm in English” in Australia. This change can also be seen at work in the
media, in the general trend towards “addressee-oriented” broadcasting (Leitner 1980: 77,
as cited in Peters & Delbridge 1989). This new style contrasts with the older “message-
oriented” which prevailed until recently, which was scripted and relied on more formal
language styles. Now more casual, colloquial forms of communication can be said to
characterise the language of broadcasting and the acceptability of less formal registers is
filtering through, even to domains of communication most resistant to change.
Australian approaches to communication often typify the ‘levelling’ social
attitude associated with the egalitarianism valued so highly in Australian society. The sort
of ‘reverse snobbery’ than can be observed in reaction to what is perceived as ‘tall poppy
syndrome’ 13 (Feather 1989) can have a profound effect on speakers’ linguistic choices

and on how speakers interpret the choices of others. Peeters (2004) notes that for some
speakers “it is almost a crime to appear too smart amongst one’s peers” (14) and that “no
matter how successful Australians are, their ultimate aim must always remain to be like
everyone else” (21). As far as the subjunctive is concerned, speakers affected by this
approach to communication may disfavour usages which seem pretentious or
unnecessarily formal (the were subjunctive in some cases) but will not hesitate to employ
structures that are more register-neutral (such as the mandative subjunctive). It should be
noted that hypercorrect uses would seem to indicate an opposite approach in some

13
‘Tall poppy syndrome’ is a term used to describe someone who has assumed an elevated social, political
or economic position in a manner that is perceived as arrogant or without merit.

57
speaker’s choices. Of course, these approaches are only relatively minor trends that can
be observed in the patterns of usage attested in the corpus; there are a great many factors
that come into play in any given utterance.

6.3 Individual variation

Until now, this study has addressed for the most part only factors influencing subjunctive
usage which are based on generalisations pertaining to Australian English speakers as a
whole. However, it is vital and interesting in such an investigation to take into account
the preferences of individuals, especially where these diverge from the general trends
observed for all speakers of AusE. In a corpus-based study, an analysis designed to target
these general trends, it is obviously difficult to establish the individual characteristics of
speakers. Elicitation tests are able to complement corpus-based studies to provide
essential sociolinguistic information elucidating the motivating factors in the
particularities of speakers’ idiolects.

6.3.1 Age

The 1993 survey conducted in Australian Style offers an interesting insight into the
graduation of subjunctive usage according to age. Peters found that the use of the
mandative subjunctive was spread evenly, regardless of the age of informants. This is
unsurprising given the findings detailed in chapter 4. The mandative subjunctive is very
much established and set to endure in Australian English. The results for the were
subjunctive, however, were strikingly different. Results for (as) if it were / (as) if it was
were quantified and showed clear graduations according to age. The subjunctive forms
were most frequently attested in the age bracket representing the oldest informants (65+)
while indicatives were most numerous in the 10-24 yrs old bracket. The indications for
the were subjunctive are clear: a decrease is likely within a generation.

6.3.2 Socioeconomic background

The values and customs intrinsic to an individual’s socioeconomic background can play a
decisive role in the way the individual uses language to communicate elements of his or
her identity to interlocutors. Övergaard (1995) conducts a study into the
subjunctive/modal preferences of well –known American writers writing around the turn

58
of the 20th century. Writers are excellent candidates for such analyses, as extra-linguistic
features such as regional background, social class and education are generally easy to get
hold of and, of course, there is generally an abundance of text available for analysis.
While it is true that in some cases a writer’s published works may not precisely represent
his/her idiolect due to stylistic considerations and the purpose of the writing in question,
it is safe to assume that a general indication of linguistic preferences can be extracted if
enough text is examined. Övergaard’s findings revealed surprisingly clear divisions
among the writers: those who used modal paraphrases exclusively (e.g. Henry James,
Edith Wharton) had upper/upper middle class background and were almost certainly
influenced by BrE usage; those who used the subjunctive exclusively were from the
South or the Mid West or were somehow influenced by immigration (e.g. Mark Twain,
Theodore Dreiser). In the case of writers who used both variants, the motivating factors
were more diverse: Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald had been influenced by their time in
Europe, while Woodrow Wilson used both forms for rhetorical reasons. It is interesting
to note that no evidence of gender specific usage was found. Övergaard’s extensive study
provides a mere glimpse into the vast array of influences at work when a speaker is faced
with a choice between a subjunctive and its variants, and indeed with any linguistic
choice.

6.4 Appropriateness

As with any linguistic choice in any situation, the ultimate decision between a
subjunctive and an alternative form will be inextricably linked with the appropriateness
of such a choice in the given context. Collins (1989: 139) points out, “acceptability is not
determined solely by grammatical considerations”. The acceptability of a linguistic
choice in a particular context is determined also by factors such as the nature of the
interaction between the participants in a discourse, the relationship they share and their
relationship to the situation itself. Such influences can even be so dynamic as to override
what may seem like more decisive factors, such as regional variation or adherence to
prestige models.

59
6.5 Summary

In sum, numerous factors can be said to be important in influencing speakers’ choices

about whether or not to employ the subjunctive. The nature of the subjunctive itself can
affect speakers’ willingness to view it as a useful grammatical resource, while Australian
usage of the structure can reflect speakers actively locating their language in relation to
‘prestige’ dialects or striving to achieve a more direct communication style, as is often
characteristic of this variety. Individual factors such as socioeconomic background and
age can also be influential in establishing trends in subjunctive usage. It should be noted,
however, that the deciding factor in speakers’ choices is generally the appropriateness of
the chosen form to the given context.

60
7 Conclusions

This thesis examines the nature and extent of subjunctive use in contemporary Australian
English by analysing occurrences and non-occurrences of this construction in ICE-AUS.
A detailed account of its distribution in AusE is complemented by an investigation into
pertinent geographical, stylistic and personal factors which impact upon subjunctive
usage.
The results of this thesis confirm previous findings that the mandative subjunctive
is maintaining its status as a productive construction in AusE (e.g. Peters 1998, Hundt
1998b). A moderate increase has been attested in this variant since the compilation of the
ACE corpus (1986) (see 5.1), potentially indicative of an increasingly strong preference
for the subjunctive following suasive expressions. Modal paraphrases are still an
important resource for some speakers in mandative constructions and indicatives are also
fairly widely attested in these contexts, although non-distinct forms make the exact extent
of their contribution difficult to ascertain (see 4.1.1 and 4.1.2). For the most part,
however, speakers’ preferences are clear: the morphological subjunctive is the favoured
form in mandative constructions.
The limited use of the were subjunctive in ICE-AUS points to a continued gradual
decline in this form in AusE. Corpus findings in this thesis show that the were
subjunctive is very much a minor construction after subordinators; modal auxiliaries and
indicative forms constitute the preferred choice of most speakers (see 4.2.1 and 4.2.2). It
is noted that the division of labour between the alternatives varies according to the
governing subordinator (see 4.2.4). Most were subjunctives are attested following the
conditional if and many cases may reflect the stiffening of the structure if x were into a
formulaic usage (Peters 1998: 101) akin to the set of ossified independent clause
subjunctives.
Conclusions reached in this thesis pertaining to the directionality of the influence
of subjunctive usage in other varieties of English upon AusE generally support previous
hypotheses about varietal interaction (e.g. Övergaard 1995, Hundt 1998b). The case of
the mandative subjunctive exemplifies the extent of AmE influence upon AusE,
reflecting the ‘global revival’ of this construction due to the proliferation of American

61
linguistic resources (see 5.2.4). The wane of the were subjunctive, on the other hand,
represents the fact that AusE is increasingly endonormative, distancing itself to an extent
from BrE grammatical norms. The decline in the were subjunctive is considerably more
advanced than in BrE or AmE, befitting Clyne’s (1992) pluricentric model of World
Englishes which allows for the development of AusE, and other varieties, as new epi-
centres, reciprocating the influences of other more established ‘centres of gravity’.
Observations in the literature concerning the putative “formal and legalistic”
connotations of the subjunctive (Quirk et al 1985: 157) are not entirely in line with usage
in contemporary AusE. Subjunctives are spread fairly evenly across spoken and written
texts and do not show any significant patterning according to the relative formality of text
type. These indications suggest that the subjunctive is moving towards a register-neutral
usage in AusE. Some variation is found, however, according to individual text types, as
the subjunctive is most widely attested in categories representing prepared spoken
language (public dialogue and scripted monologue).
Three major factors in Australian speakers’ subjunctive usage are established in
this thesis. Firstly, prevailing (namely prescriptivist) attitudes towards the subjunctive
and the perceived effectiveness of this structure may contribute to speakers’ choices
between the variants. Secondly, specific Australian approaches to language, such as those
reflecting a ‘levelling’ social attitude and the increasing endonormativity of AusE (see
6.2), are influential in the way many Australian speakers seek to construct identity
through language. Finally, individual variation has an undeniable effect on variation in
subjunctive usage. Factors such as socioeconomic background and age are found to be
significant in speakers’ choices (see 6.3). As with any linguistic phenomenon, though, the
deciding factor in language use is the appropriateness of the form in question to the given
context.
Contrary to much prescriptivist commentary, this thesis asserts that the
subjunctive in Australian English is not yet on its deathbed. Indeed, the mandative
subjunctive is marked by increasing productivity and continues to be an important
resource for speakers in the construction of certain subordinate content clauses. The were
subjunctive, though, does show evidence of a decline in numbers, and its usage is
increasingly characteristic of a formulaic construction. While there is a good deal of

62
evidence to indicate the continuation of these trends, the history of the development of
the subjunctive shows that the drift may change direction once again as the evolution of
syntactic structures is by no means uni-directional.

63
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67
Appendices

Appendix One: Makeup of ICE corpora

Reference Text Categories Quantity

SPOKEN TEXTS 300

Dialogue 180

S1A private 100

direct conversation 90
distanced conversation 10

S1B public 80
class lessons 20
broadcast discussions 20
broadcast interviews 10
parliamentary debates 10
legal cross-examinations 10
business transactions 10

Monologue 120

S2A unscripted 70
spontaneous commentaries 20
unscripted speeches 30
demonstrations 10
legal presentations 10 written

S2B scripted 50
broadcast news 20
broadcast talks 20
speeches (incl. lectures) 10
school broadcast 0

WRITTEN AS SPOKEN 0
hansards 0
legal cross-examinations 0

WRITTEN 200

68
W1A Non-Printed 50

non-professional writing 20
student untimed essays 10
student examination essays 10

W1B correspondence 30
social letters 15
business letters 15

legal presentations 0
judgments 0

Printed 150

W2A informational (learned) 40

humanities 10
social sciences 10
natural sciences 10
technology 10

W2B informational (popular) 40

humanities 10
social sciences 10
natural sciences 10
technology 10

W2C informational (reportage) 20

press news reports 20
feature / reportage 0
splash 0

W2D instructional 20
administrative / regulatory 10
skills / hobbies 10

W2E persuasive 10
press editorials 10
institutional 0
personal columns 0

W2F creative 20
novels / stories 20

69
Appendix two: Makeup of ACE, Brown & LOB corpora

ACE Brown LOB

A Press: reportage 44 44 44

B Press: editorial 27 27 27

C Press: reviews 17 17 17

D Religion 17 17 17

E Skills, trades, and hobbies 38 36 38

F Popular lore 44 48 44

G Belles lettres, biography, essays 77 75 77

H Miscellaneous (government documents, 30 30 30

foundation reports, industry reports,

college catalogue, industry house organ)

J Learned and scientific writings 80 80 80

K General fiction 29 29 29

L Mystery and detective fiction 15 24 24

M Science fiction 7 6 6

N Adventure and western fiction (bush) 8 29 29

P Romance and love story 15 29 29

R Humor 15 9 9

S Historical fiction 22 - -

W Women’s fiction 15 - -

Total 500 500 500

70
Appendix three: Corpus data

ADVISE
Subjunctives: 2
W2B-035(noone):129 I do not advise they be used as a starting point. Safe they may be in this
rifle but a change in case or primer could lead to dangerous overloads.
W2D-018(noone):66 If it is to be a long trek, schooling must be weighed up. For primary school
children the first step is to talk to the child's teacher and principal, who may well advise that each
child make a daily journal of the trip. Into a scrapbook will go weather reports, admission tickets,
pressed flow ers, photos, postcards or drawings plus a little description of the day's events. Be
careful not to edit, it needs to be the child's experiences.
To-infinitives: 8

ASK
Subjunctives: 1
W2E-007(noone):87 This is a sensitive subject for some veterans; but that is hardly reason to
deny its existence. Better to ask that it be properly done than cancelled so that, like the Hirosh
ima museum, it could be an enduring deter rent to man's inhumanity to man.
Ambiguous: 2
S1B-060(G):255 The ah the member for ah the the member who just got up and raised this point
Flinders I think it is ah did so by preceding his remarks giving instructions to you ah as to how
you ought to ah call the Prime Minister and ah and I as this is now a pattern in raising points of
order I'd ask that you declare that behaviour disorderly
(noone):209 Accordingly, we ask that you forward to us your cheque made payable to the District
Court of New South Wales in the sum of $135.00.
Modals:
To-infinitives: too numerous

DEMAND
Subjunctive: 9
S2A-016(C):220 He's still he's still willing to put the pressure on the dog but she stood and
demanded that he walk through
S2A-016(C):226 But there's that bad one He's looking to go I think because Bess has kept the
pressure on and demanded that he go through
S2B-002(B):17 For Senator Button the focal point was the union's demand that the Government
freeze its tariff reductions until unemployment is clearly declining
S2B-005(B):21 Initially the captors demanded the cash be dropped by plane but they were talked
out of that idea and decided on a pickup at sea.

71
S2B-015(Z):190 The homosexual movement er has been demanding for many years that no one
discriminate against them and here they are applying a er er a blatant um form of economic
discrimination against an ethnic group namely Tasmania
S2B-048(A):159 There are the mothers of the disappeared who every Thursday walk silently
around the Plaza de'Mao in Argentina holding placards of loved ones who are missing
demanding that justice be done
W2E-008(noone):47 Mr Liu's speech places China in opposition to the view of most nations
attending the un conference. Even Russia now accepts the validity of nations to speak out about
human rights abuses. However, Mr Liu correctly stressed the importance of economic
development as a means for improving internal standards. Prosperity is a powerful incentive. It
encourages people to work hard for peace, stability and freedom. But Mr Liu made a lopsided
argument of it when he demanded the people be absolutely subservient to the economic machine
and its rulers, and said: Nobody shall place his own rights and interests above those of the State
and society.
W1E-009(noone):34 Instead he allocated him the secondary portfolio of Commerce and Industry,
with stern demands that Hewson not buckle against his leadership.
W2F-018(noone):22 When the League of Good Men heard about the gatherings they went to the
kafeneio of Yiorgos the Apeface to put an end to all the mischief. But when they got there they
had to admit that there was no mischief, that everyone was well behaved. Everyone was laughing,
but there appeared to be no drunkards. The meals were delicious and well priced. The wild cherry
drink that everyone wanted was a sweet children's drink with no spirits at all. Before they left
they demanded that Yiorgos the Apeface at least pay for the octopus they had given him. In this
payment, Yiorgos the Apeface was prompt.
Indicatives: 2
S1B-037(E):82 Well I think that if I can just follow up I think they are and I think that young
women particularly are demanding that the those changes are made and uh I'd obviously like to
hear from others on that but I think we're starting to see a shift in the idea that women need
liberating to the idea that society needs changing
S2A-014(E):98 The U S president had made a demand uh that he represented a country of twenty
million people
Ambiguous: 3
S2A-040(A):234 We the students demand that we receive an education that is free and accessible
to everyone so it is it is inev inevitable that University Council support the students and the u ah
the above two the other two motions
(noone):8 This issue of The Critical Review starts from the perception that in "advanced" literary
circles for most of the 1970s and 1980s, few topics could have been more uninteresting, more d e-
acute pass e-acute , less likely to attract budding young theorists, than the topic Ethics and
Literature. For most of that period, explicit "ethical criticism" , to borrow Wayne Booth's phrase,
had "fallen on hard times" (The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction, Berkeley, 1988,
chapter 2). I will say nothing about what Booth might have regarded as the good times for ethical
criticism, the 1950s and 1960s, that period when straw dinosaurs walked the earth - we are
perhaps still too close to those times to say anything useful about them. On the other hand, there
is reason think that, at the more humble level of undergraduate pedagogy at least, ethical criticism
has continued on among us alive and well. Frederick Jameson, one of the most vehement critics
of ethical interests in literature, said a dozen years ago that when most teachers or students of
literature ask of a novel or a poem, "What does it mean?", the predominant "code" in terms of

72
which an answer is expected is the "ethical". "What does Lord Jim mean?", for example, is a
coded demand that we talk about the moral conflicts of the hero. Jameson's point is that
literature, even the latest novel, always comes to us through what he calls "sedimented reading
habits and categories developed by ... inherited interpretive traditions" (The Political
Unconscious: narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act, Ithaca, 1981, p. 9). Put simply, when our
critical traditions are formed by the likes of Aristotle, Pope, Dr Johnson, Matthew Arnold, Henry
James, F.R. Leavis and Lionel Trilling, it is small wonder that we highly educated Western
readers may share a prejudice (in Gadamer's sense) in favour of both ethical interpretation and
literature that offers moral insight. Indeed, what we think important enough to call "literature" in
the first place will be partly constituted by the demand that works offer such insight. If this is
circular, it is less a vicious circle than an hermeneutical one, and something about which we can
be reasonably relaxed.

DESIRE
No pertinent results

DIRECT
To-infinitives: 2
S1B-060(F):230 Under standing order eighty five a ah ah the speaker ah is ah required to direct a
member to discontinue remarks where those remarks are irrelevant ah or tedious repetition
W2F-007(noone):9 If you were my students I would direct you to read Efica: from penal colony
to welfare state, footnote marker The Caves of Democracy, footnote marker and Volume 3 of
Wilbur's The Dyer's Cauldron. footnote marker But you are not my students and I have no choice
but to juggle and tap-dance before you, begging you please sit in your seats while I have you
understand exactly why my heart is breaking.

DIRECTIVE
to-infinitives: 1
S2B-003(H):50 Despite an Industrial Relations Commission directive to end their stoppage
baggage handlers with QANTAS will stay on strike until at least the end of this week

INSIST
Subjunctives: 3
***DISAMBIGUATED S1A-033(B):254 No You insisted I fill your glass
W1B-006(noone):20 forename3 surname2 , our teacher, lived in Spain for 15 years. Recently the
Spanish Govt. changed the regulations for Canadians plus-like ampersand Australians insisting
that they lodge many thousands of dollars in a Govt. t T rust fund (or something like that) -
dollars forename3 didn't have.
W2E-008(noone):54 The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Evans, is right to insist the human
rights "lever" be a flexible one, employed on a case-by-case basis.
Indicatives: 1

73
S1A-068(A):234 Yeah well on the boat they did We insisted that they wore
Ambiguous: 2
W2C-015(noone):38 Department of Pri mary Industries officials have insisted that all horses -
thoroughbreds, standard breds, and pleasure horses - in the south of Queensland remain in their
own areas until the killer Continued Page 2 Police swoop on stable From Page 1 virus can be
identified.
W2E-004(noone):34 We can no longer insist that our trading partners do business with us in
English.
Modals: 1 (must)
W2A-(noone):20 Most debates about literary authorship have assumed the possibility of a life-art
opposition, whether affirming it, refuting it, or refining it (author-signature, biography-text,
history-form). Even the post-structuralist critique of authorship was read against the grain, in
American literary criticism, as a pretext for opposing art and life; in the crudest form of this
reading, if the 'real author' didn't matter then biography, politics and history could be excluded
from literary study. But in cinema studies (where Foucault's 'What is an author?', clearly asking
how, not if, authors matter, was read a little more carefully), 'the advent of post-structuralism had'
, as Patrice Petro points out, 'the opposite effect on feminist criticism' . But as Petro says,
Johnston was unusual in insisting that 'history, biography and textuality' must always combine in
such research.
Quasi-modals: 1 (had to)
S1A-034(B):206 And my mother was a very odd um dominating woman who insisted he had to
have his own shop

INSISTENCE
Modals: 1 (can)
w2a-013(noone):41 "Not Good Enough" was one blazoned headline rejoinder to a report on Dr
Mahathir's insistence that "we cannot accept Aussie explanation".

