Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English
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Alexander Haselow
Abstract
The present article deals with the origin of utterance-final then and the functional changes of then related to this development. Based on a corpus study of historical texts it will be shown that final then acquired a variety of functions at the illocutionary level from the Middle English period on, which co-exist with the text-connecting one. It will be argued that the emergence of final then is the result. of a progressive differentiation of structuring discourse in the spoken medium from that in the written one in the history of English. The use of final then correlates with parataxis, where two independent propositions, each with its own illocutionary force, are linked retrospectively. Its origin lies in conditional constructions where the conditional protasis is implied in a preceding proposition. The shift of then to the final position was accompanied by a process of subjectification and intersubjectification.
Abstract
The present article deals with the origin of utterance-final then and the functional changes of then related to this development. Based on a corpus study of historical texts it will be shown that final then acquired a variety of functions at the illocutionary level from the Middle English period on, which co-exist with the text-connecting one. It will be argued that the emergence of final then is the result. of a progressive differentiation of structuring discourse in the spoken medium from that in the written one in the history of English. The use of final then correlates with parataxis, where two independent propositions, each with its own illocutionary force, are linked retrospectively. Its origin lies in conditional constructions where the conditional protasis is implied in a preceding proposition. The shift of then to the final position was accompanied by a process of subjectification and intersubjectification.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
