A Study of the NP as it is known Expressions through Comparison with the NP as we know it Expressions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to elucidate the specific characteristics of NP as it is known expressions (e.g., the TPP as it’s known) through corpus analysis and comparison with seemingly similar NP as we know it expressions (e.g., the world as we know it). While these two types of expressions have their surface commonalities, corpus findings reveal divergent distributional patterns for them. Specifically, the analysis revolves around (i) an association between the two types of expressions and particular situations (e.g., denoting disappearance), (ii) usage of as-clauses, and (iii) discourse functions. The results demonstrate that the NP as it is known expressions lack any significant associations with particular situations and the as-clauses have two important uses: naming as the main use and restricting as another less typical use. Name-as is used to name an entity whose linguistic expression is modified by the as-clause; Restrictive-as is used to restrict the scope of such an entity. Furthermore, the name-as clause tends to signal that the NP modified by the as-clause is a paraphrase of the preceding expression and this NP tends to be a primary topic in the subsequent discourse. These properties sharply contrast with those of the NP as we know it expressions. Overall, this study advances our understanding of this lesser-studied type of expressions and provides novel insights into their semantic and discourse behavior. Furthermore, it will be expected to facilitate the exploration of other similar expressions from these perspectives.