MOVE
Subjunctives: 7
s1b-073(A):12 No further apologies Move they be accepted
s1b-073(Z):26 Well that's the correspondence So I move that the outwards correspondence be
endorsed and the inwards correspondence be received
s1b-075(B):124 George I'd like to move that a vote of thanks be extended to those people who
helped organise it
s1b-076(A):14 Right Any other apologies Anyone like to move the apologies be received
s1b-076(A):69 Right Minutes have been read Would someone like to move they be received
s1b-076(A):88 Thank you Someone like to move the report be received
s1b-076(A):169 For without your continued interest um this Neighbourhood Watch could not
function thankyou Somebody like to move that report be received

74
Ambiguous: 1
s1b-078(A):278 Yeah Ann Ann's m uh moving that we have a flat fee
to-infinitive: 1
S2B-012(A):207 Michael Roland reports Transport Minister Laurie Brereton has meanwhile
moved to placate anxious Labor M Ps whose seats are under the new flight paths

ORDER
Subjunctives: 1
S2B-010(A):124 Natural resources minister Ian Causley says he's aware of the problem and that's
why he ordered the studies be undertaken
Passives c to-infinitives etc.: many, e.g. S2B-008(B):267 He also wants the Commission to
investigate suggestions that documents relating to the complaints were ordered to be shredded

PROPOSE
Ambiguous: 1
S2A-040(A):81 And um what that means is um at present the way we pay it back is based on
average earnings and um this year that means when you start earning twenty eight grand you start
paying it back but um in order to get that back quickly the Government wants to propose that you
earn less than that to when you start paying it back
To-infinitives: many

PROPOSITION
Only in sense of suggesting that sth has occurred or does occur

RECOMMEND
Ambiguous: 3
S1B-002(A):10 Un, called Women and Men in Othello And it was in a good book called The
Women's Part which I recommend you read, if you're interested in this sort of thing
W2B-032(noone):107 In this case, the manufac turer's data sheets recommend that you add a
Zobel network consisting of a 0,22 micro symbol F capacitor and a 1 ohm symbol resistor to the
output.
W2D-018(noone):49 Spend some time reading and interpreting the infor mation on your maps
before you venture into a remote area like the Simpson Desert, or even onto a winding forest
track closer to home. Note both natural features, such as hills, mountains, rivers, forests, and also
con structed landmarks such as roads, towns and railways crossings. Also, by understanding
contours, which show the shape of the ground, you will be able to read your topographic maps
and understand the immediate landscape much better. You should also be able to read grid
references in case you need to let others know where you are. Topographic maps have directions
for plotting a point on the margin. We strongly recommend you invest in an inexpensive guide

75
like Gregory's Four Wheel Drive Handbook, for detailed instructions on map reading before
setting out.
Indicatives: 1
W1B(noone):151 The royalty rate could potentially be quite low. The ASA recommends that
authors are paid an escalating royalty between 10-15% of the recommended retail price.
Modals: 1 (should)
W1B(noone):123 This is an unusual state of affairs in that normally sub-licensing overseas
editions takes place after the original Australian edition has been published. Nevertheless, the
rights which are granted to the publisher under 8.1 are exclusive world wide rights for publishing
the work in any form. There is no clause obliging the publisher to publish within a certain date
and no restriction on them sub-licensing overseas publishers before publishing the Australian
edition. The Australian Society of Authors recommends that the Publishers should be under an
express obligation to exercise the rights and publish within a specified time - no later than
eighteen months from the date of delivery, for example.
Present participle: many

REQUEST
Subjunctive: 2
W1B(noone):22 We note that prior to writing to Dr Dixon it may be easier if you could contact
your general practitioner, Dr Bone and request that he provide you with copies of any reports Dr
Dixon has provided to him subsequent to your attendance.
W2D-014(noone):23 All the lamps in the atrium were all the same and the clients requested that
it remain.
Ambiguous: 6
W1B-(noone):28 We have written to both the receiver and the Real Estate Services Council
advising them of your position, requesting that they note your interest and advise the present
status of your deposit.
W1B-019(noone):263 The individual plan which has been requested that we produce for each
client and an assessment of clients and activities will be forwarded to Newtown CES after the
conclusion of the program. A weekly attendance record for all participants will be faxed at the
beginning of the following week.
(noone):21 As indicated, Coles Myer have requested that we provide them with a report from Dr
Dixon should we be in possession of one.
(noone):130 Further, we request that you advise of the full particulars relating to such insurance
including: (noone):133 1. Name and address of relevant insurer; (noone):135 2. Claim number
and/or Policy number.
(noone):240 We enclose herewith for your attention copy of report of Dr D. Dixon dated 18th
July, 1994. We confirm that we have forwarded such report to Coles Myer with a request that
they advise of their instruction as to whether they are prepared to review the offer previously
made.
W1B-(noone):128 I have written to the owners requesting that they cease the hazard but they
ignored the letter and haven't even had termite treatment.

76
Indicatives: 3
w1b-024(noone):112 I would also request that all Blue Receipts up to 30th June, 1991 , are
forwarded to me as soon as possible after 30th June as I have to do a Print out for the Auditor of
all members paid by that date.
w1b-024(noone):115 IMPORTANT - TREASURERS PLEASE NOTE. The Auditor has
requested that any cheques made out to the Administration Centre before the end of the Financial
Year are here in time for us to BANK by the 30th June.
W2D-004(noone):225 "Self-help" involves the person who has been harassed approaching the
harasser themselves with a request that their behaviour ceases.

REQUIRE
Ambiguous: 3
S2B-002(C):20 Surely such a level of unemployment requires that governments revisit policy
initiatives
w2a-029(noone):52 The hard X-ray data (e.g. Dennis 1985) are interpreted in terms of
precipitating electrons emitting bremsstrahlung, and the data then require that greater
than/approximate-sign 20 keV electrons precipitate at a rate up to about 10 36 s -1 (Hoyng,
Brown and van Beek 1976).
w2d-003(noone):178 Require that approving officers consider the key approval questions
(concerning necessity for travel and overnight stay, appropriate person and mode of transport,
cost and availability of funds) before approving travel.
Indicatives: 3
W1A-009(noone):30 The next major development was the Davis, Biddulph and Balashek
machine. (Appendix 4). Speech was filtered into two frequency bands and the zero crossing rates
within each band used as primary features. The advent of the digital computer made this form of
speech recognisor viable in the 1960's as only digital technology provided the memory which was
necessary. In this process the unknown sequence of spectral components was aligned in turn
against each known sequence in a 'template' library. The best fit was considered the correct
example. The problem with these machines was that only very simple processing could only be
used at almost every stage and that the sequence of operation was slow. The operation was slow
due to the requirement that the speech was collected until silence was detected, then normalised,
matched and finally reported. As a result there was a slow response time between when the
speech was uttered to when the result was reported. This post utterance delay was later eliminated
by a new technique of dynamic programming.
W1A-017(noone):35 However, private production does require that the final price is made up of
the costs of production plus a profit margin - eg;
W1A-017(noone):296 Currently, wholesales sales taxes creates create a great deal of avoidance
& evasion as the tax is levied on turnover at 3 rates levels. As such it requires that records are
maintained accurately & sales aren't understated.

STIPULATE
No pertinent results

77
SUGGEST
Subjunctive: 5
***DISAMBIGUATED S1A-003(A):35 No And he wanted to play ah golf and ah all that and of
course we suggested they go up to the Kuranda thing and if they had time
***DISAMBIGUATED S1A-064(A):47 So uh thenthen the I you know because because I don't
I don't like staying in one crowded place for one for too long so I I suggested that we go back to
their place
***DISAMBIGUATED S2B-047(A):71 So ah management while being broadly sympathetic ah
suggested that I get to know the law in these matters and ah this I subse subsequently tried to do
ah with my fingers crossed that nobody had been listening to those particular broadcasts and
nobody had
W1B-(noone):19 1. suggest that your Research Department report on the industry, and
W1B(noone):39 While I can accept that people make mistakes and processes fail from time to
time I cannot accept being deliberately deceived. There seems to be some indication that this has
happened. My suspicions have been raised due to the inordinate time delay in getting the film
back. If the film was received "damaged" why was it held at the laboratory for such a long time?
Surely there was nothing to be gained in retaining it? (There was a benefit in ignoring the matter).
Is it entirely coincidental that the film appeared such a short time after I made an inquiry? Why
did the operator not call back? I cannot even feel confident that the film returned to me is the one
I sent in. I note the order number on the packaging carries a different number than on the film.
You suggested the film and packaging are not matched using these numbers but rather other
identifiers. This may be the case but could I suggest that the identifiers on the film and package
be checked to see if they were used on or about the date of processing. (You may also like to
comment on the fact that the identifying tag is not securely attached to the film and and it is
"damaged" in a way consistent with being "relocated")
Ambiguous: 12
S1B-060(B):263 I would suggest I I would suggest that all members on both sides that they take
the opportunity to read the opportunity to read the standing orders on how they approach the
dispatch box or raise legitimate points of order in this place
S2A-030(A):69 If you're finishing at the end of this semester then I would suggest you pick up a
copy of that every week as well
S2A-039(noone):127 But if you regard the item as essential and by essential we really only mean
school items things that children require for school not necessarily tennis racquets or ballet shoes
or footballs but essential items just for functioning at school then the parents allowed to exchange
one of those items and we suggest that you choose and item with high value
S2A-039(noone):155 We suggest that you wash them and you you and you put them folded into
um the areas that the children are going to collect them on Sunday
S2A-039(noone):161 And in fact if you've got more than one children we suggest that you label
the rubbish that comes out of their room
S2A-039(noone):187 We suggest that when you find out about this that you take the items for
then two weeks instead of one
S2B-025(noone):46 It's suggested that we draw a line around the existing built-up area and
dissuade any potential new settlers

78
W1B-004(noone):52 It takes a while to settle back into routine when you've been away doesn't it?
I know I get a lot more letters than the average person and the letters take ages to reply to or do
whatever the business letters are suggesting that I do.
W1B-006(noone):70 I will now start letter 2. Suggest you keep the $700 in your own account for
a while until you see how things develop in the "Lands Department" but please cash it soon or I'll
be thinking I have $700 that I don't have
W1B-010(noone):26 Incidentally, Pamela has suggested we enclose a special "Australian"
newspaper supplement on the Liberal Party's 50th birthday for you, Tony, as she thought you
might be interested in reading it.
W1B -??018??(noone):128 Should you hold insurance we suggest that you contact such company
in order to advise of the claim being made by our client.
w1b-024(noone):99 I would suggest that you contact your auditor now and make your
arrangements so that the Audited Financial Return will be in Head Office by the required date,
namely 3lst August, 1992. Also make arrangements with your Bank to receive a Statement as at
30th June, 1992. This is very IMPORTANT.
Indicatives: 1
s1b-073(A):187 suggest he does that in the Science Show
Modals: 6 (could, should x 4, must, would)
S1A-016(A):28 Um She suggested today that they could get Firstname3 a she said a trumpet then
I realised she meant a bugle
S1B-054(A):176 Are you suggesting are you suggesting that they should carte blanchehand you
twenty three million dollars
S1B-074(C):199 Are you suggesting that we should find a lawyer for the board
S2B-013(Z):164 Well in the there are a lot of people who think that it should ah and ah for
example there's a woman here in New York named Dina Goldfield who has ah suggested that the
syllable man must be replaced in all written and ah printed speech and language because men
have had /> had the best of it for too long so she suggests that in in commercials and where ever
else you would replace the syllable man with with the syllable fem just to make things more even
W1B-010(noone):21 While he was waiting, he noticed a Parking Officer walk past his car down
the street, cross to the other side, and come back up again. He was a bit puzzled about this strange
behaviour, but his puzzlement evaporated when two days later he received a $115 fine for
stopping in a No Stopping zone. He paid the fine, as he had stopped in the zone, albeit for about
two minutes, but after stewing about it for a few days, wrote a letter of protest to the North Shore
Times, which was published, and after stewing for a few more days, decided to write to the
Minister, Terry Griffiths, complaining about the Parking Officer's conduct, and suggesting that
the officer should be counselled. Anyway, to cut a long and boring story short, several exchanges
of correspondence took place, with the Minister adopting an unsympathetic and totally negative
attitude, which absolutely enraged Allan. So you will not be surprised that when Griffiths was
more or less forced to resign from his position for having made repeated sexual advances to his
female staff, Allan thought it would be appropriate to write him a brief note as follows: You can
imagine how pleased I was to learn of your resignation in disgrace from the hallowed office of
Minister for Police, and how avidly I followed each denouement as you wriggled and squirmed in
your futile attempts to extricate yourself from the situation in which you had landed yourself.

79
w2b-020(noone):23 Today, that kind of proposition sounds absurd. Today, anyone who seriously
suggested that women should settle for second-class status or for a second-hand identity would be
run out of town.

SUGGESTION
Quasi-modals: 1 (ought)
S2A-047(noone):101 Now for officials of course and uh any suggestion that administrative
officers ought to be included in this uh is uh regarded as and I will quote you they might as well
all come because they're running the union aren't they

URGE
No pertinent results

SUASIVE ADJECTIVES

DESIRABLE
Ambiguous: 1
W2D-004(noone):196 It is highly desirable that the manager/supervisor and the person making
the complaint have access to people with expertise in dealing with sexual harassment matters.
Modals: 1 (could)
W1B(noone):176 These increases are expected whether or not the NRMA Group is converted to a
listed company." I realise that these matters are more fully discussed later in the Report but it is
undesirable that conclusions could be influenced by such announcements & further debate
perhaps inhibited.

ESSENTIAL
Subjunctive: 3
W1B(noone):175 We thank you for the report received from Wynyard Sports Injury Clinic and
note that such will assist with regard to Nicola's claim. Prior to Nicola's departure we did indicate
to her that it was essential that she keep a record of all relevant practitioners upon whom she
attends for treatment whilst she is overseas as it may be necessary to obtain appropriate reports
from such practitioners during the course of her claim.
W2B-013(noone):90 The Ger mans applauded when he said it was essential that the country be
united within the year.
w2d-003(noone):92 It is also essential that those responsible for approving travel be given
appropriate financial delegation. Delegations, which usually apply to a particular position rather
than to individuals, should be in writing and should specify expenditure limits.
Ambiguous: 2
(noone):60 The amount of compensation that is payable to you is determined upon considering
the extent of your initial injuries, the resultant disabilities arising from such injuries, the prognosis

80
provided by your medical practitioners with regard to your symptomology and the amount of
funds with which you are out ofpocket in relation to obtaining treatment for your continuing
disabilities. The opinions of your treating medical practitioners are of the utmost importance with
respect to compensation claims and it is essential that you continue to attend upon such
practitioners in order to obtain appropriate treatment for your continuing disabilities.
W2E-002(noone):107 Yet it is essential we recognise that unless we choose to give up some
treasured aspects of our workstyle we risk having the sacrifice imposed on us.
Indicatives: 2
WIA-002(noone):35 The growth of Canberra is similarly limited in the south and west, so that
urban expansion here may also eventually be directed northwards into the corridor. Large scale
urban development however may change the nature of the corridor from one of scenic rural towns
to what could be seen as an extension of the urban sprawl. It is essential there fore that
development of the corridor is planned to accommodate population growth while maintaining the
rural atmosphere and minimising environmental impacts.
W2D-007(noone):293 It is intended that preference will be given to two classes of researchers:
bullet those who do not need any other type of assistance where it is essential that the applicant
her/himself carries out the research and cannot usefully apply for other types of support (such as
might be obtained under the other four of the first five categories described in this section); bullet
those responsible for very large projects funded by Commonwealth granting agencies which do
not provide any infrastructure support which could otherwise contribute to teaching relief or
direct administrative assistance.
Modals: 1 (must)
S1B-052(E):190 It is essential that the point of delivery for raw sugar at which the Sugar Co-
operative acquires the sugar must remain and what I'm saying for members to ah enlighten them
is that the raw sugar will go ah go ah into Mac race course mill race course mill has to acquire
that sugar from the Corporation less transport costs and vary various other things they get at a
cheaper rate

IMPORTANT
Subjunctives: 2
S1B-041(A):45 Oh animals don't like climbing something that's unsafe that if you build a fence
out of chain mesh then a fox will just cross it as if it was a ladder so it's important that it be
unsafe
W1A-020(noone):36 It is important that developed countries be seen as part of the problem on a
greater scale (due to their greater resources) than countries with less resources.
Ambiguous: 10
S1B-021(C):66 Yes I think ah it's very important that schools, like in other curriculum areas,
have a responsibility to provide a sporting and indeed a physical education option for all their
students
S1B-021(C):75 So in a sense I think it's very important that ah schools provide,if you like, a a
sport for all ethos, um which recognises the need for for young people to be able to pursue sport
at their elite end
S1B-035(A):20 II know that Dougie but what my point is that we mention those players all the
time and of course they are important but the people who give them a chance to prevail are the

81
support staff who are not support in any lesser capacity 'cos they're in the side but it is so
important that those lesser knownthe lesser public guys ah actually perform on the day
S1B-037(E):65 Uh I think it's very important that we look at what's been achieved and I agree
that in the last twenty years there's been enormous movement but one of the things that I think is
clearly in the workplace and in politics is the fact that the environments in which women work
and make decisions haven't changed to suit them
S1B-077(C):177 As soon as I get confirmation of that Um I think it's very important that we get
the the tax concession
s2b-026(noone):73 In today's debate over the environmental crisis, for example, it is important
that we go beyond questions which are commonly asked in the debate
W2B-023(noone):87 It is important that these glasses have UV filtration qualities.
W2B-023(noone):112 The ozone layer is vital for our planet. While it is uncertain that its
depletion can ever be rectified, it is important that we all become aware of our actions, both for
the environment, and for our own health.
W2D-001(noone):14 It is important that you provide 'quality' information and assistance to
prospective applicants.
W2D-004(noone):159 It is important that managers and supervisors gain the trust of those
involved in a sexual harassment complaint. They can do this by listening carefully to what is said,
by making sure that the complaint is taken seriously, and is dealt with fairly and promptly.
Indicatives: 8
S2A-021(A):236 It's not so important that it actually provides woodworking skills because the
jobs the trainees go into afterwards could be anything ??
S2A-039(noone):92 Now it's important that parents are there and they do get the time they've
agreed on with the child so if the child has said that the parents agreed that seven pm is a good
time to do this, the child knows they have any time up to about seven o'clock to get things away
in their room and if they don't their parents have the right to pick up those things and put them in
the bag
S2A-043(A):146 Uhm it's also important that the whole thing's not seen as exercise that workers
have to work with them they don't just go there to make cups of tea and coffee and and then just
leave them which is how some support services work
S2B-007(F):49 Dr Hewson will win and um for that reason what I'm saying to people is that it's
very very important that Democrats are in there to um not only keep the bastards honest but to
keep the bastards fair and just and equitable as well
S2B-025(noone):53 I asked there why it was important that more of us are choosing or are
forced by circumstances to live in smaller households, usually with one other person or alone
w1b-024(noone):110 It is most important that the above dates are strictly adhered to. Last year
some returns were not in by the due date and this can incur extra costs, as well as precious time
being wasted in chasing up these returns.
w2a-022(noone):24 The real world is simplified in all hydrologic and water quality models and so
it is important that potential users are aware of these simplifications and approximations and
that the right model is used in the right way.

82
W2D-001(noone):40 So it is important that each Committee member understands the
procedures and techniques involved in selection, and knows how these relate to the principles of
equal opportunity in employment.
Modals: 4 (can, should x2, will)
S1A-026(B):146 We're we're trying to entertain and ah you know when we're in the middle of
bastard recessions and you know so forth like that we think it's important that for your two
dollars twenty blokes can do they can just go down there and they can pick up a magazine and
they can have a good laugh
S1B-061(A):241 I've got another six days leave but I really think it's important that I should
travel from Rome to Nice and then Duseldorf and sought the Minister's permission
S2B-025(noone):5 Why is it important that increasingly people will live alone in our cities
w2a-011(noone):46 Social, rather than medical, research is required to provide answers to these
questions. We think it important that the specific capacities of the social sciences to deal with
these issues should be recognised and mobilised.
Quasi-modals: 1 (have to)
S2A-037(noone):27 But basically that was done by by Julie ah Critle um ordering information
from lecturers about their um about their units um after we'd organised a a sort of a search profile
based on um basically key concepts and key words which came from our definitions of cultural
study and I'll say something about our definitions of cultural studies in a moment because it's
important that we have to actually have a concept of cultural studies to begin with because it's a
contested field

NECESSARY
Ambiguous: 1
(noone):23 Should Dr Bone not be in possession of any reports it will be necessary that we
formally request a report from Dr Dixon who is more likely than not to require prepayment report
fees for the provision of same.

SUPPOSE (in non-real meaning)

Ambiguous: 1
S1B-007(B):134 I mean if you've already got some hypothesis and if you know repeat performing
a hypothetico-deductive experiment you've got your hypothesis you deduce a set of observational
consequences from the hypothesis and then you have a look and suppose the fact and the
consequences contradict what you've deduced then by modus comments you can deduce the um
falisty of the hypothesis
Modals: 1 (might)
W2F-013(noone):40 I tried to believe that somewhere in some country on the far side of the grey
cross-hatching in books, a woman might once have looked at and named without shyness or
shame the naked pink object that I pretended not to notice if it protruded from beneath the bull
that moaned and shoved against the tall fence around the yard where my father's brother milked
his Jersey cows while my father and I watched during our summer holidays. And after I had
enjoyed the delicious shock of supposing that a woman might once have done those things, I
dared to ask myself whether a woman in some story I had still not read might have put a delicate

83
finger to the object while it rested in the hands of one of her slaves, or might even have curled all
of her fingers around the object and lifted it away from the slave and then - and here I winced or
hugged myself or gasped - stepped daintily towards the man who had been cower ing naked all
this time with his back to the woman and with his hands in front of his privates, and brought the
long and quivering object down on his white buttocks.

WISH
N.B. many to-infinitives and some indicatives e.g.
S1A-027(B):150 Atall atall atall I wish I was IrishWhere has my book gone
W2F-020(noone):14 'Ella, my love, you have reached the nub. I sometimes wish I was William
and could just tell people what I want them to know.'
S1A-039(B):318 Oh oh I wish it was the eighties man I wish it was still the eighties
Modals: (would x5, could x4)
S1A-057(A):303 I wish he'd clean the inside window as well
S1A-069(A):229 I wish something exciting like that would happen to me
S1A-082(B):316 No Demi I wish you'd keep your hair black instead of changing it to blonde
S1A-094(B):79 I felt so guilty not driving you on Frid on Saturday though I wish I could drive
S2B-040(A):191 Have you ever wished you could just conjure up fifty dollars any time you like
just like that
S2B-046(A):83 He wished he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to
him
W1B-009(noone):38 At Munich a little old man got on & had the seat next to mine. He turned out
to be an ex-consul general in the German diplomatic service, spoke perfect English & was full of
interesting information. What luck for me! He'd been many years in Ankara but well before
Philip's time there. We had warm & mostly sunny weather for the whole week (in England also
incredibly dry & warm) & so could enjoy the sight-seeing - well most of it. Florence was rather a
shock & disappointment - so much traffic noise & people that the buildings one had dreamed
about & wanted to see for so long were nothing like their pictures in books. Well, I didn't expect
"A Room With a View" but wasn't prepared for all the clutter. Never mind, Pisa made up for it
with the marvellous Cathedral Square with the Baptistry, Cathedral & of course the L.T. in
sparkling white marble set off by brilliant green grass & no cars. Lucca was interesting for tall
houses & narrow streets & no traffic in the old part. Three Medici Villas were fascinating with
murals in one of them amazingly fresh in their original state after nearly 4 centuries. Our
Reiseleiter was a very erudite young man & I wish & could have understood all his talks, but
caught enough to help appreciate it all. Verona was elegant & Innsbruck provided a memorable
goulash souup on our way back! The drive in sunshine through the Eisack & Etch Valleys in the
Sudtyrol was one long calendar picture of Alps, forts & castles on hills, green, green grass &
autumn colours in the trees.
w2b-009(noone):38 The Eye of the Storm was working in White's mind all this time. There was
never a novel he knew so much about before he put it on paper. Even as Ruth lay in Rutland
House six years before, he knew he would write about her death, attended by acolytes and
besieged by heirs who wished this opulent convalescence would end, either with death or a bare
room at the Blue Nuns. He saw that the core of the novel would be the struggle between himself
and that almost senile woman of immense will. He might have called it Death and Corrup tion or

84
perhaps Darker Purposes. The novel tends to stress the darker purposes in the lives of the main
characters, one of whom is an actor who has failed as Lear, like most actors, and who returns to
Australia with his sister to persuade their aged mother to die.
W2F-006(noone):107 'Timber,' calls out Charles Gummer each time. Lettie wishes he'd stop.

