A Corpus-Based Case Study in Prepositional AT/TO- Infinitive Alternation using the Lemma “AIM”

Abstract

The lemma ‘AIM’ in its verbal form presents a case of prepositional (at)/to-infinitive alternation. This study demonstrates that whilst users of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries would conclude that the pair is equivalent in use, a corpus study of the two forms enables certain clear distinctions to be made. The most significant of these may be found to be the predominant pattern of use of AIM+at in more formal styles with AIM+to being prefered in less formal discourse. Other uses are examined in context concerning clausal polarity, tense, and collocational elements of semantic significance. The relevance of such a corpus-based study is examined in relation to possible use in the field of stylistics. This study concludes by demonstrating the importance of corpus study to supplement information given in dictionaries, and suggesting the highlighting of distinctions in underlying principles through the use of such data, as well as noting possible relevance to the stylistician.

Keywords

• aim to
• aim at
• corpus
• lexicology
• stylistics
• discourse