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Author: Bettelou Los
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199274762
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other nonfinite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. Dr Los shows that as earlyas Old English the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today. She argues that its spread was largely due to competition with subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced.Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The author provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. She concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb.The exposition is clear and does not assume an up-to-date knowledge of generative theory. The book will appeal to the wide spectrum of scholars interested in the transformation of Old to Middle English as well as those studying the processes and causes of syntactic change more generally.
Author: Bettelou Los
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199274762
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other nonfinite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. Dr Los shows that as earlyas Old English the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today. She argues that its spread was largely due to competition with subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced.Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The author provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. She concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb.The exposition is clear and does not assume an up-to-date knowledge of generative theory. The book will appeal to the wide spectrum of scholars interested in the transformation of Old to Middle English as well as those studying the processes and causes of syntactic change more generally.
Author: Anneli Meurman-Solin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199938482
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
Information Structure and Syntactic Change in the History of English is the first book to apply information structure as it relates to language change to a corpus-based analysis of a wide range of features in the evolution of English syntax and grammars of prose in long diachrony.
Author: Marinel Gerritsen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110886049
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492
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Book Description
TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.
Author: Henning Andersen
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027235635
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 589
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Book Description
The volume contains 37 papers originally presented at the 8th International Conference on Historical Linguistics in Lille, France. The papers bring historical data to bear on issues in theoretical linguistics, both descriptive and diachronic or deal with specific questions in the history of individual languages. The theoretical issues range from phonology over morphology and syntax to the lexicon, as well as questions of historical dialectology, language contact, the theory of linguistic change, and problems of comparative reconstruction. The languages discussed are Finno-Ugric and Indo-European, most of the papers dealing with Germanic and Romance languages (especially English and French), but some being devoted to Greek, Celtic, Slavic, and Hittite.
Author: Lukasz Jedrzejowski
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110518597
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 372
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Book Description
The major aim of this volume is to investigate infinitival structures from a diachronic point of view and, simultaneously, to embed the diachronic findings into the ongoing theoretical discussion on non-finite clauses in general. All contributions subscribe to a dynamic approach to infinitival clauses by investigating their origin, development and loss in miscellaneous patterns and across different languages.
Author: Dieter Kastovsky
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110863316
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 521
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Book Description
The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies, which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics. For further publications in English linguistics see also our Dialects of English book series. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Natalie Fecher.
Author: Yoko Iyeiri
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027211701
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
For sale in all countries except Japan. For customers in Japan: please contact Yushodo Co. The principal focus of this book concerns various shifts of complements which verbs of implicit negation (e.g. "forbid," "forbear," "avoid," "prohibit," and "prevent") have experienced in the history of English. "Forbid," for example, was once followed by "that"-clauses, while in contemporary English it is in usual cases followed by "to"-infinitives except in the fixed form "God forbid" "that" Although a number of English verbs have undergone similar syntactic changes, the paths they have selected in their historical development are not always the same. Unlike "forbid," the verb "prevent" is now followed by gerunds often with the preposition "from." This book describes some of the most representative paths followed by different verbs of implicit negation and reveals the major complement shifts that have occurred throughout the history of English. It will be of particular interest to researchers and students specializing in English linguistics, historical linguistics, and corpus linguistics."
Author: Bettelou Los
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748694579
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 275
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Book Description
This book discusses a number of approaches to charting the major developments in the syntax of English, addressing key issues of interpretation and focus for the benefit of students of the topic.
Author: Misha Becker
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027272263
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 366
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Book Description
The articles of this collection cover a wide range of formal syntactic and semantic phenomena. The focus is on a broad array of developmental syntactic phenomena, including topics in Argument Structure and Clause-Internal Syntax, the DP Domain and Learning Theory. In total, the contents of the volume illustrate ways in which theoretically informed linguistic research can explain language behavior in terms that are motivated on independent grounds and point towards new research opportunities to test theoretical claims about the adult model of grammar. The contributions of this volume are inspired by or related to the scholarship of Nina Hyams, whose dedication to rigorous, theoretically-informed research on language is well represented here.
Author: Yoko Iyeiri
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040134890
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 226
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Book Description
This book delves into Benjamin Franklin’s English, illustrating the variable nature of 18th-century American English and his stylistic manipulation of the potentiality of English. Utilizing corpus methodologies, it offers researchers in historical sociolinguistics unique insights. Benjamin Franklin is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and while his achievements have been well established in the history of America, his linguistic activities have been explored only to a lesser extent. Iyeiri examines his letters and autobiography, which provide linguists with opportunities to study his language. The book is structured using the “form-to-function” framework. The first part focuses on different lexical items one by one, and can be read in the order readers want, whilst in the second part, Iyeiri stitches the arguments together, discussing various grammatical features across different lexical items. This book is a fantastic reference for students and scholars of historical linguistics, varieties of English, and World Englishes.