SUBORDINATORS

AS IF
Subjunctive (were): 5
(DISQUALIFIED: quoting from literature S1B-002(A):82 Um, for example, when Desdemona
says, I think it's right at the beginning of Act Three, Scene Three, yes, she says Be thou assured of
Cassio, I will do all my abilities and Amelia says Good madam, do as if the cause were his )
w2b-008(noone):2 Qumran, in the Wilderness of Judea, had been the place of exile of the Essenes
since at least the second century BC. They were the old aristocrats, who longed for a return to the
great days of Israel, when a David was on the throne and a Zadokite high priest was in the temple.
While they waited and prayed for such a Restoration, their priests performed all the services in a
courtyard on the barren plateau, acting as if it were a temple. The lay acolytes who had
accompanied them into exile lived a monastic existence in the large building east ofthe aqueduct,
devoting their lives to the service of the priests and to prayer.
W2B-021(noone):17 Wombat, she whispered, gestur ing towards a strange-looking, shuf fling
creature that had appeared at the entrance of a large hole beneath one of the eucalypt's
horizontally growing roots. I watched as it paused, one paw diffidently raised, its broad, blunt
head drooping as if the animal were still asleep. Only its widely dilating nos trils indicated that it
was carefully testing the evening air before ventur ing beyond the safety of its burrow.
W2F-005(noone):57 If she could, she would have redrawn the maps of those lost times, overcome
by sadness and its high dingo howl across emptied, flat tened desert-scapes. She thought of her
children and their kid faces became mnemonics for do mestic detail she now dug up, gently
sifting earth and sand, to lay each moment out as if it were a bowl, vase, tile, of simple but
searing beauty.
W2F-007(noone):26 She walked straight past the line of empty red and silver cabs whose Sikh
taxi-men, unaware of the emergency taking place underneath their noses, continued to talk to
each other from behind their steering wheels, via the radio. As she crossed the Boulevard des
Indiennes to the river she already felt distinctly uncomfortable, as if she were holding back a
pumpkin, and yet she would not abandon her plan, i.e. to walk quietly, by herself, along the river
to the Mater Hospital. She had long ago decided on this and she was a woman who always carried
out her plans.
W2F-008(noone):69 The woman sighed: 'I knew you wouldn't believe me. The police acted as if
I were just some menopausal housewife with too much time on my hands.
Ambiguous: 12
S1A-005(A):180 B- Out past there and along further um like if you turned down to as if you were
going to Hudson's but you kept going up towards the car yards and then you turned right sort of
mixed in with all the factories

85
S1B-031(C):50 It's as if you were driving around Canberra or Sydney with a nineteen hundred
and one street map and you keep wondering why it is that you can't recognise the things that are
before you
S2A-020(C):69 It looks like the guys on the northern side of the harbour from the angle here
looked as if they were doing really well
S2B-039(A):29 He chomps through them as if they were made out of tissue paper and then sets
them on fire as he breaths on them through his nostrils
W1B-009(noone):10 It was a bit too near in time to appreciate having it all set up as if they were
still around - dining table set for a banquet with very blue venetian wine-glasses & plates which
would not improve one's appetite; afternoon tea tray ready in the drawing room (the only really
elegant room) & all his court robes & other uniforms standing about in a headless gathering. I
heard a lady say in a worried tone: "They ought to be behind glass or they'll rot."
w2a(noone):120 Nonetheless, social policy treated women as if they were financial dependants.
w2b-008(noone):3 Every day, at ll a.m., the monks ceased their work and came to the large
stepped cistern on the east side of their building. Taking off their working clothes and leaving
only a loincloth, they went down into the water and had a long, refreshing bath. Taking a bath not
only washed away sweat, but washed away sin, for the men must now be in a perfectly holy state.
They were about to eat the holy food of priests, acting as if they themselves were priests.
w2b-020(noone):63 Even those women who felt themselves to be most ground down or
misunderstood as a result of trying to combine the two roles felt that to retreat from the workforce
would be to admit defeat and to run the risk of being seen as a traitor to the revolution. Those
mothers who elected to stay home and look after their families on a full-time basis reported
during the 1980s that the strongest sense of disapproval which they felt came not from husbands
(who might have appreciated the extra income or the extra stimulation associated with a working
wife), but from other women. It became a common complaint among stay-at-home mothers of the
1980s that they were often treated by working women as if they were somehow letting down the
revolution.
W2E-005(noone):192 In fact, as the personal animosity between the Prime Minister, Mr Paul
Keating, and the Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson, has intensified, Ques tion Time has
become the political equivalent of feeding time at the zoo, with the parliamentary animals ripping
into each other as if they were chunks of raw meat.
W2F-002(noone):20 Granny did not have guests and neither did Mort. When they shut the gates
at night it was as if they were severing connection with 'The General Public' until morning.
W2F-012(noone):29 I had come up against certain ingrained difficulties on the subject of the
soldiers. Her set was the one I had had as a boy, supplemented by new Boer War issue, and it was
a beauty. However, it had taken me quite a time to teach Lilian how to play with it properly. At
first she had been inclined to treat the soldiers rather as if they were dolls: I would come in and
find them leaning up together to drink tea out of a thimble, or on their backs under a handkerchief
being put to bed. Teaching her was not easy, but I persisted. I supplied her with new forts and
model landscapes; but it was when I found some corpses and puddles of bright-red blood that I
got her interested. Finally she got the hang of it, and she even learned to do a rather snorty
version of my own cannon-noise. diamonds
(noone):6 I am still convinced that the regular army guys resented the fact that we were national
servicemen and they there fore treated us as if we were second-class citizens.
Modals: 5 (could x3, should, might)

86
S1A-066(A):123 So I felt as if you know that that I shouldn't have I shouldn't have in my mind
put her down as much as I did S1A-068(B):52 Um I don't understand It sounds as if it could be
Sutherland Road
S2A-020(C):96 That's right Rob and at the start it looked like the yacht just to weather of
Ragamuffin the dark smaller boat looked to me as if it could've been over the line I reckon
S2B-045(noone):74 What I mean to say is that when we are young what is told to us what we
take into our young and vivid imagination through the telling becomes an experience as real to us
as if we really could recall in all its the liveliness of our five senses that happening
W2B-005(noone):80 It looked as if the southerners might vanquish New South Wales, despite the
absence of three Victorian Representative players in South Africa.
W2F-009(noone):73 Birdie flicked the lighter and held its tiny flame out in front of her till it got
too hot to hold, straining her eyes to see. 'We're nearly there,' she said. 'Four or five more steps.'
Her heart was beating hard, somewhere up near the top of her chest. It was as if she could feel it
in the base of her throat. She felt like choking. Something was wrong, she could feel it. The
blackness at the top of the stairs was in finitely menacing. But she dragged her feet on over the
thick carpet, grateful for the sound and warmth of Edwina behind her.

AS THOUGH
Subjunctive: 1
S2B-035(A):9 The same ice that once crushed Shackleton's ship Endurance as though it were no
more than a Japanese car
Ambiguous: 2
S1A-070(B):136 Because they recorders as though they were trumpets and you know just the
difference in price and value and it didn't to them
w2a-009(noone):5 For the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, there is no step 'beyond the text'
unless 'text' is understood in the narrow, conventional, colloquial sense of the term, where truth
would indeed be equivalent to a reality beyond the confines of books and libraries, arm-chairs and
ivory towers of every kind. One may well be able to step beyond the text that is equivalent to
'book', but this is not what Derrida means by text. Rather, he argues, a certain kind of framework
has been imposed on him, certain categories (such as 'deconstructionist') have been used to
classify his work for polemical reasons thereby depriving it of its intellectual inventiveness.
Pierre Bourdieu could easily be speaking on behalf of Derrida as well as himself when he says:
'The logic of the classificatory label is very exactly that of racism, which stigmatizes its victims
by imprisoning them in a negative essence' (Bourdieu 1987:39) . Of course it is true that in
everyday life, people speak of writing and of text as though these were secondary phenomena,
and quite unproblematic secondary phenomena at that. Fine distinctions are left out of account;
the logical and philosophical - or even metaphysical - aspects of thought and action are hardly
given a moment's attention. Perhaps the more prejudicial aspects of popular culture (reinforced by
the media) find their very condition of possibility in this influence of the unproblematic, taken-
for-granted dimension of social life. Derrida's whole raison d'etre as a philosopher is revealed in
the commitment to make fine distinctions, to reflect on what passes for the obvious, the taken-for-
granted, the natural. So it is very likely that the effect of Derrida's approach in Australia is going
to be, if it has not already been, somewhat scandalous. For, in many ways, Australian culture has
been founded on a notion of populism and anti-elitism, not to mention, anti-intellectualism. This
populism has been legitimated by references to democracy and fair-play, as well as to various
forms of naturalism. In order that Derrida's position might, by contrast, be appreciated, I shall cite

87
him at length as he describes what he means by 'text', while in the midst of a political debate
about apartheid: It is precisely for strategic reasons ... that I found it necessary to recast the
concept of text by generalising it almost without limit, in any case without present or perceptible
limit, without any limit that is.
Modals: 2 (can, would)
S1B-040(C):106 There was there was no room for it It was as though we can understand men's
violence against women and children that it arises out of their masculinity
W2A-(noone):9 That is to say, I no longer have a retrospective relationship to Claire Johnston's
work. I think I did when she died. By 1987, a sense of sharp distinction between the 1970s and
the 1980s had been widely expressed for years in many areas of our cultural - and political - life.
In the media, enormous debates about the future of Australia could be packaged as 'Hawke versus
Whitlam'. In 'the arts', this often took the form of an opposition of styles: it was not uncommon
for speakers at public forums to introduce themselves polemically as 'an eighties person', as
though whole paradigms would neatly follow suit like credit cards hanging from a wallet. But
beyond these testimonials to the enduring power of classical vanguard narrative, an experience of
what Laura Mulvey (in her essay on closure and the 1980s) calls 'Changes' was also real, intense,
and necessary then for feminism as a movement.

EVEN IF
Ambiguous: 4
S1A-060(B):275 Like you wouldn't even if like if you were seriously gonna marry and all of that
you wouldn't want you want your child to be the best you can
S1B-042(B):227 But even if those issues were resolved in a collective manner it would still be
necessary for individual plaintiffs to prove individual use of a product individual damage and
they would also need to establish that their particular problems were caused by the drug in
question
S1B-047(B):94 The other things that lumped us all together as you said earlier was that we all
came to Nicaragua I think expecting that we could contribute to what was going on there and that
we had really good ideas about how to change the world even if those ideas were nothing more
than thinking that because we had an education and because we know how to plan and organise
ourselves and set goals that that would be helpful
S1B-057(?):195 Well does that mean even if the words weren't there
Modals: 1 (might)
S1A-095(B):195 He's obviously a criminal and he should go down and and their arguments are
basically there's too much crime in society and if we let the buggers get away with the things
even if he might be if if even if he might be innocent if he didn't do this he's done something else
Quasi-modals: 1 (have to)
W2F (noone):70 Or I would describe, to myself, the "maaagnificent century by Rex Hunt". As it
turned out, I was far better at cricket than at football, even if I have to admit that I was not a
natural football talent. I had to work very, very hard on my game and the fact that I eventually
played at the top level was only because of hard work and constant practice.

EVEN THOUGH

88
Modals: 6 (may x4, can, must)
S1A-095(B):156 so that that you could d-d- I could say well I do have some doubts but the the
the mind of the jury as a whole is is made up even though I may personally
S2B-043(noone):198 Like a craftsman looks to some model and tries to bring that into existence
in the material that he's got, even though it may be a to some extent unsuitable or at any rate
variable, and even though he may not completely achieve ah his aim, he has a model in mind
w2a-009(noone):7 That's why there is nothing 'beyond the text.' That's why South Africa and
apartheid are, like you and me, part of this general text, which is not to say that it can be read the
way one reads a book. That's why the text is always a field of forces: heterogeneous, differential,
open, and so on. That's why deconstructive readings and writings are concerned not only with
library books, with discourses, with conceptual and semantic contents ... They are also effective
or active (as one says) interventions, in particular political and institutional interventions that
transform contexts without limiting themselves to theoretical or constative utterances even
though they must also produce such utterances. That's why I do not go 'beyond the text,' in this
new sense of the word text, by fighting and calling for a fight against apartheid, for example ...
(Derrida 1986: 167-8) .
w2a-022(noone):32 There are many instances where the wrong runoff production mechanism has
been applied, even though we can now mathematically describe both mechanisms quite well.
w2a-031(noone):56 Thus, the pathogen is commonly named 'jarrah dieback', even though many
species in the understorey may be killed several years before the first symptoms are apparent in
individual jarrah trees.

HOWEVER (+ ADJECTIVE)
Ambiguous: 1
S1A-042(B):202 So I just I just figure well before I go home I'll just go and sit in the library for
an hour or two hours or however long I feel like
Modals: (may x2)
s2b-024(noone):81 It must not lose that early resolve however frustrating may become the
processes of investigation and prosecution
W2E-004(noone):148 However beneficial the partnership may be in opposition, a coalition
government is likely to be fraught with difficulties and tensions, and Mr Kennett may well wish
to loose the ties bound under Mr Brown's stewardship.

IF
Conditional
Subjunctives (conditional): 25
S1B-002(G):233 If he weren't black, do you think it would have been the same situation
S1A-026(A):91 If say just hypothetically a woman were to walk across a muddy creek she would
be a swamp woman ah
S1B-021(D):44 So rather than organising a competition for example i in say soccer or football ah
that runs for three to four months, then ah I I feel that it would encourage more students to
participate if there if it were a shorter competition, made more interesting, ah en encompassing

89
ah teams from various areas to participate, and I also think that um the one advantage that school
sport has over community sport ah in the cost area is that it is much cheaper for students to
participate in sport at school
S1B-027(A):173 W d the story that I was interested in you telling perhaps is is that in the in the
Herscue case, my understanding is that the defence solicitors employed private detectives who
then er er rang prospective jurors and in a couple of instances visited them and said they were
from the Morgan Gallop Poll Group, and if there were an election next week, which way would
they vote?
S1B-042(B):217 For example if it were to be the case that the nature of the warnings was similar
or not dissimilar between each of the products then the adequacy of that warning or patient
information could be tested in a sense in a generic manner
S1B-061(B):215 So I said we will send fullnameF6 who was the person responsible for that area
but if there were any reason that I could get there I would be there
S2A-002(A):106 Now if the music were to have broken or the the cassette tape if that had broken
then she could have another try
S2B-023(noone):103 We would become Fortress Australia Of course, if anyone were found HIV-
positive at the airport, they'd simply be turned away unceremoniously
S2B-027(noone):21 All the zoologists in the audience were aghast I pointed out to the speaker
that according to his computer model if one were to withhold food from the family dog for a day
one should expect to see the dog foraging less in order to spin out the now reduced supply of food
N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY.
S2B-032(A):61 If it weren't for this shiny fluid they might It's mucus secreted by the stomach
walls and a micro-thin film of it is enough to keep the corrosive juices at bay
W1B(noone):132 If the publisher were to employ someone else to edit and adapt the work for the
American market, they would need to pay for that skill and labour. N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-
MODAL CATEGORY.
w1b-029(noone):233 If it were a toaster I would take it back and get a refund!!! ??
w2a-014(noone):157 If further employment were available in areas more directly involving
science and technology, however, it would be a simple matter to channel psychologists in that
direction.
W2A-026(noone):30 The simplest explanation for these shifts in the balance of populations and
species of mammals is that it is food-derived. It could be argued that the greater availability of
krill as a result of the very great reduction in biomass of krill predators, in the form of the great
whales, has allowed the other krill predators (crabeater seals, fur seals) to increase. If the system
were as simple as that, a possible result would be a long-term increase in the populations of
species with relatively short breeding and life cycles, such as these seals. This would accompany
a slower increase in numbers of rorquals, and possibly stabilization of populations at lower than
pre-whaling levels, because they have a lower fecundity and therefore are unable to compete well
in the race to exploit the abundance of krill. With regard to southern elephant seals(which are not
krill predators), if the same were true we would expect to observe the population declines in areas
where greatest commercial exploitation of their food components has occurred. How do these
proposals line up with the facts?
W2B-010(noone):16 If it were not for his trademark moustache, it would be difficult to recognise
the self-portrait as Done.
W2B-012(noone):193 imagine if that argument were applied to a premature baby?

90
W2B-035(noone):85 If I were to use it primarily as a benchrest rifle that would be different.
W2C-005(noone):129 On terra nullious, Mr Justice Brennan said: If it were permissible in past
centuries to keep the common law in step with inter national law, it is imperative in today's world
that the common law neither be, nor be seen to be, frozen in an age of racial dis crimination .
W2D-007(noone):108 This means that if a researcher were to submit two proposals under the
mid-year round and both were successful, then she/he would be ineligible to apply under the end-
of-year round that year.
W2D-009(noone):218 10.2 Exceptions should only be considered where the matter for decision is
one of extreme urgency and sensitivity which would have a major and immediate impact on an
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, enterprise or individual if a decision were not
taken.
W2D-009(noone):311 17.4 When determining the status of Council documents, consideration
should be given to the sensitivity of a submission and its likely impact upon Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities, enterprises or individuals if a document were disclosed.
W2D-014(noone):150 This would be particularly beneficial if the larger work were to be cut in
half.
W2E-006(noone):171 There could be devastating consequences if the hospital redevelopment
budget were allowed to get out of hand.
W2F-017(noone):51 "I get frightened for you," Cass says. (If Leigh weren't around, what would
happen to the world on its axis?
Ambiguous (conditional): 51
S1A-002(C):95 if you were up there they they'd probably keep replacing the tree anyway with
fresh
S1A-006(B):244 Do you realise if you were using the computer and you hadn't saved what you
had done
S1A-012(A):292 Like it's just you know you you do it if you were
S1A-014(B):161 Now if they were to turn around and put two more in there *N.B. ALSO IN
QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S1A-056(C):264 It's just remembering where to turn and now you've done that you're halfway to
Blacktown if you were going to Blacktown
S1A-061(B):197 If they were all video plus ones I wouldn't be bothering going home
S1A-064(B):239 If you were born at sunset you would be an Aquarius rising if you were born
when the sun's rising in Leo
S1A-064(B):266 So you're selecting twelve noon for that day so um if you were born at midni
midnight which is equivalent to twelve A M in the morning in actual fact the first daythe first
zero zero or twelve twelve midnight is actually the beginning of the day and eleven fifty nine P M
is the end of the day
S1A-064(B):279 So what happens is that you um if you were born at twelve noon it'd be correct
for that but if you were born let's say twelve hours after the most inaccurate it can be is about
seven degrees
S1A-082(B):252 Yum Can you imagine if you were walking along the beach and you saw that
running up to you

91
S1A-085(A):31 Well I would've been there around fifteen minutes late if the normal trains were
running but I got there ah twenty to ten
S1A-092(B):286 It was enough if you were served it in a restaurant you'd say
S1B-001(A):15 Yeah Um, when you read a review, ah, or if you were to go to a review, what
would you want to get out of it *N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S1B-003(A):172 Um I mean if you were to to take what I hope is an extreme in this example if
you wanted to um address a you know a small language group in the Himalayas and part of that
was writing in that language then you know I'd have extreme difficulty with that idea because it
could be very inaccessible to me in terms of of marking it um but I think we've given quite a lot
of latitude in the examples that that we've given you in the course guide *N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-
MODAL CATEGORY
S1B-015(D):146 But if options for women to Like it she says more women were joining the
workforce but if options for women were limited um it's not it's you're less likely to say well you
know why is it such a big deal that women should be mothers if the alternatives
S1B-016(A):136 It probably has more bearing there than it has historically in Australia 'cos you
know psychoanalysis has hardly been a dominant tradition ah but if you if you if you were
substituting social workers family therapists all of these sorts of ah all of these sorts of people
there is a sense in which they're actually sort of active in constituting the familial as sort of soc as
a social as a social sphere and I mean power sort of shifts directly from sort fathers husbands as
the heads of households ah to these sort of new professional groupings that are emerging ah but
also the way in which they are able to sort of discursively define um what's what's going on and
what's good for people
S1B-057(E):185 Now if the words in ah one ninety one E one A if these words were not there
S1B-057(E):188 If they weren't there would what you've just said hold true
S1B-057(?):195 Well does that mean even if the words weren't there
S1B-062(A):101 Indeed if you were provided with the ah er information are you suggesting your
rider at the end of the report where you say however I stress that I have no information from her
employer to provide background information
S1B-074(A):352 But if you were to say that the deposit for us or Work Ventures' half on a total
purchase of three hundred and fifty was thirty five thousand we could come up with that
tomorrow and wouldn't even notice it *N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S1B-080(B):81 Would it be possible if we were leaving the the toilet and the bathroom as it is
S1B-080(B):371 Right I suppose the disadvantage with that is that um if if you're taking food
from the kitchen through the dining room you're sort of negotiating steps aren't yoummm yes you
are mmm if you were going down you'd probably have just you'd probably only need two steps
right mmm I mean that wouldn't be terrible is that sort of a sensible thing to do
S2A-005(A):253 You could you could understand it if they were being taken two or three metres
beyond the jack
S2A-013(E):179 But uh we did anticipate if we were going to lose some it could be in Tasmania
*N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S2A-013(F):186 We were tending to factor in Franklin and Lyons as wins for us and predicting
uh the necessity for those wins if we were going to be able to counter the the losses in South
Australia Queensland and and Western Australia

92
S2A-035(A):150 And here's a very good plan, people would kill for this if they were from this
this particular area
S1A-038(A):218 If you and I were working in an environment where we're not rewarded where
it's a pain to work there we don't care about the organisation getting quality ??
S2A-047(noone):108 Now this would all be very funny if they weren't actually all direct
experiences that I have personally had
S2A-048(A):188 I said Why the hell do you think we would build it if we weren't going to run it
S2A-055(noone):36 This is quite large in the sky If you were to see this with your eye in the dark
sky this is about the size of the moon how big the moon appears to be in the sky *N.B. ALSO IN
QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S2A-055(noone):64 Now if we were to be outside the galaxy looking at it externally you'd see
that it looks something like this *N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S2A-055(noone):69 If you were to look side on then you'd notice that it's flat with a bulge in the
centre *N.B. ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
S2A-055(noone):96 If you were floating out in space so that you didn't have the earth in the way
then you'd be able to see all of this with your eyes
S2B-023(noone):106 If they were Australians, they'd have to go straight behind the barb wire
S2B-044(A):168 The February issue of New ant Internationalist reports that if girls were valued
and given the same care as boys there would be at least another hundred million women in the
world
S2B-046(A):208 But the most we could realistically hope for was to get a job labouring or cutting
cane, fishing or if we were really lucky maybe a trade
W1B-003(noone):20 Irene rang Sunday + she is back to Dunbogan, and may stay there I think as
she sounded as though she was getting support, medical support there, I suppose she would feel
better to be at home if her requirements were attended to adequatly adequately , she sounded
strong of voice as usual, a little tired, but what can one do?
w1b-024(noone):117 Therefore, it would be better if no cheques were written out after 22nd June.
Keep any money received after that date until 1st July to receipt and bank.
W1B-026(noone):163 If the majority of those Directors who were present at the meeting where
this proposal was passed were NOT in favour, then we wouldn't be at this stage of confusion.
*N.B. POSSIBLY INTERPRETED AS PLURAL.
w2a-020(noone):126 If data were extracted from the demographics database, then the following
adjustments would have been necessary: *N.B. *** IN w2a-020 ‘DATA’ GENERALLY
INTERPRETED AS PLURAL.
w2a-032(noone):48 If all words were repeated equally often this would mean that the average
repetitions per word was approximately 28.
W2B-001(noone):151 But for a minority he was too upfront. If he had a beef with you, he'd go at
you, in a verbal way, but if you were on good terms he'd be very obliging.
W2C-020(noone):27 If they were applied strictly in every case then a great many taxpayers
would find they had not kept the correct receipts etc. to support the genuine deductions they had
claimed.
W2F-003(noone):29 'But imagine if we were beautiful,' I said.

