Middle English verbs of emotion and impersonal constructions : verb meaning and syntax in diachrony / Ayumi Miura.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miura, Ayumi, author.

Series:

Oxford studies in the history of English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Middle English, 1100-1500--Verb.

English language.

English language--Middle English--Verb.

English language--Middle English, 1100-1500--Syntax.

English language--Middle English--Syntax.

English language--Middle English, 1100-1500--Versification.

English language--Middle English--Versification.

English language--History.

History.

English language--Syntax.

English language--Verb.

English language--Versification.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xvii, 290 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2015]

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Aims of the Book 1

1.2 Definitions of 'Impersonals' in Previous Studies 3

1.2.1 Terminological Controversy 3

1.2.2 Morphosyntactic Definitions of Impersonals 4

1.2.3 Historical Outline of Impersonals 8

1.2.4 Semantic Definitions of Impersonals 9

1.2.4.1 Meanings Expressed by 'Impersonal Constructions' 10

1.2.4.2 Meanings Expressed by 'Impersonal Verbs' 13

1.3 Issues to be Addressed 15

1.3.1 Feasibility of Making Semantic Distinctions between Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs 15

1.3.2 Emphasis on Middle English 16

1.3.3 Insights from Psych-Verbs in Modern Languages 17

1.4 Outline of the Book 18

Chapter 2 Theoretical and Methodological Considerations 21

2.1 Positive and Negative Evidence for Studying the Syntax of a Historical Language 22

2.2 Case Studies of Near-synonymous Verbs in Early English 23

2.2.1 Elmer (1983) in Valency-Based Grammar 24

2.2.2 Denison (1990) and Loureiro-Porto (2009) on Complementation Patterns 26

2.2.3 Allen (1995) and the Role of Animacy 30

2.2.4 Carroll (1997) in Levin's (1993) Framework 53

2.3 Semantic Roles: Descriptive Adequacy 36

2.4 Event Structure of Psych-Verbs in Modern Languages 37

2.4.1 Causation 38

2.4.2 Aspect Stative or Non-stative 40

2.5 Summary: Organizational Framework of the Main Data Analysis 45

Chapter 3 Verbs of Emotion and the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary 47

3.1 Limiting the Field of Investigation 47

3.2 The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary (HTOED) 50

3.3 Problems with Using the HTOED 53

Chapter 4 Old and Middle English Impersonal Verbs of Emotion: Analysis from Dictionary Meanings 56

4.1 Initial Processes of List-Compiling 56

4.2 Pleasure/Enjoyment 60

4.3 Mental Pain/Suffering 67

4.4 Anger 76

4.5 Hatred/Enmity 79

4.6 Pity/Compassion 82

4.7 Humility 84

4.8 Fear 86

4.9 Summary: Regularities across Semantic Categories? 90

Chapter 5 Semantic Distinctions between Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs of Emotion: Evidence from Entries in the Middle English Dictionary 95

5.1 Choice of Corpora: Using the MED Entries as a Database 96

5.2 Factors to Examine Revisited 98

5.3 Verbs of Fear 103

5.3.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 103

5.3.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 108

5.3.2.1 Before the Fourteenth Century 109

5.3.2.2 From the Fourteenth Century 117

5.4 Verbs of Anger 129

5.4.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 129

5.4.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 132

5.4.2.1 Before the Fourteenth Century 133

5.4.2.2 From the Fourteenth Century 138

5.5 Verbs of Pity/Compassion 149

5.5.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 149

5.5.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 151

5.6 Verbs of Humility 156

5.6.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 156

5.6.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 158

5.7 Verbs of Hatred/Enmity 166

5.7.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 166

5.7.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 168

5.8 Verbs of Plea sure/Enjoyment 175

5.8.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 175

5.8.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 178

5.9 Verbs of Mental Pain/Suffering 195

5.9.1 Characteristics of Impersonal Constructions 195

5.9.2 Impersonal and Non-impersonal Verbs Compared 199

5.10 Other Verbs of Emotion 213

5.10.1 Verbs of Jealousy/Envy 213

5.10.2 Verbs of Pride 217

5.10.3 Verbs of Courage 221

5.11 Summing Up 225

Chapter 6 Concluding Remarks 232

6.1 Transitivity of Impersonal Verbs of Emotion Revisited 233

6.2 Constellations of Properties in Diachrony 235

6.3 Correlation with Psychological Definitions and Classifications of 'Emotion' 238

6.4 Topics for Further Research 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780199947157

0199947155

OCLC:

880929689