1 option
Constructions and environments : copular, passive, and related constructions in Old and Middle English
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Petré, Peter, Author.
- Petrâe, Peter, Author.
- Series:
- Oxford studies in the history of English.
- Oxford Studies in the History of English. Constructions and environments
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Grammar, Comparative and general--Copula--Middle English, 1100-1500.
- Grammar, Comparative and general.
- Grammar, Comparative and general--Coordinate constructions--Old English, ca. 450-1100.
- English language--Grammar.
- English language.
- Construction grammar.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- 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.
- Notes:
- Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on July 9, 2014).
- Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
- ISBN:
- 0-19-937341-8
- OCLC:
- 967266885
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