93
W2F-007(noone):9 If you were my students I would direct you to read Efica: from penal colony
to welfare state, footnote marker The Caves of Democracy, footnote marker and Volume 3 of
Wilbur's The Dyer's Cauldron. footnote marker But you are not my students and I have no choice
but to juggle and tap-dance before you, begging you please sit in your seats while I have you
understand exactly why my heart is breaking.
W2F-008(noone):87 'If you were in Greece, you'd bloody well refuse to wear black, woman,'
she'd said once, but Kyrie had her own agenda.
(noone):21 "Do I remember you, you %$#*& little bastard! You treated me worse than a dog and
I wouldn't throw a bucket of water over you if you were on fire."
Modals (conditional): 121 (can x 68, could x29, would x15, will x5, may, might, must, should
x2)
S1A-002(A):211 It it seems silly I mean if you can do it with a chessboard I mean why bother to
do it with real lives
S1A-002(C):231 If we could go to a situation where where you you know maybe you still pay a
still pay fifty cents a day
S1A-006(A):150 I get disappointed if I can't see anyone I know
S1A-008(B):209 you might if you can make one small sale you might as well make it
S1A-012(A):65 Fingers crossed Oh if I can get it We'll see what happens
S1A-013(B):271 Mm 'Cause it'd be good if you could come It's gonna be unreal
S1A-023(A):179 And I mean it's um if I can pick up one of those bargains
S1A-028(A):95 But not us No We we go to a comedy If you could call it that
S1A-032(A):286 You know the in so far as um ah it gives them some identity if the you can
identify yourself with their team and then get involved in their in the performance and how they
do and it's it it's so much more um basic and and easy to understand and perhaps dealing with ah
and getting worked up about issues political issues for example and issues which um ah sort of
affect ah say the environment or or um international issues you know
S1A-035(A):45 If I can have it overnight I'll read it,/[2>
S1A-035(B):244 I couldn't I couldn't talk if I couldn't move
S1A-040(A):114 Well yes He's well Kind of If you can call it working I guess I met I met
Forename2 in um Zimbabwe um and it was a week Af I'd had a whole year away and it was the
week before I came back to Australia and he was flying back to London and um we had like five
days together and that was really oh well you know
S1A-044(A):26 Err But you see if I can get my time table worked out right I'll go from one till
eight today right
S1A-044(A):32 Yeah And then if I can get the five to six um what is it
S1A-049(B):193 Well if I can get hold of any or some
S1A-049(D):357 You know how you have a list where which says what you can bring and they
say oh bring a camera if you want to so prob'ly thinking oh you know it'd be good if she could
have a camera Tape RE side B

94
S1A-061(B):179 Yeah that's what I thought and it's because there's the friends of ours have been
living there for ages and they just you know the the landlord hasn't bothered and I think if we can
just sort of slip into that it will be good but ah if we can't
S1A-063(B):258 'Cos it helps heaps if you can make your own clothes
S1A-082(A):230 I'm gonna buy one this afternoon if I can
S1A-082(C):363 Are you coming to Lenny Kravitz if we can get tickets
S1A-084(C):106 If you can find one
S1A-085(A):54 Nah I need the time if I can manage to do something with it
S1A-086(A):366 If you can do a split major that pleases everybody really doesn't it
S1A-097(B):309 It creates people's perspectives on reality and if if people can broaden their
perspective on reality then they need to um yeah and they need to broaden their understanding of
things I guess
S1B-002(B):213 He never does say it If you can't verbalise it, maybe you cannot, you know, he's
not a hundred percent within and just does it because he's the one who's confused, I don't know
S1B-004(A):2 I guess if you can understand what the whole concept's about the actual
experimental study's not all that difficult
S1B-004(A):82 Yeah I mean it makes sort of conceptual and intuitive sense that if you can do this
ah you can understand and comprehend a little better
S1B-015(F):257 It's like if you set out how to find out how do something there's you know
twenty conflicting ideas and it's often hard to sort of distinguish which you think is the the right
one if there is if you can be so absolute in value judgements but at least you know if for some
people it might have been oh well you know this is the right way and they wouldn't feel guilty if
you know if they followed all the regulations sort of thing
?S1B-017(C):69 One can does that mean that you incorporate it into the memory and then when
subsequently asked you report the false information as being your memory and continue to report
that or do you just sort of accept it and you know in one situation and then go back to your
original memory if you will ah later on
S1B-019(B):46 Um particularly if you can pick outrageous things or official secrets
S1B-026(A):93 If she should have no or a very skimpy top on it would be swamp woman from
Venus ah
S1B-060(A):13 Certainly the state is ready to do all that it can and will hasten the study if it will
hasten the study
S1B-064(B):174 Ah the purpose was principally to establish um where the vehicle could if the
vehicle could've reached eighty two kilometres per hour
S1B-071(B):174 Mmhmm If you could just let us know because the airlines might need to reach
you after hours
s1b-073(Z):53 Because Tuesday's the start they would rather if they could have on their
S1B-074(B):311 Yeah So if in the next week or so you can get that job description out and ah and
people can get back to one of us with any ideas you've got it would be very handy
s1b-078(D):147 If you need a motion to start off from we can give it to you or if we can just hold
a discussion and get people's opinions on on the situation

95
s1b-078(Z):186 Yes I'd like to say that um just in but um I think it would be a lot easier for the
people involved and the money if we can pay a a fee at the demonstration
S1B-080(B):144 Um if you could fit something in there somehow it might give us a bit more
manoeuvre manoeuvrabilitymanoeuvrability
S2A-003(B):120 And uh if they can keep going like that well er we're in for a good tournament
S2A-003(B):211 And I think that if he can tune in on some of those it'll be a great help for them
S2A-006(A):76 If they can get it under double figures They've got a a good number of travelling
fans here tonight Canberra to see them in their first W M B L final
S2A-006(A):130 Oh long range Comes up short McConnell Lisa McMahon dives on the ball to
try and save that for Canberra Capitals and rewarded with a uh jump ball against Regina Days if
you can call that a reward
S2A-007(B):194 It is a volunteer network and what they're carrying if you can see down past the
balloons
S2A-009(A):24 Now if you can't use all of the race track you'll see guys here actually put a
couple of wheels out on to the ah onto the grass and onto the ripple strips
S2A-013(A):45 We'll come back to that uh to that shortly to the real figures uh on that if we can
because I think as as we look at these uh Tasmanian seats we need to bear in mind that uh Dr
Hewson only has to gain five more seats to uh oust the Keating government
S2A-013(A):143 Okay let's uh go to uh the tr- overall trend if we can uh for Tasmania
S2A-015(B):41 It'll be fantastic if Sydney could win these Olympic Games
S2A-016(B):102 If he can get this bridge quickly he'll make he can make the bend
S2A-017(C):199 If this horse can run the distance he'll be very hard to beat
S2A-029(A):2 Ah, we we probably won't need this um machine but if you can't hear me ah let me
know
S2A-030(A):142 Um so the Singapore-Korean Fair we we don't have the information format yet
it usually comes in early April April sometime so if you would just check with us sometime
before the end of April as to what's going on and the Fair itself is usually in August or September
but you have to have your resumes in well before that to be collected for interviews
S2A-030(A):184 So for the other students if you could follow up by um continuing contact with
the Careers Service through the year finding out what workshops we've got available
S2A-031(A):168 Basically don't put all your eggs in one basket and I think most people would
understand that that's a fairly fundamental rule rule of judgement that if you can spread things a
around a number of different whatever it is you've got a better average chance of increasing what
you want out of it
S2A-036(noone):130 Well we score it this way um on each of page one and page two if you
could add together ah the scores in this way items one four seven and ten add together items two
five eight and eleven and three six nine and twelve to give three scores on each page
S2A-041(C):179 It it's boring but if you can identify with it even if your own experience is quite
quite different there's something about the nature of experience that resonates that's discussed in
an autobiography
S2A-046(A):114 I didn't need to consider every entity in the message at all um but there was only
one entity that was important and um I called this the the central entity um so if you would if if

96
you go thr quickly through this this text extract one you might get a feel for the entities that have
been talked about in the various in various sections of the text in fact I was able to analyse well
segment this whole text ah and the others in terms of um the kind of entity that was being talked
about and the invasion of the event being talked about on the here and now of of the speech
situation
S2A-048(A):201 So I eh phoned them up and said eh Could you tell us what time you're going to
come round to close us down please um we and they said no and I said well if you could let us
know on Saturday morning if you could give us at least two hours notice we'd appreciate it
S2A-052(noone):136 The kidneys are down, if I can find them down here in the back, this this
this red organ down here underneath the digestive tract is the kidney here
S2A-053(noone):149 and um they really just take the moisture from the air and if you'd like you
can um fertiliser them in the summer time with just a little bit of liquid fertiliser like those in the
water and then mist it on just like so
S2A-055(noone):77 So if you can imagine being situated here in this disk and if you look through
the disk then you're going to see many many stars from our vantage point here
S2A-056(A):16 Please come and take one If you'll retain it for the next wine I would appreciate it
and I can then tell what you know about wine
S2A-058(A):21 So what we're cooking up in the pan at the moment if you can start to smell those
wonderful aromas that are wafting throughout the centre is some of these wonderful gourmet
meatballs
S2A-058(A):57 But if you can catch Di at the moment what she's giving out are some of these
wonderful Alpen Blends
S2A-058(A):146 So if you would like some drinking chocolate to keep you warm on these cold
nights by all means come and take some out of our basket over here and we've got some recipe
sheets that go with it
S2A-058(A):151 And if you'd like something a little bit different we've got a recipe sheet for the
Alpen Blend just showing you how to spice up your drinking chocolate a little bit
S2A-058(B):181 A lot of people complain about that problem so if you'd like to know how to
make perfect meatballs come and join us at the food advisory kitchen pick up a recipe sheet and
of course we'll be able to help answer any questions that you might have about cookery or
nutrition or any of the different ingredients that we're using
S2A-062(A):101 Also Your Worship if you'd see the record of interview uhm particularly at page
twenty eight but from pages seventeen to twenty eight
S2A-070(A):126 I do do agree that his was distracted to some degree by this vehicle in the right
hand lane but ah I do feel in the overall circumstances that a reve reasonable and prudent driver in
those circumstances ah would've had the vehicle under observation prior the vehicle in front prior
to the incident with the Volkswaggon wagon and would ah knowing that vehicle was somewhere
up ahead have turned his attention back to that vehicle soon after or immediately um he was out
of danger with the Volkswaggon wagon or in fact ah slowed down at that particular time if he
could not um pay attention to the vehicle in front
S2B-005(L):133 Yes if we can find something that's out there for us we'd like to get in before the
before the rise.
S2B-011(A):210 If you'd like details call Triple M's community hotline

97
S2B-016(O):266 I think if I can just ah put the jokes aside for a while and ah on the same level ah
a bit of seriousness and just guide the players and ??
S2B-017(M):203 They've recruited extremely well and and I said before well if we can blend it
all together that talent with with the talent they've already got you know it's exciting times
S2B-020(A):81 If you'd like to get involved give the switch a ring
S2B-020(A):156 If you'd like access to a computer Epping Skills Share may have the answer
S2B-020(A):160 Now if you'd like all the details of how to get involved give the switch a ring
S2B-021(A):220 Even if we cannot be optimistic about the environment we can at least be
persistent
S2B-023(noone):81 Well it's worth answering that question Of course it's true that if every person
in Australia who had the HIV virus could be accurately found and isolated, and the country
thereafter hermetically sealed from the entry of any person with the virus, this would amount to
one way to reduce the spread of the virus in our society
s2b-024(noone):67 If we as a community cannot develop appropriate mechanisms for dealing
with serious fraud of this kind, our standing in the international economic community will
continue to suffer; our standard of living will continue to decline
s2b-024(noone):210 `We should not like to part with this case which occupied one hundred and
thirty three days to verdict and eight days on appeal to this court without endorsing, if we may
respectfully say so, all that fell from the English Court of Criminal Appeal in the Queen against
Simmons in relation to the conduct of trials of this nature
s2b-033(B):253 Their gurs are easy to heat if you can buy fuel
s2b-034(A):187 For the goanna a clutch of crocodile eggs would be a princely feast if it could get
them
S2B-035(A):159 Sorry if you can't hear it at home but that's nature for you
S2B-043(noone):31 There was another school, if it can be called a school, the the Sceptics, or
Seekers, who tried to suspend judgement, to balance argument on both sides
S2B-043(noone):187 Virtue, if we could achieve it, would be a stable and reliable disposition to
do the right thing always
S2B-049(A):186 There does appear to be growing commitment to that change from all our
political parties and if women could share equally in political power and in the formation of
policy I'm convinced that the conduct of public affairs would change
W1A-009(noone):26 When people normally interact with computers they use instruments such as
keyboards, mouse-driven menus, touch screens or tonepads. These methods are artificial and as a
result deter many people from interacting with computers. If a speech recognisor could be
devised that was 100% accurate the possible applications are endless. Then again, this would
require machines to be more accurate than humans, as humans cannot be considered 100%
accurate in recognising speech, especially in situations where there is a strong accent or noise
interference.
W1A-010(noone):152 If we can take Tottenham dotted line the fact is that the school numbers
will never be sufficient to have a substantial senior school dotted line yet you've got kids within
the district who dotted line should have the opportunity to go on.
W1A-013(noone):65 If the art form can be worked to suit the purpose of its creator then it can be
categorised into intellectual or emotional boxes.

98
W1B-007(noone):144 I remember us talking before she returned again and saying: but what if
you can't recapture what you had? Or if you find that letters and phone calls are one thing but
meeting again is a totally different thing ? She said that yes, that might happen. And now,
unfortunately, it has happened.
W1B-013(noone):79 I found out from a an Aust. newspaper that Norths are doing well. Last info
I had was that at Round 5 Norths had drawn 1 and won the last four and were at 3 on the ladder.
Any further updates? Please feel free to tape any Rugby International or state games, any league
state games and Norths games that you can and send them over. I would also like if you could
made some tapes (Audio) of Roy and H G 'This Sporting Life' unreadable on Triple J especially
for the State of Origin Series as well . Ask Peter , he knows what I mean. Other TV shows that I
like are Beyond 2000, Andrew Dentons Denton's 'The Money or the Gun', Quantum, The Big Gig
(or other Aust Comedy Shows) and any Australian Movies that you think that I would like!!! You
can send these through the D FAT mail system and I will eventually return the tapes dotted line
Trust me , I work for the government.
W1B-019(noone):97 We would therefore appreciate it if you could send us details of the value of
this donated equipment.
W1B-019(noone):169 Con Hagiliamis our Computer Training Manager has asked me to confirm
that we would be pleased if you would present certificates to the graduates of our Computer
Training course on Thursday 20 September at 11 am.
W1B(noone):274 Your Financier requires a stamped Transfer at settlement. Accordingly, we
would be pleased if you would let us have a Bank Cheque in payment of our estimated costs and
outlays when returning the forms.
W1B(noone):22 We note that prior to writing to Dr Dixon it may be easier if you could contact
your general practitioner, Dr Bone and request that he provide you with copies of any reports Dr
Dixon has provided to him subsequent to your attendance.
w1b-024(noone):228 I would be extremely grateful if you could let me know if any of your
members are eligible for the Certificate this year. Could you also supply the Date of Acceptance
by the Board and the date of Appointment if you have these, so I can update the Computer. A
form is attached for you to fill in.
W1B-026(noone):76 Will share be kept in reserve specifically or will they have to buy shares
from other members? If, as your letter suggests, these shares will be so keenly guarded by
members, this may be impossible.
W1B-026(noone):178 The new company's Articles may give a guaranteed commitment to road
and other services, however if this massive change from a mutual Association to a listed company
can be made by clever advertising, then how much easier to encourage share holders to change
some rule if the outcome is greater financial return?
W1B(noone):32 "To give up their membership" in return for shares is a very real cost & endows
the remaining shareholder, NRMA Holdings (if an association can remain a legal entity with one
member) with all the vast wealth of the Association, comprising assets including substantial
amounts of cash & the business goodwill of the Association & its subsidiaries. In the minds of
members the cash is particularly real, being available to be returned to members without tax by
way of lower fees & premiums.
w1b-029(noone):22 I have not spelled out the complete story in this letter to you, as the
accompanying documents do that. If you could find the time to read through this and advise me
what action is possible I would be most appreciative. I will send a copy of this letter to the

99
Department of Consumer Affairs also, as I do not know what courses of action are available for
me to follow.
w1b-029(noone):65 I bought a new bulb the next day from Penrith Mitsubishi spares, at a cost of
$10.14. I understand this is a warrantable item and would appreciate it if you could arrange
reimbursement (I still have the receipt).
w1b-029(noone):76 Please feel free to contact me if I can expand on any of the points raised in
this fax.
w2a-033(noone):55 While this would be valid if an appropriate geological feature or set of
features could be identified as corresponding to the zone, it can only be considered an
approximation for larger areas, perhaps with disparate geology (cf. Horoshun, 1990).
w2a-040(noone):170 Since the polymer materials employed in this work are conductive,
electrical signals are readily generated. For example after species interact at the electrode, and if a
change in analyte oxidation state can be induced then either changes in potential or current flow
can be used analytically.
W2B-016(noone):80 Similarly, if you would be a winner from the coalition's program, it would
be advisable to delay contributions to a later date.
w2b-018(noone):64 The main reason we have superannuation funds is to pay for our retirement.
After all, once we stop working we don't want to live on government support if we can help it.
W2B-024(noone):79 In the most unproductive environ ments, humans are reduced to just another
species among the multitudes, if they can exist at all.
W2C-009(noone):148 If we can just save somebody else. It is much better to have too many beds
than not enough.
W2C-015(noone):145 And that's if you could find the land to do it in the first place.
W2C-016(noone):64 If you can have a fire of the severity that we had in Como-Jannali (in
January) then you can have it at Dee Why or Palm Beach or Middle Cover or Lane Cove, he said.
That's the bottom line.
w2d-003(noone):53 If anyone can approve official travel the system will be difficult to control.
W2D-004(noone):11 It is usually better for all parties concerned if a complaint can be resolved
through internal, "in-house" procedures for the following reasons: bullet It gives management the
opportunity to change behaviour and educate employees in a positive way; bullet It can minimise
the potential stress, hostility and disruption which is often generated if a complaint is taken
outside the organisation; bullet If a formal complaint is made to an external agency such as the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the employer may be held legally responsible
("vicariously liable") for the behaviour of its employees.
W2D-006(noone):111 However, assistance for these types of care is based on the client's Family
Payment status. The client should take the annual Family Payment advice (which is sent in
January) to the child care service who will work out if the client can get assistance. More details
about the scheme can be obtained from child care services or the Department of Human Services
and Health.
W2F-005(noone):57 If she could, she would have redrawn the maps of those lost times,
overcome by sadness and its high dingo howl across emptied, flattened desert-scapes. She
thought of her children and their kid faces became mnemonics for domestic detail she now dug
up, gently sifting earth and sand, to lay each moment out as if it were a bowl, vase, tile, of simple
but searing beauty.

