NOT-contraction in present-day English is considered to be an informal and colloquial feature, similar to the 19th century view of the contracted form. The fact that the contracted form is scarcely found in written language and usually in informal texts along with it being considered a shorter way to write the uncontracted variant could explain the neglect in research. 19th century BrE has been and still remains a rather unexplored area. This study investigates the frequency of NOT-contractions in the 19th century by comparing the frequency of contraction across time, genre, gender, and...
NOT-contraction in present-day English is considered to be an informal and colloquial feature, similar to the 19th century view of the contracted form...
