ABSTRACT
Grammatical variety is inherent in language, and the idea that there is a single, homogenous grammar for any language is a fallacy. Grammar changes because people change; they say and do and hear different and novel things in different and novel situations, a premise on which the notion of emergent grammar rests. English phrasal and prepositional verbs occupy a mezzanine territory between grammar and lexis. As a result, they are a perfect example of lexico-grammar: their main verb properties are those of typical delexical verbs, while their particles have become grammaticised and welded to them in a variety of types of grammatical patterning. Debates over grammar spill into the public domain and simmer till they boil over into moral panic. Grammar in the media and in the streets and squares of our towns is always on the move. The linguistic landscape is the living, uncaged grammar reference book.