100
W2F-008(noone):47 Enthralled as she was by the prospect of poking around in a mass murder,
Virgo had to be honest: 'Mrs MacPherson, the police have been all over this case like hives. If
they can't get a handle on it, I don't see how I could. There's no way I could get access to the
evidence, for a start.'
W2F-014(noone):31 But she knew the answer already and turned to me. So you're the last hope
of commonsense I am left, she said, and if you must go to the foolishness of making a fortune
make it of the skill you have.
W2F-020(noone):28 She paused, embarrassed but amused, being after all sure of her welcome.
'That is, if you'll put up with me next week again, Ella.'
W2F-020(noone):50 I hate worrying you about this, but if he'd offer maintenance for Sophie, it
would show he cared about her. I don't want her to hate her father. It isn't right. It's terrible to hear
the way she talks about him.'
W2F-020(noone):72 You wouldn't say that if you could see into my mind. You wouldn't want to
know me - that disgusting face coming and going like an advertising sign and not even doing its
job - no discharge of rage any longer.
Quasi-modals (conditionals): 56 (is to/was to x32, has to x6, is going to/is gonna x18)
S1A-014(B):161 Now if they were to turn around and put two more in there *N.B. ALSO IN
AMBIGUOUS CATEGORY
S1A-024(B):88 Bet he gets you if he has to do any work
S1A-042(B):7 Well what well you're on the wrong track really aren't you because if it was going
to help you there you would've been doing this particular speech experiment with one of those
people over there
S1A-088(A):290 I wanted to ask her beforehand if we're going to choose
S1A-088(B):356 You can tell if people are gonna fail leave I mean you can see it in Lapeda that
you know she's going to leave
S1A-092(A):39 And I said to him well if you're not going to go and get the timber be sure to do
to to tell forename that you're not going to get the timber because I knew dad was all lined up to
go today
S1A-097(B):279 Yes it's to kind of use a research approach that says that a prevailing approach
the the prevailing ideology isn't necessarily acceptable and that research isn't neutral and that if
I'm going to say something and try to pretend it's neutral all I'm really doing is reinforcing the
status quo and and I'm not interested in doing that
S1B-001(A):15 Yeah Um, when you read a review, ah, or if you were to go to a review, what
would you want to get out of it *N.B. ALSO IN AMBIGUOUS CATEGORY
S1B-001(D):184 They were on a second printing run So there's got to be a reason too for a
favourable review if you're going to sell your second printing run
S1B-003(A):172 Um I mean if you were to to take what I hope is an extreme in this example if
you wanted to um address a you know a small language group in the Himalayas and part of that
was writing in that language then you know I'd have extreme difficulty with that idea because it
could be very inaccessible to me in terms of of marking it um but I think we've given quite a lot
of latitude in the examples that that we've given you in the course guide *N.B. ALSO IN
AMBIGUOUS CATEGORY

101
S1B-003(D):204 Yeah I guess if I'm have if I'm prob'ly doing it like um a an a paper an address
format um I'll have to try and use more examples especially if it's gonna be to that audience of
like counsellors or people that um um might be new new counsellors or something coming into
university and so I'll have to try and use examples and say well this is an example where a student
might be in a situation and take it like that
S1B-074(A):352 But if you were to say that the deposit for us or Work Ventures' half on a total
purchase of three hundred and fifty was thirty five thousand we could come up with that
tomorrow and wouldn't even notice it *N.B. ALSO IN AMBIGUOUS CATEGORY
s1b-078(A):55 Yes I thought you did Er so would you please give yours and specially if um
you're not going to do it any
S2A-002(A):231 I'm wondering if the head judge is going to allow them to have extra time
S2A-013(E):179 But uh we did anticipate if we were going to lose some it could be in Tasmania
*N.B. ALSO IN AMBIGUOUS CATEGORY
S2a-023(noone):2 That's the salum sump Ah the salum sump is a tube that I suggest people use if
you're going to need to aspirate it because its got that airway which ah allows the air to go in as
the aspirator the theory is that you're less likely to damage the stomach mucosa and you're more
likely to get an accurate ah reading And of course the thing is the tube's got to be in the bottom of
the stomach Um with that airway it's closed for feeding At any other time it's open for aspiration
or for drainage or for if it's on suction So it's when it's feeding it's closed It's quite a good tube it's
very cheap two dollars ninety nine and ah they do say you should change them weekly but I've
never found any reference to that and ah I think er if it's still in after thr going on three weeks you
need to change it At that stage a decision should be made about whether the patient's going to a
fine board tube or a gastrostomy anyhow Please ask any questions as I go if you want to That's a
little riles tube and certainly the c four c which is the tube Now that tube was in a patient for eight
mon eight weeks and he never had much to say about it and one morning he woke up and he he
said it was uncomfortable didn't feel right and the nurse ah the nursing ad manager had a chest X-
ray taken and you can see that that tungsten end was ah missing half of it and when the chest X-
ray was looked at it Oh I hope it works this time There the resident walked in and I said to him
Hey what do you think Bob Can we feed the patient He said Oh yeah look that's right down But
in actual fact the end of the tube is there I like catching people like that I'm sorry Can you see the
end of the tube up the top it's in the lower esophagus Right up the top So you can see that chest
X-rays I'm not saying don't use them please don't quote me as saying Joan Young said don't use
chest X-rays What I'm saying is use your own skills Alright Can everybody see the end of that
tube up the top ??
S2A-028(A):146 So you have a a rule a planning rule of thumb that perhaps if you're going to
introduce a thousand people into into an area you should do so at least in a township of um uh
having at least ten or fifteen thousand existing residents who will not be dependent upon that
particular facility
S2A-032(noone):2 If you're gonna do a renovation you're partly modernising what is there and
that is not really what we're on about here today I suppose
S2A-032(noone):43 The floor board I just fell through it um There's termites here and all that sort
of stuff so we hear the bad news and so I s'pose I'm a bit jaundiced in that way so um bear with
me um but it is important I believe if you're going to do up a home whether you are renovating or
restoring that you do take take care of the major things first

102
S2A-032(noone):195 If you go underneath the floor and I'm afraid if you're going to restore a
house yes you will have to get overalls you will have to buy a torch and you will have to go into
unpleasant places
S2A-036(noone):104 Now if ah if I'm going to seriously claim that I subscribe to this view ah that
I subscribe to this proposition then clearly I can't sit here for the whole time and talk to you ah
S2A-049(A):56 So if I'm to defend mysticism perhaps I should first make clear what I mean by it
*** IN AMBIG ALSO. S2A-055(noone):36 This is quite large in the sky If you were to see this
with your eye in the dark sky this is about the size of the moon how big the moon appears to be in
the sky
*** IN AMBIG ALSO. S2A-055(noone):64 Now if we were to be outside the galaxy looking at it
externally you'd see that it looks something like this
**** IN AMBIG ALSO. S2A-055(noone):69 If you were to look side on then you'd notice that
it's flat with a bulge in the centre
S2A-057(A):98 Their stomach also's only about the size of a basketball so it doesn't take a lot to
fill it and if he was to fill his stomach he probably wouldn't need to eat for at least two or three
months and not lose any weight at all
S2A-061(A):109 If it is going to be said here then let it be said and let us know because this is an
extremely serious matter
s2b-024(noone):146 If we are to retain trial by jury as our method of trying serious crime,
something must be done now before we are confronted with a number of super fraud trials to
make these cases triable
**** IN 2 CATEGORIES S2B-027(noone):21 All the zoologists in the audience were aghast I
pointed out to the speaker that according to his computer model if one were to withhold food
from the family dog for a day one should expect to see the dog foraging less in order to spin out
the now reduced supply of food
S2B-047(A):8 I ah I sort of came by what I do ah now find myself doing by absolute chance ah
and if the same total absence of quality control that ah that allowed me to get to do what I do is to
be applied to all sections of the media ah then it's no wonder that just about every aspect of it ah
are in such dire straits
S2B-047(A):197 Mindless and vacuous If the programming laws that ah govern the commercial
radio and television mediums was to carry into literature there would be no room ever again for a
Chekov or a Mamet or a Joyce or logically Tom Keneally or a David Malouf unless they adjusted
their styles to suit Picture or People magazines
W1A-020(noone):51 The first item which I would like to raise in this PREPCOM is to address
the nature of the Charter itself, before its unreadable contents are discussed. One of UNCEDs
most visible shortcomings was its failure to agree on any legally binding conventions. If this
Earth Charter is to be an advance on the Rio Declaration, we must first take steps to ensure that
nations are more than merely morally bound to it.
W1A-020(noone):57 An inequality exists between states in terms of trade that forces poorer
nations to follow an environmentally damaging course if they are to survive. Poorer nations are
hampered by a large foreign debt that they are obliged to repay and the only means they have to
repay this debt is to exploit their natural resources. For the environmental damage this entails to
stop, the debt crisis that afflicts the Third World must be addressed.

103
W1A-020(noone):60 If we are to avoid the same criticism from future generations for failing to
act, we must make this proposed Earth Charter a "toothed tiger". Its principles must be legally
binding and we must debate possible ways of enforcing them.
W1B-002(noone):26 Boaz's birthday went "party" went ahead despite his being sick with a sore
throat( + exhausted at the end of his first term at "school". He had lain listlessly on the couch all
day, but by 3.00pm when Rachel Jones ( 4½ 5 yrs old - TEAM)dropped in to bring her present he
perked up and managed to enjoy his birthday afternoon tea - I'd cancelled half the people and left
only the ones close-by so I could cancel the whole thing at the last minute if I had to.
W1B-003(noone):96 After this is over and cleared I'll be over there for a visit so lets let's know if
you are going to die or not , and if Bep and Stan have mentioned anything about tenambit
Tenambit Tenambit = name of a town , not to force anything, I won't accept excuses about Ron +
Margaret and I'm not passing any judgement, they do things their way. Florence rang on Sunday I
mentioned to her had they come down to see Bep + Stan + she was full of excuses for them. Also
if you dont don't want to trip up there we'll just forget it + if there are any other problems let me
know, it would be that being the multi media multimedia consultant you are becoming, one will
have to make appointments eventually.
W1B-003(noone):110 People are dying like autumn leaves and becoming memories, compost in
the footsteps and we all get a share, rich + poor humble and arrogant vain and conservative I
could go on writing like this forever but Fred Astaire said I'm bound to improve, and thanks for
your quick reply + address, I'll write to Anne but not for the reason I was going to, as Simon will
flit thru England + get the book, he drove down Saturday had some dinner, procratinated
procrastinated with time until I was in my usual franctic frantic sta y te + then lift left for
Canberra by bus, he is in Darwin for some weeks, I'm not like other people, but how hard it is to
get the ones who know one to get to know themselves, I finish up going into a stupor of
reflection, I don't balance up the best, but by hell neither do they, but I'm buggered if I'm going to
finish with making continual excuses for my outlook ??
W1B(noone):69 I am not sure from your letter whether the texts can be accessed after they have
been entered onto the database. If they are to be used for linguistic research or the extraction of
data such as frequency statistics of certain key words and the user has no access to the works
themselves, then the only activity which may require the copyright owner's licence is the initial
reproduction of the work for the purpose of selecting and tabulating the frequency of key words.
Whether a licence is required depends upon whether a reproduction is made during this process
and whether it is in a "material form". If the work is reproduced transitorily so that, once the
process of selection is completed, it cannot be reproduced, it is unlikely to be in the requisite
material form to require the copyright owner's licence. Where the whole or a substantial part of
the materials materials' input into the system are is capable of being retrieved the input is likely to
be a copyright use as even though not all the information is reproduced in the output.
W1B(noone):132 If the publisher were to employ someone else to edit and adapt the work for the
American market, they would need to pay for that skill and labour. N.B ALSO IN QUASI-
MODAL CATEGORY
W1B-025(noone):20 Because of the serious nature of my complaints and the chair not performing
up to their claims I have undergone a great deal of stress wondering what to do about my problem
as to having invested $3,349.00 and having these problems is not the way I want to go because
each time it leaves my home it has the potential for more damage. The length of time away. The
uncertainty of what might go wrong next and if I have to pay for freight which is expensive as I
only receive a Disability Support Pension

104
w1b-030(noone):37 Another advantage of retaining Ricky is that he is a polytechnic graduate and
has excellent English - if someone has to talk to Tony Bush - Ricky can do it.
w1b-030(noone):164 The biggest problem I see is us getting the initial funds. If we have to get
them from National Australia Bank we will have to start running, if we get them from Ole Balle,
we should not have a problem.
w2a-008(noone):12 British readiness to end post-war food shortages by long-term agreements
also benefited Australia's meat producers. Between 1952 and 1967 Australian beef and mutton
found a guaranteed minimum price in the United Kingdom. From 1959 the United States
surpassed the United Kingdom as an importer of Australian beef, and this market was secured by
an agreement in 1964. The strongest demand was for hamburger beef as the open-range
conditions of northern Australia's cattle stations did not produce beasts of gourmet quality.
Despite some American investment and the acclimatization of Brahman-cross cattle, the 1950s
and 1960s saw little improvement. Dairy cattle, on the other hand, improved steadily in quality
and yield, but Australia's butter and milk exports were vulnerable to overseas competition, and
numbers stabilized in 1957 at around 5 million while farmers awaited Britain's negotiations with
the EEC. Smaller rural industries - forestry, fruit-growing, cotton - showed no great potential for
export growth, and some products such as flax and tobacco were in trouble despite substantial
government aid. Other expedients would have to be sought if Australia's export trade was to
diversify.
w2a-013(noone):165 Becoming who we are and taking full possession of our own historically
conditioned cultural identities - something that we must all attempt if we are to live responsible
lives - is, then, of a piece with the practice of anthropology ??
w2a-024(noone):69 It may be essential to attack non-point sources if we are to have sustainable
water resources.
w2a-024(noone):134 This requires a capability to get staff into the field within a few hours of the
runoff starting, if automatic data collection devices are to be kept operational.
W2B-010(noone):160 Still, Capon does indicate that if Done's work was to break the mould of its
commercial repu tation, he may be exhibited by lead ing galleries.
W2C-019(noone):60 There was an overwhelming feel ing in the North Sydney dressing room that
the Bears had let an opportunity go and that, if the two were to meet again, they would give a
better account of themselves.
W2D-007(noone):108 This means that if a researcher were to submit two proposals under the
mid-year round and both were successful, then she/he would be ineligible to apply under the end-
of-year round that year. N.B ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
W2D-014(noone):95 I realised that if the painting had to be cut, I would need a strong horizontal
branch to create enough tension to span the gap between the two paintings.
W2D-014(noone):150 This would be particularly beneficial if the larger work were to be cut in
half. N.B ALSO IN QUASI-MODAL CATEGORY
W2D-018(noone):66 If it is to be a long trek, schooling must be weighed up. For primary school
children the first step is to talk to the child's teacher and principal, who may well advise that each
child make a daily journal of the trip. Into a scrapbook will go weather reports, admission tickets,
pressed flow ers, photos, postcards or drawings plus a little description of the day's events. Be
careful not to edit, it needs to be the child's experiences.

105
W2E-002(noone):95 An understanding of Australian culture, of the depth of our attachment to
many customs which economists would describe as restrictive work practices, is essential if we
are to wrestle with funding long-lasting solutions to our economic problems.
W2E-007(noone):112 After festivalitis, sermons and soda water the day after, Adelaide can judge
the 1990 Adelaide Festival a success. But it is a success with qualifications that must be taken
seriously if we are to continue calling ourselves the Festival State.
W2F-006(noone):109 Cairo, on her way to opening another bottle, is so worried to see her mother
looking pained and frail that she stops for a moment to rest her fingers on the crepy skin of her
mother's neck. The swell of weeds from the vacant lands beneath their house is momentarily
overwhelming. Their very presence seems to heat the afternoon up even more and to place the
longevity of 'Come to Good' under threat. She considers, as she often does, how soon this town
would be a jungle and weeds if people were to leave. N.B. ALSO IN AMBIGUOUS
CATEGORY

Subjunctives (interrogative): 0
***DISQUALIFIED: AMBIGUOUS USAGE S2A-004(B):164 See if he serve and volley here
Ambiguous (interrogative): 4
S1B-037(Z):202 Can I just as you've pointed out I have no idea if you were the person I meant
but uh but obviously I do argue that women are not really going to make advances until we have a
total reconstruction of sexuality because I see sexuality as as a bedrock of of the relations
between men and women
S2A-020(B):100 We'll talk to ah Greg Horswell Get information back from the ah start line very
shortly I'm sure as to if there were any premature starters
W1B(noone):39 While I can accept that people make mistakes and processes fail from time to
time I cannot accept being deliberately deceived. There seems to be some indication that this has
happened. My suspicions have been raised due to the inordinate time delay in getting the film
back. If the film was received "damaged" why was it held at the laboratory for such a long time?
Surely there was nothing to be gained in retaining it? (There was a benefit in ignoring the matter).
Is it entirely coincidental that the film appeared such a short time after I made an inquiry? Why
did the operator not call back? I cannot even feel confident that the film returned to me is the one
I sent in. I note the order number on the packaging carries a different number than on the film.
You suggested the film and packaging are not matched using these numbers but rather other
identifiers. This may be the case but could I suggest that the identifiers on the film and package
be checked to see if they were used on or about the date of processing. (You may also like to
comment on the fact that the identifying tag is not securely attached to the film and and it is
"damaged" in a way consistent with being "relocated")
W2C-017(noone):45 Dr Gallop wrote on Friday to the Health and Fair Trading Minister, Mr
Foss, asking him to investigate if disadvantaged people not in a position to complain were being
exploited.
Modals (interrogative): 46 (can x14, could x12, would x11, will x7, should x2)
S1A-006(B):97 No Firstname3's gonna see if she can get tickets through one of the rugby clubs
there
S1A-016(A):153 You'll have to see if dad'll pick you up afterwards
S1A-020(A):347 's got mags all o- I I wonder if I could put

106
S1A-021(A):111 It's very entertaining but um I don't know if you would like enjoy yourself you
know
S1A-029(A):248 It really wasn't time for Forename5 to turn up his stereo and I was gonna ring
Forename6 and say look ah would would you mind asking if they could turn it down
S1A-030(A):35 But still Yeah yeah But uh yeah I'm gonna have to go up and see if we can work
out something
S1A-044(B):210 He went out one morning for his bike ride and auntie Forename8F was thinking
oh he's he's a long time getting back and she went into the garage to see if she could see him and
he was in the garage and he'd had a massive heart attack and she found him
S1A-051(B):216 I don't know if they'll be an oven working
S1A-063(B):117 Oh is it Oh that's alright then 'Cos firstname4 was worried that she wouldn't be
able to have a car andlike I I wasn't sure if I could get one
S1A-066(A):52 And um And was ringing to see if we could could come
S1A-066(A):112 And uh And I said to Rick See if you can get me in there for one of the nights
on the way back from Bristol
S1A-069(B):267 Yeah and just see if you can separate your mum's from yours and get a new
Medicare card
S1A-075(A):208 Oh S1A-075(A):209 It's disgusting It is so gross But um S1A-075(A):210 No
mum asked dad if he would if he would ah take the dog's stitches out but he's pretty weak in the
stomach
S1A-086(A):268 Mmm firstname9 um ask firstname10 if you can have some curry
S1A-091(B):57 No it's fine, um, um I don't know if I will I mean I don't don't think I really liked
it, oh no I did like him sorry but
S1B-002(C):170 Well, I'm just wondering if you couldn't take the point about men living in a
fantasy world, out and then sort of run with that, I mean, actually
S1B-003(Z):88 I I thought it was interesting that when I asked the young man behind the counter
at the newsagency if he could tell me the name of one he he acted like he'd never heard anybody
put intelligent and woman together
S1B-007(B):14 Okay I wonder if you if you could give me
S1B-063(B):309 She asked me to go see if he would give his statement
S1B-065(A):285 You were asked by me yesterday if you could bring it along today
S1B-070(B):56 I think um he might have said oh I wonder if we'll get a visit from them or if we'll
be spoken to something along those lines
S1B-074(A):170 I've asked fullnameC if he would take two other roles
s1b-076(A):147 Um I was wondering if you could please pass on to our appreciation to Bob
Poole um and also your offsiders who are involved in Neighbourhood Watch that it is appreciated
that that they've been coming
s1b-076(A):242 Uh I did speak to him wanted to know if he'd be here tonight
S2A-002(A):182 But in the process the Bulgarians have gone down and if we just have to see if
the rest of the Bulgarian team can pick up because one of the girls had a very big e error two
errors one on bars and one on beam

107
S2A-008(A):199 I don't know if he can judge his quarters
S2A-009(C):106 Let's see if they can get away cleaner
S2A-013(A):118 Then we'll see if we can pick up a a state-wide trend for Tasmania
S2A-027(noone):128 The third thing is to have a look at the industrialisation in more detail and to
see if we can the extent to which industrialisation has been used internally by the Soviet planners
to try and iron out regional disparity
S2A-027(noone):197 And the third thing we might note is the ah accession to power of the
Gorbachev regime and the introduction of two words that you'll see quite a lot I'll just gonna have
to see if I can spell 'em here um that you'll see quite a lot in the literature recently
S2A-039(noone):41 Now of course I don't have time to go through each of those but I thought I'd
pick out some of the most common and see if we can cover some of those
S2A-041(C):31 And that was certainly the quality that I was looking for in a popular biography
when I wrote to Hazel in late nineteen ninety to ask her if she would publish a book with me
S2A-048(A):127 I'd just like to express my appreciation to Michael for the wonderful working
relationship that we've had in producing the book and for Forename Surname and also to all the
people who contributed to the history of the market to uh Laurie Matthews and the Reverend Rex
Matthews the Reverend Russell Davies and I think I have one question to ask Russell if he would
please come out the front
S2A-059(A):90 They they breed in winter and you'll get them calling down below so as we go
further through have a listen and see if you can hear a call that sounds a bit like um type of call
and you'll hear 'em down the bottom
S2B-005(F):59 I'd just like to say something. I'd like to ask my boyfriend Robert if he'd ah marry
me.
s2b-034(A):114 A male insistently tugs at a female's tail to find out if she'll respond to his
advances
W1B-013(noone):5 Well just a quick not to let you know I made it to London. All is going well at
this stage. Singapore was Okay, you can take it or leave it. More time would have perhaps
allowed me to chase up the Military History side of things. London is cold 4-6 degree overnight
with colder forecast and possible snow on the way. I am off to Camberley this afternoon to stay
with friends. I shall try to see more of London this week. Probably go to Bath next week. I called
Pippa Burton and will try to catch up with her on the weekend. Mum as I mentioned on the phone
can you see if you can change my Telecard to Unrestricted ie International calls allowed please.
w1b-014(noone):52 She cut a fringe for Jennifer, at my request, a few months ago, as I wanted to
see if it would make her hair in any way easier to manage (it didn't - i I think she has been born
with the sort of hair that looks unbrushed 10 seconds after you brush it!), but she only made a
very small, "wispy" one - in fact you could hardly tell she'd had anything done. This time,
however, she had to be a bit more drastic, so Jennifer now has a fairly full fringe, and it looks
really nice.
W1B(noone):62 Last week we had another surprise holiday. A friend rang up and asked if we
could help her. She had not had the chance to go to her holiday house in a year and could we go
and have a holiday there and check that the house was O.K.? Naturally, as Phil had a few days
holiday from work we said "Yes!" The house is at Huskisson, on the south coast of New South
Wales. It was two blocks from the beach and one block from a nature reserve. We stayed for four
days.

