Constructions and environments : copular, passive, and related constructions in Old and Middle English
Petré, PeterAuthor
Petrâe, PeterAuthor
This monograph presents the first comprehensive diachronic account of copular and passive verb constructions in Old and Middle English. Loss of the high-frequency verb weorðan 'become' is explained as a result of changing word order in narrative during Middle English. The merger of is 'is' and bið 'shall be, is generally' into a single suppletive verb is related to the development of a general analytic future shall benally, the co-occurrence of multiple changes led to become and wax crossing a threshold of similarity with existing copulas, from which they analogically adopted full productivity.
Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
Includes bibliographical references and index.
This monograph presents the first comprehensive diachronic account of copular and passive verb constructions in Old and Middle English. Loss of the high-frequency verb weorðan 'become' is explained as a result of changing word order in narrative during Middle English. The merger of is 'is' and bið 'shall be, is generally' into a single suppletive verb is related to the development of a general analytic future shall benally, the co-occurrence of multiple changes led to become and wax crossing a threshold of similarity with existing copulas, from which they analogically adopted full productivity.
Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on July 9, 2014).
Grammar, Comparative and general
Grammar, Comparative and general
English language
Construction grammar
Languages & Literatures
Philology & Linguistics