108
W2B-016(noone):49 Such dramatic proposals should make investors review their existing
negatively geared investment to see if they would still be profitable under the proposed tax scales.
w2b-018(noone):128 I took it out in 1990 with the AMP , explained Patrick, and since then I've
put in more than $13,000. But when I checked to see if I could roll it over to the Channel 9 super
scheme I found out I would only get $3,700. Almost $10,000 has gone in agents' commissions,
administration fees and contribution tax!
W2B-035(noone):120 My immediate impulse was to try the WW748 powder in the fired cases
and see if the results would be the same.
W2C-014(noone):103 MICK Malthouse does not know if he will stay with West Coast beyond
1995 - but with him or without him the Eagles seem set to power through the 90s with the brand
of dour, tough, relentless football he has taught them.
W2D-008(noone):146 You should contact your local Tax Office so they can help you work out if
you should claim a deduction or include an amount of assessable income.
W2F-005(noone):65 She went on picking at her omelette, wondering if, for Ronald's sake, she
should have mentioned he had left his mark on the summit of one of their highest peaks.

IN ORDER THAT
Modals: 1 (might)
w2a-009(noone):5 For the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, there is no step 'beyond the text'
unless 'text' is understood in the narrow, conventional, colloquial sense of the term, where truth
would indeed be equivalent to a reality beyond the confines of books and libraries, arm-chairs and
ivory towers of every kind. One may well be able to step beyond the text that is equivalent to
'book', but this is not what Derrida means by text. Rather, he argues, a certain kind of framework
has been imposed on him, certain categories (such as 'deconstructionist') have been used to
classify his work for polemical reasons thereby depriving it of its intellectual inventiveness.
Pierre Bourdieu could easily be speaking on behalf of Derrida as well as himself when he says:
'The logic of the classificatory label is very exactly that of racism, which stigmatizes its victims
by imprisoning them in a negative essence' (Bourdieu 1987:39) . Of course it is true that in
everyday life, people speak of writing and of text as though these were secondary phenomena,
and quite unproblematic secondary phenomena at that. Fine distinctions are left out of account;
the logical and philosophical - or even metaphysical - aspects of thought and action are hardly
given a moment's attention. Perhaps the more prejudicial aspects of popular culture (reinforced by
the media) find their very condition of possibility in this influence of the unproblematic, taken-
for-granted dimension of social life. Derrida's whole raison d'etre as a philosopher is revealed in
the commitment to make fine distinctions, to reflect on what passes for the obvious, the taken-for-
granted, the natural. So it is very likely that the effect of Derrida's approach in Australia is going
to be, if it has not already been, somewhat scandalous. For, in many ways, Australian culture has
been founded on a notion of populism and anti-elitism, not to mention, anti-intellectualism. This
populism has been legitimated by references to democracy and fair-play, as well as to various
forms of naturalism. In order that Derrida's position might, by contrast, be appreciated, I shall
cite him at length as he describes what he means by 'text', while in the midst of a political debate
about apartheid: It is precisely for strategic reasons ... that I found it necessary to recast the
concept of text by generalising it almost without limit, in any case without present or perceptible
limit, without any limit that is.

LEST

109
Subjunctives:2
*S1B-035(A):134 Now lest ah we forget that ah they are a very strong side
*W2E-005(noone):62 Vietnam: Lest we forget
*Strictly speaking ambiguous, but this is such a oft-repeated phrase that the subjunctive form of
its verb is widely acknowledged Æ a formulaic usage

PROVIDED (THAT)
Ambiguous: 2
s1b-076(B):82 But we can stay on the present account provided we keep a balance of a minimum
of two hundred and fifty dollars
W2D-010(noone):114 Persons visiting that workshop to delier some items or to consult with one
of the staff would not require such protection, provided that areas they could safely occupy were
clearly marked.

PROVISO
Subjunctives: 1
S2B-047(A):43 Ah then after calling the nineteen eighty six grand final which ah gained some
reasonable media feedback ah Greg had the idea for a full program on the and and the powers that
be ah said yes on the proviso that it be a full shift in duration i-e four hours and that the budget
be one hundred dollars per week and um this ah this seemed more than acceptable
Modals: 1 (must)
W2B:(noone):84 there's no limit other than the simple proviso that the time it takes to scroll
through a title must be shorter than the playing time of the track itself!

SO THAT (used to express purpose rather than result)

Modals: 54 (can x22, could x13, will x9, may x5, would x4, might)
S1A-002(D):81 Um he's done that to a greater extent with this building so that you have ah a
huge gap of about ah six storeys high or so that you can see
S1A-023(B):12 I didn't ask which which sister Um so that they just won't do anything about it
this year
S1A-036(A):82 Well if I ever have kids I'm gonna have them at the beginning of the year so that
they can turn eighteen at the beginning of the year
S1A-042(A):96 I mean when it becomes more more than just coming here to get a degree and and
so that you can go somewhere else and get a job
S1A-042(A):161 You know I'm I'm ah just trying to grow so that I can succeed
S1A-050(B):158 Like on the ball about current affairs andstuff like that so that they can like you
know like crack the one liners and stuff like that

110
S1A-071(A):167 I've just put two horticulturalists together uh on both sides of a of a river so that
they can go and talk to each other about their their trees and I try and do this because I think it's
more than just selling a block of land
S1B-025(A):136 Now look I wanna find out what goes on at these meetings in just a moment but
I I I I'd like to just perhaps get a specific definition of co-dependency so that I can understand
exactly what the word means 'cos it is a bit confusing I think because co-dependency to me has
always been well well didn't it in fact begin as a description for the families of alcoholics
S1B-030(B):122 Ah that's simply not a sustainable cure and ah which leaves the first ah cure for
the ah inequality problem that is we'd better restore thrift in this er country ah so that we can in
fact ah create ah our own ah capital er needs invest our own capital ah without going broke in the
process so that unless we have changes to our tax laws to encourage savings we've got no chance
on earth ah in the foreseeable future of restoring ah equanimity ah to the society
S1B-047(B):155 I think I go back to how I originally got into all this if you like and that was in
nineteen eighty six when this Bengali feminist came to Australia and we talked about cultural
politics and she described how she was always teaching white middle class boys or men in her
class who were feeling sorry that they were the oppressors and they were wanting her to teach
them all about feminism and Third World politics so that they would not go on contributing to
this oppression and she told this very funny story about how one day she just said to themwhy
don't you develop a sense of rage about the position that you have been given in history
S1B-061(A):110 So thanks um What I'm suggesting to you is that she came in um with the
facsimile at pages eighteen or nineteen ah asked you to to sign it so that she could send it on to
Dr surnameM2 and ou said no
S1B-064(A):3 Now um it'd be fair to say wouldn't it that um what what's occurred is that this V
W as ah some people sa do when they're turning left is that they sort of um make a little bit of a
turn to the right to for whatever reason so that they can straighten themselves up or something
like that
S2A-036(noone):224 So that an an achieving approach might be combined with a deep approach
or with a surface approach
S2A-041(C):63 We agreed to work very closely together during the editing process for reasons of
confidentiality so that um ah the some of the things that ah Hazel would decide to write whether
or not would be remain between us until the final manuscript was there and also to keep this view
of what the book should be like in close focus while Hazel wrote and I edited
S2A-043(A):166 Solicitors and support workers meet with the women and then walk up to the
Court together which is just around the corner so that uhm the women can avoid having to sort of
have some unfortunate sort of confrontation with their spouse or whatever
S2A-047(noone):110 And they are the direct experiences that Social Change Media is in the
business of confronting and of bringing to our consciousness as I said and making transparent so
that we can actually have the guts to deal with them because unless we do we see the statistics I
mean our competitor in the trade union movement is non-unionism and it's a mighty competitor
and as we see um every month or every quarter we see those statistics uh in a range of ways
showing less and less that we're representing workers and in newly par newly uh emerging areas
of the workforce both occupation and industry we find that it is very much more serious and in
segments such as the youth area and women uh we find that it is very much more serious
S2A-049(A):31 It's not so much a question of saving the saving nature so that ah we may have
mystical experiences rather due to our essentially mystical nature we sense I believe that the
destruction of the natural world is the destruction of ourselves

111
S2A-051(A):183 I dismantle the headphones so that I can get to the central part of the because
these have to be removed and fitted onto another another part of the instrument
S2A-052(noone):26 When they're in the water the gaseous the gases can pass across the the skin
into the blood much more readily of course than when they're out on the land because they are are
greatly keratinised and they don't necessarily keep their skins moist with mucus all the time but
they will do if they find that they need their skin for respiration even when they're out on the on
the land, they'll moisten the skin so that they'll get that respiration
S2A-052(noone):51 If you accidently do nick it you know let me know and I'll try and tie it off
for you so that you won't lose the blood out of all the rest of your veins, but
S2A-062(A):22 After the allegations were put to the defendant uhm the interview was suspended
so that he could seek legal advice
S2B-017(G):109 So Tony Roach and myself have have only been you know working in ah in
with Bob and ah you know helping where ever we can er ah in those situations and of course
watching a lot of the matches so that we can add whatever we might be able to add but ah you
know let's give Bob ma Bob Carmichael plenty of the credit here
S2B-031(F):67 We restored it so that people could experience the feeling of the eighteen eighties
um and it so therefore it's full of antiques and open fires and the things that you would've found in
the eighteen eighties
S2B-044(A):237 We campaign for the system in relationship um in which relationships are a
matter of free choice and not economic compulsion so that people may male and female can truly
choose the way they want to live being homosexual heterosexual couple alone with children in an
extended family in a group situation whatever ??
S2B-045(noone):83 The process of taking those stories in and making them real to ourselves so
that we can see and hear and smell what is happening in them of grasping a phrase or a slight
detail and making up a whole perception out of it a whole vivid experience is one of our earliest
ways of learning about the world we are in and the imaginative process it involves or anyway this
is what I would like to suggest is the same one we draw on as readers and even more as writers
W1a-004(noone):17 Price still exceeds MC so there still exists a deadweight loss. However,
depending on the level of competition between the companies, the set price may tend closer to the
MC. Under monopolistic competition there exists excess capacity as the output level is less than
that which minimises average cost. As the demand curve is downward sloping, zero profits occur
to the left of the minimum average cost. However, demand becomes more elastic as competition
increases and this excess capacity will be reduced. So, these losses to the consumer will be offset
by the existence of a large range of similar products to choose from so that their satisfaction may
be maximised.
W1A-016(noone):149 Influenced also by scientific agenda of Darwinism and his own
background in neurology, Freud developed the concept of irrational impulses and drives where
forces & energy were unconsciously experienced, and linked to the biological survival of the
individual. Thus the aim of Freudian psychoanalysis became to bring out from the unconscious,
material which was repressed, displaced and distorted, so that it could be made conscious and
more adequately & appropriately dealt with.
W1A-019(noone):53 An alternative classification system was developed so that such firms could
be grouped together.
W1A-020(noone):40 It should adopt a unreadable plan for global sustainable development
unreadable and discuss the need for its implementation regardless of its impact of on trade and
profits - a factor which could be minimised if the program was globally implemented. Sustainable

112
development should include:- an integration of economic and environmental needs (but not in
terms of the environment being managed to serve economic needs); recognition that
environmental assets need to be given a true value in terms of their contribution to the biosphere,
not to economics; acknowledge that environmental resources do not exist for the use of one
generation and only those groups with the ability to utilize them, but should unreadable be
preserved for intrinsic reasons; recognize recognition that current knowledge of the environment
is limited and that we are not capable of accurately assessing the risk human activities place on
the environment - proof of this risk should not be needed before preventative actions are taken;
and finally that all environmental programs must be implemented globally and the facilities
distributed by all nations accordingly so that this can be achieved.
W1B-002(noone):18 It was a VERY hard decision, but the wisdom of it is has been made very
clear since. Being a boy , his age,(11) and culture fi different to ours added to his strong
personality and not too studious attitude to make it too big a load on our family. Ken had him stay
for 6 weeks till his exams were over, and Ken himself had had enough by then too. Taj is a
delightful boy and he needs a lot of prayer, now now so that he can be steered in the right way.
He made out he was a believer when he came to us, but we know now that he hasn't met Him yet,
though he is open, he has made up some compromised ideas which could blind him for a while.
The seeds of the WORD are there and I have a hard task to make sure he doesn't feel rejected by
us, and also praying that his education will continue - hopefully in the valley as I told Jinnah
when he came in Oct.
W1B-002(noone):24 The keys are small so should suit the children's fingers nicely, + can play
with earphones so we don't disturb anyone. I've begun playing guitar a bit more now that the
children are older + let me. Greg + I are trying to find ways to enrich our home life and ways to
relax at home so that we wont won't get so stressed with all the restrictions of living here, and
also so the children enjoy being home too as we have to be.
W1B-004(noone):112 Thank you Ron Neeson for your interest in my welfare. The anguish of the
bush fires has been all pervading - papers, radio, TV, people in the street, on the phone. Sheila
rang from U.K. Gertrude Slany (of Tibor and Gertie fame) rang from Perth. I took eight calls
from relatives and friends who couldn't get onto Joan and Gil, because their phone lines were out,
so that they could get some news as "Como" was constantly mentioned. Joan and Gil were
evacuated from their home but the fires didn't touch their street, although it was in the street
running parallel to them. Glynn Bowen Thomas and his friend live at Bilpin (Blue Mountains)
and they were alerted about evacuating. I haven't been in touch with them since last week end.
W1B(noone):16 The day after Kate's birthday her first tooth fell out. She was SO excited! I was
with her and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was the most precious moment to see.
The tooth has been carefully placed in a plastic bag so that Kate can display it to any interested
(or oven not interested) person. Her second tooth fell out two weeks later.
W1B-016(noone):158 Your manager of the Collins Street Trust will re- develop redevelop and
amalgamate the existing properties. Your trust will be structured into a suitable vehicle that can
be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Listing is not expected to occur in the near future.
However, GEM aims to increase the returns and liquidity of your trust within a five year period.
All Income and Growth Units will be converted to Ordinary units so that there will be only a
single class of unit. You should have received a new certificate from GEM telling you the number
of units you hold. I would appreciate a copy of the certificate to update our computer. I have
enclosed a reply paid envelope for your convenience. ??
W1B-(noone):127 Would you please let me have same as soon as possible so that I may send
them to RESC.

113
W1B(noone):129 Please return all the documents to us as soon as possible so that we can attend
to the stamping of the Transfer in readiness for settlement. We undertake to deal with the
Transfer for stamping purposes only pending settlement.
w1b-024(noone):99 I would suggest that you contact your auditor now and make your
arrangements so that the Audited Financial Return will be in Head Office by the required date,
namely 3lst August, 1992. Also make arrangements with your Bank to receive a Statement as at
30th June, 1992. This is very IMPORTANT.
W1B-026(noone):146 Rather than expect the Federal Government, Taxation Department and
Social Security Department to alter their rules to suit the NRMA would it not be wiser, simpler
and fairer on the rest of Australians for the NRMA to alter its own rules and regulations so that
this excess money can be spent or allocated according to the wishes of the majority of current
members?
w2a-025(noone):161 Many of the primate studies that employed call-playback broadcast a
sequence of calls in experiments (e.g. Robinson 1979, 1981; Kinzey and Robinson 1983;
Whitehead 1987a) but I used a single call only, so that the test would be conservative.
w2a-032(noone):143 This experiment was then repeated for the speech of another speaker so that
the variation of training set size as a function of speaker could be investigated.
w2a-039(noone):24 In order to successfully develop a coconut-beef enterprise, a knowledge of
the costs of inputs and value of returns is required so that detailed planning can be undertaken,
especially if outside finance is required.
w2b-004(noone):32 Upstairs we were introduced to Greg and Jill Dawkins, who were kindly
giving us shelter. We learnt that the flat had been specially built so that Michael and the children
would have a new place to hide on visits (as the press knew their regular accommodation), or in
case we needed a place to escape to, like now. The flat had only just been finished and we were
its first occupants. I was most grateful.
w2b-004(noone):60 Stuart and I sat in the seats right at the front near the door. We couldn't have
been in a worse place for initial boarding. We pulled the blind down so no one could see in the
window. Paul was seated directly behind us so that he could keep an eye on things and stop
anyone who came too close. The rest of the passengers boarded, including the press. Paul gave
me a newspaper and said, Here, they might try with their cameras as they walk past, so put that in
front of you.
W2B-005(noone):53 The rugby season opened with a match at Middle Park in which Weary
played for the Victorian 'Probables' team against the 'Possibles', so that the selectors could decide
the positions for the match against Australia in May.
W2B-022(noone):49 Numerous research projects were initiated to catalogue the natural sounds so
that the unnat ural, man-made sounds could be discerned from the chaotic and ever-present
"ambient sea noise."
W2D-004(noone):161 Managers and supervisors must be able to ensure that they will treat the
matter confidentially and provide protection to staff so that no one will be victimised.
W2D-008(noone):113 Where you decide to use the prime cost method, you should record that
you have made this decision. You should retain this record so that you can make it available to
the Tax Office on request.
W2E-001(noone):19 Why the Government, in the person of Transport Minis ter David Hamill,
should insist on the scheme is even more inter esting. Why either is prepared to acquiesce in the
face of political and union pressure to "look after people" is the most interesting question of all.

114
According to con fidential documents, Queensland Railways have been advised to sweeten
redundancy deals or come up with "more creative" packages so that those selected for the tap on
the shoulder will go quietly. The objective, it seems, is to provide a profitable bottom line for a
corporatised railway system.
W2E-002(noone):253 It is not surprising, therefore, that some Western leaders want to save Mr
Gorbachev from the wrath of his own people so that he can continue to make the Soviet Union
less threatening.
W2E-007(noone):87 This is a sensitive subject for some veterans; but that is hardly reason to
deny its existence. Better to ask that it be properly done than cancelled so that, like the Hirosh
ima museum, it could be an enduring deter rent to man's inhumanity to man.
W2F (noone):81 I did it through my own "field of dreams" and every time I see the Kevin
Costner film of that name, I smile to myself and think of the times I shim mied up that SEC pole
just so that I could have some light for my football practice. THE YOUNG BUSINESSMAN
W2F (noone):95 We used to stand on them so that they could easily be retrieved when the golfer
was out of sight.
W2F-016(noone):7 Once, when I asked Charles why he took photographs so constantly, so
obsessively, why he collected other people's photographs, why he scavenged in second-hand
shops and bought, by the shoe-box full, old cracked brown-and-cream records of other people's
pasts, he said: "So that I will see what I've seen."
W2F-016(noone):15 He spoke on rice paper in brush stroke that had to be laid down in a ritually
specified way. The mountain, as Charlie saw it, was that intractable thing that was always
blocking one's view. It was the thing that would not be dislodged. The mountain, according to
Char lie, is an obstruction that we partly create, it is the thick so lidified lava of the things we
know but don't realise we know. Our task, if we want to clamber over or round the mountain,
Charlie said, is to observe more sharply, to set everything down, to record the minutiae, to add to
the doc umentation on premonition and coincidence and chance, to know what we know, so that
we may inch ourselves toward that place from which everything will be seen and un derstood.

THOUGH
Ambiguous: 2 (‘were’ only)
W2B-022(noone):11 The contribution of whales and dolphins is also well known, though they
were thought to be mute due to a lack of obvious vocal apparatus.
W2B-022(noone):44 One story, probably apocryphal, has it that upon hearing these noises the
harbour's defences were brought out nightly to repel an attack that never came, though night after
night strange noises were heard emanating from the ocean.
Modals: 7 (can x2, could x2, might, would, will)
S1A-053(A):289 Um you kn it's on a hill though I mean you might see the beach
S1B-039(A):132 By the very nature of a casual though one would think that means ah not as
much ah employment protection ah
S2A-024(A):222 You with me Though he can hide I can hide the whole of you with the tip of my
finger

115
S2A-042(A):133 The frankness and fun that we had together are indeed memorable though it
could all come legitimately under the heading of total application and hard speedy work as we
raced the calendar to catch the Christmas market
W1B-009(noone):20 Gill is going well & they all had a great time in Corsica with sun-tans to
show off, though they will no doubt fade from now on.
W1B-(noone):52 My tutor said of my assignment: "This paper is very good though you could
have done a little more background research.
W2F-016(noone):24 "I never saw the driver at all." She seems to have a sharp vision of the cracks
on the leather of the back seat, though this can't be right. Of the back-seat assailant, how ever,
she recalls with eerie clarity the colour of his eyes, the brown spiky hair sprouting above his head,
the freckles, the blister on his lip, the dark hair on his arms, a scar on the third finger of his right
hand, the mole at his wrist, and the fact that the knife was a large kitchen knife, the kind used for
cubing steak or peeling and chopping pumpkin. Its blade was mottled and old. She remembers
having a sharp mem ory of her grandmother making beef stew and of a long con versation in the
kitchen about one of her uncles.

UNLESS
Ambiguous: 24
BASE FORM: 22
S1A-001(B):7 Unless they get a good crowd If they get a good crowd I'll get up and have a turn
S1B-022(B):23 Well you can't understand it unless you look at the history I think, and the fact
that ah police in the ah, who have been promoted in the New South Wales Police ah resented the
pardons we received in nineteen eighty-five and comments I made after that, and there's been a
history of conflict even since then
S1B-030(B):122 Ah that's simply not a sustainable cure and ah which leaves the first ah cure for
the ah inequality problem that is we'd better restore thrift in this er country ah so that we can in
fact ah create ah our own ah capital er needs invest our own capital ah without going broke in the
process so that unless we have changes to our tax laws to encourage savings we've got no chance
on earth ah in the foreseeable future of restoring ah equanimity ah to the society
s1b-078(B):227 But on the other hand is and there has been at times too is there that what we do
offer them one one hundred dollars unless they want some more and there has been some some
uh uh demonstrators and I correct me if I'm wrong here which have wanted too much
S2A-047(noone):72 I mean um have you heard the one about the debate in the national executive
about whether or not we produce multi- lingual publications for a predominantly non-English
speaking background workforce and the decision that comes out in the negative because unless
we produce the publications in every conceivable language that could possibly be present in any
workplace in the whole of the country we'll create racial disharmony and uh that will be a turn off
so that in fact we won't communicate in any other language but English um
S2A-047(noone):110 And they are the direct experiences that Social Change Media is in the
business of confronting and of bringing to our consciousness as I said and making transparent so
that we can actually have the guts to deal with them because unless we do we see the statistics I
mean our competitor in the trade union movement is non-unionism and it's a mighty competitor
and as we see um every month or every quarter we see those statistics uh in a range of ways
showing less and less that we're representing workers and in newly par newly uh emerging areas

116
of the workforce both occupation and industry we find that it is very much more serious and in
segments such as the youth area and women uh we find that it is very much more serious
S2A-068(A):52 But once particulars have been given the prosecution's bound by those particulars
unless they seek to amend and there's full court authority for that in the decision of McKlintock
and Nofgy which is reported in nineteen thirty six state reports Queensland page seventy three
S2A-069(A):160 Your Worship unless you particularly want me to address you on any particular
point I don't think I can take that any further
S2B-015(E):41 Well I think the fishing community now recognise we have to have a reduction
and unless we do we're gonna have no fishery in the future
S2B-015(D):92 We're gonna be in the court in and out the high courts of Australia for the next
ten years unless these people sit down and talk to us
s2b-024(noone):182 Traditional methods of trial will not allow that process to be undertaken
unless trials run for inu inordinately long periods of time
s2b-024(noone):219 Whilst a community such as ours which is regulated by the principles of the
common law cannot concede that any case is too complex or too extensive to be heard and
determined in due process in law, there is a real danger that the system will be frustrated and
brought into public disrepute unless those concerned with the conduct of the trial have the
courage and a sense of responsibility to take advantage of the means provided for delimiting the
issues ??
S2B-027(noone):147 But unless the data conform to the rules appropriate to the particular test
being performed then the results are just so much garbage
S2B-030(J):202 And the trip takes about three hours in all which is more than enough time to
enjoy a port and an after dinner chat unless of course you go in the train bus
s2b-034(A):18 Unless the rains come soon it's doomed but the monsoon is still two months away
at least
w2a-013(noone):112 Unless we begin to address and explore their origins as a problem in
intercultural communication, we will not succeed in overcoming or even merely in coping with
them.
W2B-026(noone):211 Both plants root at the nodes, that is, where the leaves grow from the
creeping stem. The flowers and fruits (seeds) form on a very short stalk about one centime tre
long and are not usually seen unless you part the leaves and look closely.
*W2C-010(noone):172 Mr Costello said unless Mr Willis cut the deficit faster than planned
interest rates would soar and put the recov ery at risk. Æ could be past tense or subjunctive (past
tense methinks…)
W2D-008(noone):112 Plant is depreciated using the diminishing value method unless you elect
to use the prime cost method.
W2D-011(noone):140 If you declare your ball unplayable in a bunker, you must drop within the
bunker unless you choose op tion No 1.
W2E-002(noone):107 Yet it is essential we recognise that unless we choose to give up some
treasured aspects of our workstyle we risk having the sacrifice imposed on us.
W2F-020(noone):94 No, it doesn't. Time's a great heavy wheel that doesn't move at all unless
you turn it by hand, with effort.
WERE: 2

117
S1A-095(B):215 And that if there was doubt then we should let him go unless we were
convinced and I thought there was room for doubt in each of the the main points of of argument
S2A-016(D):224 He wouldn't be doing that unless they were looking at the obstacle
Modals: 8 (can x7, would)
S1A-061(B):39 Yeah yeah unless we can find a better way and then that'll become his way
S1A-084(A):208 So yeah I don't think she'll last a lot longer unless she can find another focus in
life
S1B-050(A):42 You see wi with television or radio you can hear the way something is said uhm
and often something might be said with over the twist and and uh th with a sense of humour that
that unless you'd say that it it can take on another meaning in just straight print
S2A-001(A):38 Yeah it's away by about six or seven meters and unless Arramorey can quickly
get back, it could be Jagarova's gold medal, because there will be a down hill bit coming up and
Jagarova, it's now, look at, she she'll should get momentum, and running downhill after so long
will be just as tough as running uphill for their legs
S2A-038(A):27 You know we'd like to think that these united or moving towards a common
objective but certainly the way that their goals expressed varies so unless a company can see
value in making actually making some money or saving some costs or keep themselves out of law
courts um they really aren't that interested
S2A-055(noone):128 It's very very very difficult unless you can use some tricky techniques
W1a-004(noone):8 A deadweight loss will always exist unless the firm can perfectly price
discriminate. So, by raising prices above equilibrium consumer welfare is reduced.
W2D-004(noone):18 The Sex Discrimination Act provides that an employer will be liable unless
it can be shown that all "reasonable steps" were taken to prevent sexual harassment from
occurring. Implementing internal complaint procedures is one measure an employer can take to
reduce the risk of liability; bullet Complaints which are not resolved quickly can become very
expensive in terms of lost time, money and resources, particularly if they are referred to an
outside agency; for example, time spent in meetings and interviews, time spent preparing
documentation and statements, diversion of clerical or administrative resources and lost wages
are all potential costs which need to be considered; bullet If a complaint is referred to an external
agency, legal costs and compensation payments may be incurred.

WHATEVER
Ambiguous: 20
S1A-003(A):207 Uhuh Yeah Yeah Yeah See 'cos if they've got an apartment or whatever you
call it where they've got some cooking facilities or reheating facilities or whatever they could be
attracted to take have take away stuff and take it back there or just go and sit on the wharf um
S1A-019(A):103 She was about sixty or say and her daughter was the choir master choir mistress
whatever you want to call her and she was um
S1A-024(B):154 By the time you do your preparation and do all the housework you have one day
to yourself free to do whatever you want
S1A-061(A):127 Oh whatever you reckon We'll just go to Toyota

118
S1B-010(A):233 If you're a member of an organisation which has which is federally registered
um like say you're a member of the federated teachers union or something like that and you go on
strike um here and say you know for argument's sake we talk about the university of New South
Wales I go on strike or my colleagues go on strike um and um we're members of the federated
whatever we call ourselves the academics union um that's that's satisfied that interstateness
requirement
S1B-040(G):21 Er I ha have always said for the last twenty five years since I've been a feminist
that you can't work in the field of family violence and violence against women and domestic
violence whatever you want to call that you cannot work in those fields without a feminist basis
S1B-062(A):181 She gets stressed out with whatever you put her in
S2A-033(A):208 Now you can isolate that and you can isolate that and you can pull those monies
out and do whatever you want with it or you can roll them over or whatever but you can iso you
can separate those
S2A-056(A):141 Give them your own little munch whatever you want to call
S2A-056(A):171 Whatever you want to call it
S2A-061(A):64 It went on for days and I'll have to take you to those articles because my client
has been left in the gutter and whatever you decide and whatever you give whatever damages
you give him he will never recover
S2A-065(A):24 Whatever I say on the law you must accept but you are the judges of the facts
and you may disregard any comments which I may make on the facts
S2B-021(A):229 Fourth no matter how great are the dangers of environmental destruction there
will be many people who will tell you that they are not interested in whatever you have to offer
but do not accuse them of stupid irresponsibility and warning them that their apathy is
endangering the world
S2B-037(D):137 Whatever you look at the moment it's touched with doom and gloom whether it
be the sale of motor cars or the housing industry ah or the tensions that government has ah in
getting bills through state and federal parliaments ah
W1B-005(noone):62 We explained our dire predicament to the boss. He was most sympathetic
but dotted line `But' ment meant he couldn't even look at it until the following Tuesday at the
earliest. We were desperate. I sed said : " What if we do all the dismantling and re-assembly with
your know-how and we pay you for that and the use of your floor space . ? We have all the tools
we need unless we need to press the bearings off." The boss was obviously about to decline this
as well, and had started to look uncomfortable, when his face changed and he sed said : ` Is your
name Stowe? ' ` Yes, well it used to be twenty and more years ago, you've obviously recognised
me from back then.' ` My name's Nicholls, Mr Stowe, and you taught me at Westmead Tech.
Tech in 1956, and I don't expect you to remember me, but your Dad and my Dad were good
mates, business mates like. You'll be right. Bill, whatever these blokes need, make sure they get
it. I've got to get to Parramatta.'!!
W2E-006(noone):31 And since then society has argued too about whether people should be free
to inhale, inject and ingest whatever they like.
W2F-001(noone):74 Listen, she owned up, I don't know a thing about spaghetti. Or the real
people. I'll just have whatever you reckon.
W2F-004(noone):23 'Whatever you like. Find a place, perhaps, on the peninsula.
Modals: 10 (might x7, could x2, may)

119
S1A-003(A):207 Uhuh Yeah Yeah Yeah See 'cos if they've got an apartment or whatever you
call it where they've got some cooking facilities or reheating facilities or whatever they could be
attracted to take have take away stuff and take it back there or just go and sit on the wharf um
S1B-006(A):155 You can maintain against all the evidence you can maintain that these people the
poor or the deprived or the dispossessed whatever it might be um deserve this and that it's been
coming to them because they're be be be because they're ah
S1B-006(A):160 I I mean you've just gotta look at them to realise that they're bringing something
like bad luck or bad blood or whatever it might be and and ah
S1B-022(B):44 Now how is it that ah police, experienced police, and whatever I might think
about the police in this case, there not stupid
S1B-055(A):128 We go out and we want to punch the fridge or or do whatever it might be but
the fact of the matter is the fact of the matter is if you observe if you observe as an ordinary
citizen the activities of one another of our children or in fact if you focus on yourself you will
discover and I'm not a psychologist
S2A-035(A):210 And they'll check that and then you'll fill that out and you'll categorise yourself
in any one of the the categories uhm whatever you might see yourself to be and then uhm you'll
be issued with the reader's ticket
S2A-057(A):77 When they bite you may see when he grabs the chook today they pull their eyes
back in their sockets because when they grab cattle or deer or even a kangaroo whatever it might
be and they start to kick around so they pull them right back in their sockets and they hold on
with their jaws
S2A-067(A):182 The mental element that's required for the actual exerci th to to establish actual
dishonest or partial exercise of official functions er is an awareness that the exercise of a power is
done for an improper purpose whether that is er constituted by the person engaging in the conduct
um himself recognising as improper by reference to his own standards and understanding the
purpose is improper or by recognising that ah whatever he may think the purpose is one which is
ah objectively improper or regarded by the community as being improper ah
S2B-017(G):109 So Tony Roach and myself have have only been you know working in ah in
with Bob and ah you know helping where ever we can er ah in those situations and of course
watching a lot of the matches so that we can add whatever we might be able to add but ah you
know let's give Bob ma Bob Carmichael plenty of the credit here
W2C-014(noone):74 The Blues had to rely on whatever they could get out of Williams to give
them drive from the middle

WHEREVER
Ambiguous: 5
S1A-013(A):269 Oh yeah He'll drive he drives me wherever I need to be driven
S1A-062(B):79 We were one of the last ones to finish so we sort of missed everybody wherever
they were going
S1B-044(A):231 Who's going to sit wherever you want to sit it doesn't matter
S2B-039(A):104 Now what we will do over the weeks ahead is we'll follow up on the basket the
pot and also on the fence there to see how they go but please note now is the time to put in your

120
sweet peas wherever you live in Australia and of course don't forget that if you're growing them
in a pot put in some Osmacote or Nutracote or something as well
W2B-011(noone):65 Gold Coast-bound bus drivers cheerfully agree to drop passengers wherever
they like along the route. Says one southern visitor: I reckon if you asked them to get out ahead of
you and put on the kettle for a cup of tea, they'd agree.
Modals: 6 (can x2, would x2, could, might)
S2A-035(A):156 Now people living in uh wherever it might be, uhm it has the names of the
parents, their religion, and their the ages and names of the children, at Yarrowell wherever
Yarrowell is
S2A-052(noone):115 All those bright yellow things wherever you can see it are little stores of
fat, so you don't have that whitish fat that you saw in the mouse and there isn't fat covering all the
organs so they're really they're really nice for finding blood vessels, much easier than it was in the
mouse because the fat's not there and they're reasonably tough
S2A-053(noone):156 They can sit on the outside just wherever you'd like
S2A-053(noone):157 Wherever you'd like them you know that's all it is
w2a(noone):50 The invisible economic activities consisted of women earning money wherever
they could.
W2C-009(noone):202 Patients line the corri dors on trolleys wherever we can find room, he said.

WHETHER
Subjunctives: 11
S1B-038(G):184 The courts have this this label called custodial parent and er you give that you
give that power to the custodial parent whether it be male or female and that's enormous power
to wield over the non-custodial parent
S1B-068(B):308 Er yeah possibly intoxicated Er I've seen people acting strangely whether it be
intoxication or not I'm not sure
??? S2A-025(noone):134 And herbivorous animals whether they by invertebrate or vertebrate
have developed devices in the form of various pockets of their of their gut where this activity will
take place and of course the most well known one of course is the rumen inside the one of the the
chambers of the stomach of the ruminant mammals Æ typo? Surely subj?
S2A-026(noone):151 Whether they be male, ah homosexual, um what their appearance is
S2A-065(A):107 This is a criminal court Each and everyone of you must agree upon the verdict
that you bring in whether it be a verdict of guilty or of not guilty
S2B-017(K):167 Every ah young footballer wants to play in a final whether it be night or day
and ah and it's a great disappointment for Stephen and the club
S2B-037(D):137 Whatever you look at the moment it's touched with doom and gloom whether it
be the sale of motor cars or the housing industry ah or the tensions that government has ah in
getting bills through state and federal parliaments ah
W2B-023(noone):203 One of the first problems that result from antibiotic use, whether it be in
infants, children or adults, comes as a result of their effect on the microorganisms in the digestive
tract.

121
W2D-007(noone):127 Where a report is not provided no funds will be allocated to the project
concerned. bullet Applicants should give full details of support requested and awarded for 1993
from all sources, whether they be associated with established grant schemes or commissioned
research contracts. bullet Any projects involving human or animal experimentation, defence-
related research, recombinant DNA, potentially pathogenic micro-organisms, carcinogens, or
ionising radiation will need to be considered by the appropriate University Ethics Review
Committees.
W2F (noone):31 I always have been a great sports fan, whether it be football, cricket or tiddly-
winks.
W2F (noone):68 And, whether it be cricket or football, I would be practising my "broadcasting".
Ambiguous: 34
BASE FORM: 29
S1A-008(B):64 Thank you Depends on how much you want it really or whether you want to
spend some time looking at more flats and getting a a better idea of what's around
S1A-008(B):109 Um I mean it depends whether you want to make a game of it or not
S1A-023(B):58 And whether we want ah want to attack him now about it I'll see what
S1A-027(A):294 But we still need to know whether we need to do it or not
S1A-032(A):171 Mmm Because when people if people don't know your true age and they're
guessing it then they I don't know whether they base it on responsibility or wheth I reckon they
base it on
S1B-001(A):201 not whether you like the
S1B-004(A):67 I don't know whether they actually give any sort of generalisation from
anaphoric relationships to general comprehension skills
S1B-011(A):338 Whether you just want to settle conflict or do some major structural changes
S1B-013(A):40 If you put this into into practice I think you'd have to be an excellent ecologist to
be able to get the right balance of all these different things whether you put more pesticide or
whether you put more um inter interspecific and intra specific biological control
S1B-016(F):260 Talking about talking about nuclear families and so on while you know in the
real world for the majority of individuals the family exists whether they have it or not
S1B-027(A):112 Royce Miller, if we can move it along a bit I'd just like to ask you whether or
not you agree with the proposition I put when we were introducing this story that the speaking out
of the jury whether we think they ought or not have, has certainly created a a climate in
Queensland where the general public feels some cynicism, some scepticism about the way the
jury system is operating there
S1B-037(Z):219 There ar there are uh very large numbers of women who still don't receive
orgasms through sexual intercourse whether or not we think orgasms are important
S1B-049(B):48 And you do reach a point where you say, look the facts are the facts those who
know know, whether they want to admit it or not um
S1B-077(C):207 Whether they give it to you or not John is another matter
S2A-042(A):138 Now they're all the notes that I've made and I don't know whether you want me
to ramble on or or sit down and see what happens next inaudible from audience

122
S2A-047(noone):72 I mean um have you heard the one about the debate in the national executive
about whether or not we produce multi- lingual publications for a predominantly non-English
speaking background workforce and the decision that comes out in the negative because unless
we produce the publications in every conceivable language that could possibly be present in any
workplace in the whole of the country we'll create racial disharmony and uh that will be a turn off
so that in fact we won't communicate in any other language but English um
S2A-047(noone):85 And uh have you heard the one about the research into the market needs of
the trade union movement um which is where you actually an you actually survey the union
organisers to decide what the market needs of the membership are um and this is a bit like uh you
know the Kellogs cornflakes producers surveying themselves to find out whether the consumers
uh want it in a red packet or a white packet but that's you know the sort of uh level and uh it kind
of gets worse
S2A-060(A):140 The reason we've got the arm up to the shoulder is that when we roll over the
face is on the fingers the leg furthest away you pull up under the knee so that when you grab this
handful of knee and push down the person pivots over on their hips whether they want to or not
S2A-061(A):117 I don't know whether you remember those words but I do
S2A-064(A):61 This is one of those cases where candidly it'd be nice to be able to ask whether
you find him innocent but you're not going to be asked that
S2A-068(A):195 All it can be relevant to is as to whether you prefer the evidence of the police or
the evidence of Mr McGregor having regard to his demeanour and the fact that he didn't deny it at
the side of the road
W1B(noone):31 It is then a question of whether the extracts constitute a 'substantial part' of their
respective works.
W1B(noone):125 As to whether the alterations you are to make for the American version render
it another work which should then be the subject of another agreement, it is a question of fact and
degree. If the work is the text written in accordance with the synopsis attached to the publishing
contract with minor alterations for the American market, it would not be considered a new work.
If the work had been re-written to the extent that it was substantially different to the manuscript,
then arguably it may constitute a separate work and thus require a fresh agreement. From my
discussion with you I do not believe this is the case.
W2B-031(noone):60 Whether you choose to buy a Max ima or a Cressida, there should be no
disappointments with the standard of finish.
W2C-020(noone):80 The notices need to give the maximum number of shares allowed to be
repurchased, the reasons for the operation, whether directors and their associates reserve the right
to sell shares on-market to the company (and which directors/associates) and any new
information appropriate or relevant to shareholders.
W2D-004(noone):53 Complaint procedures are not static; they need to be monitored, reviewed
and refined to ensure their effectiveness. It should not be assumed that sexual harassment is not a
problem just because no complaints are being received. It is important to determine what people
think of the procedure, whether they have any hesitations about using it and how it could be
improved. A confidential survey of staff opinions and ideas may assist in gathering this
information.
W2D-011(noone):242 Your setup should be influenced by whether you have an uphill or
downhill lie.

123
W2D-020(noone):24 But, no matter whether you intend to use chemicals or not, what would be
termed clean cultural practices in your garden are going to reduce pest and disease problems. This
means keeping the weeds at bay, picking off pests by hand (or with a stick or even the vacuum
cleaner) and removing infected flowers, leaves or even the entire plant.
W2E-005(noone):138 East Timorese have never been given a say in whether or not they want to
be part of Indonesia.
WERE: 5
S1A-016(A):192 or something yeah 'cause Firstname3 said they were going to find out whether
they were doing the hot dogs
s1b-076(A):50 But your wife I didn't know whether you were
s1b-079(C):381 It's just the way you expressed it which made me wonder whether you were
using it in the way that I had in mind um because you you can if you push it even put your ill man
into the subject of the sentence
S2B-027(noone):189 How could he possibly have known whether I or a hundred other budding
graduate students were potential writers or not when the only chance we got to write was in a
rather terrifying examination hall with a strictly enforced time limit
W2C-006(noone):198 Senator Crowley, a member of last year's ALP caucus working party on
Medicare, said there should be no distinciton between patients depending on whether they were
served by bulk- billing doctors or between pensioners and non-pensioners.
Modals: 78 (should x24, could x15, can x13, will x13, would x10, may, might, shall)
S1A-001(B):107 Hello Ern I didn't known that, I didn't know whether you could or not Tom
Unintelligible section untranscribed
S1A-016(A):110 So whether sh you know we sort of said Well if you want to you can have it at
our place um whether she'd feel happier
S1A-051(B):199 I think it would be nice to have something as well as sausages um but whether
you could have
S1A-054(A):242 'cause we were thinking although I don't know if the dollar keeps on dropping
whether we'll be going
S1A-054(A):312 I'll have to work out whether I can get six months off the university
S1A-062(A):115 And by the time he got there Like he was there for about three minutes and
everyone had finished and so then he just goes on about this big discussion about whether you
can measure measure emotion
S1A-073(A):16 Yeah Whether we shouldn't um look at maybe doing a letter box here again
S1A-098(A):238 I don't know whether you can
S1A-098(A):369 Mmm nuts and I bought some raisins I don't know whether any of them'll
S1B-004(A):58 To see whether it would work Right Well I'm not do you think to see whether it
was worthwhile to they did do a sort of generalised test on reading comprehension I think
S1B-021(C):143 Um, I guess one of the big arguments that's been used for a long time and
probably Matt can answer that better than I can about long necked people playing rugby, whether
they should be playing

124
S1B-022(B):68 If I can just butt in here, it's interesting to notice that um some three months
before the trial, there was an advice from the prosecutor, ah Mr Dudeski, who ran the trial, um in
response to an application for a no bill, that said I have not yet decided whether or not I will call
Raymond Denning at the trial
S1B-022(C):189 Ah quite apart from the whole question of whether the Crown should be
involved in reshaping its case as it as it went along
S1B-027(C):67 But I think that's a quite different issue from whether jurors voluntarily should be
free to speak out
S1B-058(A):64 The question was first second and third whether this legislation could stand up to
any constitutional challenge in the High Court and the degree of risk that was involved
S1B-058(A):83 There are seventy six of us here with varied varied backgrounds and a lot of
experience a lot more than I and we are more than well equipped with all our advice to make
determinations as to whether legislation could face any constitutional challenge
S1B-064(B):176 It was a a secondary ah issue as to whether it could get around the corner
S1B-064(A):180 Well one of the one of the one of the um parts of that calculation was to ah or
one of the ways of also establishing whether or not it could do eighty two was whether or not it
could slow down in time to go around the corner
S1B-070(C):177 And the purpose of your meeting with Mr surname6was to see whether you
should tender for a job at placename2?
s1b-073(Z):48 So it's really just a matter of whether anyone can come
s1b-078(D):102 Consequently discussion was necessary to see whether the annual fees should
cover all expenses including the demonstrator's fees or whether the present situation should
continue a set fee and a dollar to those people seeing the demonstration
S1B-080(B):281 It it was just I wondered whether it could be incorporated into the bathroom to
just make it that little bit bigger
S2A-004(A):254 Well Andre Agassi with his fans now Whether they can get him going is a
tough call right now
S2A-017(C):141 Whether he can get a strong three thousand two hundred metres is yet to be
seen
S2A-019(E):209 We wondered whether he'd stay Gosh has he stayed He's won by a lap
S2A-028(A):185 What was the power of the reactor was how it would be constructed and
whether you could co-locate uh fuel disposal facilities and all that sort of thing
S2A-029(A):61 For example when ah Edmond Barton was discussing with George Reid both of
them later Australian Prime Ministers whether the Australian Government should have treaty
powers, the power to enter into foreign treaties and whether it should be then able to legislate on
the basis of treaties as Australia has more recently done particularly in the environmental area on
the basis of one of the the treaties it's um a signatory to it legislated to protect um parts of
Australia like um that place way up in North Queensland whose name I've forgotten on a river
that rainforest and South- western Tasmania
S2A-029(A):71 So they're discussing at the late eighteen nineties whether Australia should have
treaty powers which any sovereign nation has and they say no it shouldn't because that would be
very American and in any case ah says George Reid this isn't appropriate for a colony within an
Empire

125
S2A-031(A):11 Everyone's saying things are starting to pick up but there has been some concerns
about ah whether the growth at the current will be sustained because people are are concerned
about what basis is the growth built on and you've all heard or at least you heard in the main
budget the um government's projections for investment in business which a number of people
have said fairly unrealistic um so the government is looking towards investment and to be able to
invest you must have money and the way you get money is with your savings
S2A-033(A):132 This is that first up we have an interview um for you to see whether you'd like
to do business with us and to see whether we can help you and it's in that initial discussion that
we get those various informations that we need to develop an a program for you
S2A-039(noone):15 And one of the most prominent aggressive behaviours in pre-schoolers is
punching and gee we get the urge to give them a fight back at times don't we to um see whether
they can experience what it's like
S2A-045(noone):152 Um on a on um AM earlier this week Maxine McKew was interviewing
Senator Bob Collins about the guidelines for screening adult movies whether they should be
screened after half past eight or half pa half past nine and I don't know whether any of you heard
it but her first question was is channel nine being a bit feral over this audience laughs
S2A-045(noone):197 Um the ABC's role in the community is obviously relevant in any
discussion on house style whether we should be a community leader or a community reflector
and certainly something that the committee and the ABC as a whole takes into account when
we're thinking about words such as kilometre and um we also obviously look at it in words such
as ah you saying you say BHP not BHP ah ??
S2A-047(noone):94 Have you heard the one about the amalgamation meeting that took two hours
to get through a hundred and fifty pages of union rules which dealt with issues such as the
structure of the organisation and uh the objectives of the organisation, the means by which these
objectives were going to be reached and two whole days of debate over uh whether there would
be four weeks annual leave or five weeks annual leave
S2A-068(A):131 The only time that the question of loading or unloading came up was when my
friend was cross-examining Mr Bleakly to see whether the speed at which the vehicle could take
the corner would be affected if the vehicle was unloaded but even when you have regard to that
evidence it still couldn't have gone around the corner at seventy kilometres an hour
S2A-069(A):83 The apparent um problem however Your Worship is whether or not the vehicle
could slow down in time and take the corner
S2B-014(A):130 Federal National Party leader Tim Fisher says the debate over whether
Australia should become a Republic has become focused under Opposition leader Alexander
Downer
S2B-014(A):186 In sports news the Brisbane Broncos will this afternoon decide whether they'll
appeal against Peter Ryan's three week suspension
S2B-022(noone):176 Whenever anyone asks me whether I'd do it all again I invariably and, I
must say, enthusiastically, declare that I would even knowing some of the adverse consequences
s2b-024(noone):125 There have been expressions of impatience about the time which is being
taken to investigate a number of these cases and to determine whether charges should be laid
WIA-002(noone):65 Whether technological ad vances could reduce environmental impacts to
acceptable levels needs care ful assessment. Development strategies for Macarthur South and the
other areas proposed for new urban development (Map 2) are currently being revised (Dept. of
Planning 1991 and 1992b).

126
W1A-016(noone):26 Freud was rather indifferent to whether his theories or concepts could be
verified.
W1A-018(noone):45 There is a tension between the idea of writing 'women's history', which is, in
a sense, a separate discipline of history, or whether history should be written with women at its
centre.
W1B-001(noone):40 Ken is very interested in the K & has done a lot of reading, thinking &
praying, especially relating to the communication of the Message to them specifically. However,
paradoxically, we are yet to see whether he will return here, or go to Uganda, or stay in N.Z.
W1B-004(noone):41 Well, Myrtle, that's all for now. Please put a few lines on paper when you
get the time and let me know how you are faring. It was wonderful to talk to you by phone on
both occasions when I was visiting your country - not as good as meeting with you personally, of
course, but it was second best. I don't know whether I'll get your way again, but I hope so, and
then we'll meet up.
W1B-010(noone):45 Just a brief note to accompany the next two episodes of the infamous
"House of Elliott" herewith. Also on the tape to fill it up is the ABC news of the 19th April. We
can't remember if there's anything startling on it apart from the MLA from the Blue Mountains
being accused of making bomb threats (the cops are also investigating whether he might be the
perpetrator of a bomb-explosion up there some time before). Also, wrapped around the cassette is
a newspaper story about where you live -- we thought you might like to compare notes.
W1B-013(noone):73 I am due to move in when I get back from this OP. It is three bedroom,
fairly new, air conditioned with dishwasher and washing machine so I am not doing too badly.
Eventually I should have a phone on and I'll give you a number. I am not sure whether I'll be able
to call you from home as international lines take forever to be put on, but you should be able to
call me, Lucky eh! However I am able to make calls from the headquarters (which I get billed
for!!!) so you will here hear from me eventually.
W1B-(noone):54 I'd be happy for you to read it but don't know whether that would be
appropriate or not?
W1B(noone):35 It then must be asked whether the entry and manipulation of such extracts of
text into the database would constitute copyright uses. You state in your letter that you will be
transcribing the words of the audio-visual material in to a computer readable form that will then
be entered on the database. The means of entering the data will be relevant in determining
whether the copyright in the published edition will be relevant. Data is generally put into
electronic storage in two ways:
W1B(noone):69 I am not sure from your letter whether the texts can be accessed after they have
been entered onto the database. If they are to be used for linguistic research or the extraction of
data such as frequency statistics of certain key words and the user has no access to the works
themselves, then the only activity which may require the copyright owner's licence is the initial
reproduction of the work for the purpose of selecting and tabulating the frequency of key words.
Whether a licence is required depends upon whether a reproduction is made during this process
and whether it is in a "material form". If the work is reproduced transitorily so that, once the
process of selection is completed, it cannot be reproduced, it is unlikely to be in the requisite
material form to require the copyright owner's licence. Where the whole or a substantial part of
the materials materials' input into the system are is capable of being retrieved the input is likely to
be a copyright use as even though not all the information is reproduced in the output.
w2a-009(noone):13 In a different context, the Bicentenary of the French Revolution has served
thinkers such as Julia Kristeva and Tzvetan Todorov as a pretext for reflecting on whether

127
significant aspects of France's cultural and political heritage can be seen to encourage, or to
repress an enlightened cosmopolitanism - that is, an enlightened encouragement of difference as
against variations of racism.
w2a-025(noone):53 Further assessment of the role of loud vocalisations by mammals other than
primates will indicate whether generalisations can be made about the functions of frequent loud
calls and may provide an insight into the selective forces involved.
w2a-027(noone):110 Residual detritus such as old wood or roots was also sought to determine
whether trees may have been present in the past.
w2a-028(noone):61 This monumental work of more than 100 000 photographic plates was
prompted by a controversy over whether a moving horse could ever have all feet simultaneously
off the ground.
w2a-033(noone):121 Since the majority of the data is for short recurrence interval earthquakes
(and therefore, as it happens, low magnitude earthquakes), the test will merely indicate whether
that available data can be approximated by the Poisson model.
w2a-037(noone):57 The decisions that are required to implement information systems may be
classified in terms of where they would be made in a waterfall model, which include:- *
Generating Relational Schemas: When denormalizations should be introduced; whether derived
facts (attributes) should be evaluated eagerly or lazily; whether constraints should be maintained
in the applications or an active database; how data should be distributed over a network.
W2B-011(noone):172 People are wondering whether the greener regime that they expect ed will
eventuate.
W2C-004(noone):61 The Opposition would propose sub stantial amendments to the disclosure
bill, including giving union members the right to decide whether their union dues should go to
the ALP.
W2C-005(noone):187 Under the amended legislation, the IRC would no longer have the power to
dictate whether employ ers should be using contract labor or employees.
W2C-007(noone):46 Mr David rejected claims Mr Wagner was let off on a technical ity and
declined to comment on whether the cost of the trials could have been better spent elsewhere.
W2C-007(noone):61 There is a lot of public opinion about whether they should have gone on or
not or whether the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
W2C-009(noone):186 Dr Eisen could not say whether Mrs Long would have lived had an inten
sive care bed had been available sooner.
W2C-015(noone):188 Now the tax office's audit branch has started inquiries, sparked by the
NSW Auditor-General querying the ownership of the tunnel. The tax office reportedly regards
ownership as a key indicator of whether tax deductions should be approved for Government
projects.
W2C-017(noone):118 Senior Crown Prosecutor Gerard Overman is now considering whether
any action should be taken.
W2D-009(noone):294 16.2 Decisions and resolutions of in-camera deliberations shall be recorded
in the Minutes. It is at the discretion of the majority of the meeting as to whether the
deliberations themselves shall be recorded in the Minutes.
W2D-018(noone):59 A trial short tour for, say, a weekend before setting out on anything longer,
is certain to sort out many queries, including whether you will be tenting the whole way, taking a
trailer/camper or even a full-sized caravan with you.

128
W2E-004(noone):123 It remains to be seen whether he will push for this course rather than the
policy of slow legislative strangulation proclaimed by Mr Brown.
W2E-004(noone):155 A third question is whether he can heal the wounds and close the divisions
that the leadership coup will have left in his party.
W2E-005(noone):48 The question now is whether the market will remain satisfied with the
changes to Westpac's board and management.
W2E-006(noone):31 And since then society has argued too about whether people should be free
to inhale, inject and ingest whatever they like.
W2E-007(noone):73 But then, in the byzantine world of our Town Hall, Mr Llewllyn-Smith must
himself be questioned for taking more than four weeks to decide on whether the State Govern
ment should investigate a possible conflict of interest by Alderman Mark Hamilton.
Quasi-modals: 4 (have to x2, have got to, ought to)
S1A-060(B):239 I hate that half time bell It's s'pose to be oh so all all the junior school can find
out whether they have to go to the toilet or not
S1A-065(A):179 If the old grannies come back to school whether they've got to put on a new
uniform or just how it's all gonna work
S1B-004(E):92 But they also make the comment that it's difficult to know whether when
teaching comprehension isolating one area is effective or whether you have to teach everything
in together
W2F-013(noone):18 (Before my first day at school I had promised I would never turn aside from
McCrae Street, Baxter Street, and McIvor Road. On the very few afternoons when I left those
streets and walked for a little way along the creek, I supposed as I walked that my father was
hurrying along McIvor Road while I was down among the bulrushes. My father had set out from
home to meet me, I supposed. He had come to tell me that our house had been burned down or
that my mother had been killed, but we had passed one another without knowing. On those
afternoons I had almost turned back from the creek to make sure that my father was not
somewhere behind me and walking away from me. And even while I wondered whether I ought
to turn back, I thought of my father's arriving at the school and then turning back towards home
but this time leaving the streets and walking along the creek for a little way because he thought I
might have been loitering there whereas I was just then going back towards the school by way of
the streets and passing my father again unseen.) When my father could not find me in my usual
streets, he would think at first that I had turned aside to watch the water in the creek flowing
swiftly after the storm. He would go down to the bank of the creek, and while he was looking for
me among the bulrushes a priest from the presbytery next to my school would ride his bicycle
along McCrae Street and Baxter Street and McIvor Road on his way to my father's house to tell
my father, who was not at home, that his only son had been killed by lightning.

CATENATIVES
S1B-003(A):172 Um I mean if you were to to take what I hope is an extreme in this example if
you wanted to um address a you know a small language group in the Himalayas and part of that
was writing in that language then you know I'd have extreme difficulty with that idea because it
could be very inaccessible to me in terms of of marking it um but I think we've given quite a lot
of latitude in the examples that that we've given you in the course guide
S1B-030(B):116 I I think one ought to remember that we are running monumental deficits or the
sort that've now lead us into a foreign debt of something like a hundred and fifty five billion the

129
second highest in the world so that I I think job creation any fool can do if you wanna spend
somebody else's money and borrow from overseas
S1B-071(B):380 Okay Well if you happen to be in Cairns or Brisbane for that matter there's
offices

SUBORDINATORS: INDICATIVE INVESTIGATION

IF IT WERE : 6
S1B-021(D):44 So rather than organising a competition for example i in say soccer or football ah
that runs for three to four months, then ah I I feel that it would encourage more students to
participate if there if it were a shorter competition, made more interesting, ah en encompassing
ah teams from various areas to participate, and I also think that um the one advantage that school
sport has over community sport ah in the cost area is that it is much cheaper for students to
participate in sport at school
S1B-042(B):217 For example if it were to be the case that the nature of the warnings was similar
or not dissimilar between each of the products then the adequacy of that warning or patient
information could be tested in a sense in a generic manner
S2B-032(A):61 If it weren't for this shiny fluid they might It's mucus secreted by the stomach
walls and a micro-thin film of it is enough to keep the corrosive juices at bay
w1b-029(noone):233 If it were a toaster I would take it back and get a refund!
W2B-010(noone):16 If it were not for his trademark moustache, it would be difficult to recognise
the self-portrait as Done.
W2C-005(noone):129 On terra nullious, Mr Justice Brennan said: If it were permissible in past
centuries to keep the common law in step with inter national law, it is imperative in today's world
that the common law neither be, nor be seen to be, frozen in an age of racial dis crimination .

IF IT WAS (remote conditional) : 11

S1A-003(A):145 Yeah Oh I see Okay So they could do this full day thing from Port Douglas and
prob'ly join up with Cairns people if it was needed
S1A-042(B):7 Well what well you're on the wrong track really aren't you because if it was going
to help you there you would've been doing this particular speech experiment with one of those
people over there
S1A-067(B):173 It's not worth anything Oh this could be worth it if it was all cut down
S1B-028(B):41 The Commission was given wider powers in nineteen eighty nine but its role is
limited to conciliation and recommendation Bill Whittaker says if it was given more teeth to
override the states and territories the public would be better protected
(B):186 I mean if it wasn't for television would he sit on the bus and have people looking at him
saying Gee I wonder where I've never seen that face before
S2A-047(noone):122 So this really is a serious speech but as I said if it if it wasn't so serious
some of those uh anecdotes would actually be very funny

130
S2B-010(D):51 If it was done at a reasonable level I suppose ah we'd be certainly interested to
look at it and I suppose it's easier for consumers to work out what they're doing
w2a-021(noone):150 All this took place at a time when little was known about the coast, and
even if it was it would be ignored, because the impact was development and development was
good.
w2b-018(noone):138 I could, theoretically, tell you if it wasn't for our policy of not disclosing
commissions. I could, theoretically, tell you what the commission was, so that's not the issue. The
issue is dotted line
W2B-031(noone):167 The Maxima would be left behind on performance if it wasn't for its
lighter overall mass and the fact that its engine produces maximum torque at much lower engine
speeds than the Cressida.
W2E-003(noone):76 If it was not for certain other changes, the package would deserve high
praise.

FORMULAIC SUBJUNCTIVES

be that as it may: 1
W2B-014(noone):185 Be that as it may, the problem exists and cannot be swept under the carpet.

so be it: 5
S1B-023(B):27 So be it
S1B-039(D):164 Now if that means that there is some problem about the the nature of their
employment then so be it
S2A-061(A):189 Well so be it We are what we are and I hope we remain proud of it ??
W2C-008(noone):215 If that means dotted line that QR goes through a period of carry ing surplus
staff, so be it.
W2E-006(noone):90 Almost 600 involved marijuana and 413 were for possession or use. If
society thinks that is money well spent, so be it.

as it were: 9
S1B-006(A):31 They were um ah as it were tolerated as as guest workers at wages would be
which which although lower than a German worker would get would be much higher than the
wages they get back home
S1B-068(A):251 And he was quite docile then There was no trouble at all, was there, taking him
to the police paddy wagon as it were
S2A-022(noone):117 When somebody faints, the action doesn't affect another entity It's as it
were a self-contained sort of process
S2A-037(noone):130 We have also very strong interests in feminist approaches and in various
other approaches which go to make up a cultural studies ah composite as it were and I think that
that was one of the great strengths that we started from and we we certainly want to build on that

131
S2A-042(A):172 I didn't want them to be on public view as it were and ah I think I did
S2A-050(A):78 Anyway so there are these as it were dualities some people spelling it one way
and some the other
S2A-050(A):105 And so we get a a big uh range in terms of employment profession education so
that we are not just as it were tapping an elite kind of usage
W1A-013(noone):113 This is the dying society of "The Dead". One of non-questioning being
replaced by another intellectual one. The evidence is to be found at several points through the
story. Firstly, there is the discussion of singers, in which despite even the evidence in front of
their ears, as it were, of Mr Bartell D'arcy, all the best singers were long ago. The "golden age"
for these people is way back when. When it is suggested that such singers exist in other locales on
the Continent, it is dismissed as an irrelevancy. They cannot adapt.
w2a-013(noone):158 For many otherwise quite different practitioners of the discipline (as I have
previously put it), the anthropological outlook or stance or vision is a distinctively dual one. An
anthropological understanding stems from the simultaneous viewing of an object from two
perspectives, from the fusing together, as it were, of images refracted through two quite disparate
lenses. Anthropology seeks to pursue simultaneously a grounded understanding of both the unity
and the diversity of humankind, of the oneness of the human situation and of the plenitude of the
numerous, dramatically varying forms that situation takes. It seeks to fashion a set of terms in
which, with equal facility and appropriateness, we can comprehend both generically what it
means to be human, to be a person at all, and also what it means to be a person of a particular
time and place, fashioned within some unique, historically realised configuration of social and
cultural circumstances. Modern anthropology contends that these are not two separate questions:
instead it rests its claim on the insistence that each of these two questions can be pursued only
through the pursuit - the simultaneous pursuit within the same broad conceptual frame of
reference - of the other. Anthropology is thus concerned with the discovery of the general features
of human existence within and through the study of its widely varying particular forms.

be it…: 3
S1B-033(noone):107 Be it in eight minutes or eight years time will tell
S2A-026(noone):184 For example, um if someone says to you , I put it to you that if someone, for
example, who you're in a relationship with, be it a family member or a close friend or something,
comes to you, gets annoyed, gets angry, swears at you, I put it to you that that person is not for
example saying I hate you you fucking bastard
(noone):23 Another claim I would make is that judgementalism, the powerful temptation in us to
divide the world self-righteously into simple binaries, is a possibility within any belief-system
that is oriented towards some conception of the good, be it religious, ethical or political.
Pharisaism is as much a temptation of Marxism or feminism as it is of any theological creed or
moral commitment: all can degenerate into dividing the world rigidly into sheep and goats. ??

if needs be: 1
w1b-030(noone):27 When Vaughan is in HK with Arthur, he will be meeting not only our 2
specific transit mixer builders, but their customers - the users. We will be looking to determine
whether there is customer service talent we can train - at our cost if needs be - to make them
service self sufficient and educated to specify Eaton / Trasmital. We can take the training to them
in HK or bring them to Sydney.

132