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Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst

The diachronic development of function words with final /st/
  • Ryuichi Hotta
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Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
This chapter is in the book Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to examine, using historical corpora, the diachronic development of variants of the function words between, among, and amid with emphasis on the variants with final /st/, i.e. betwixt, amongst, and amidst. In Present-day English, the variants with final /st/ have a more formal, literary, or archaic ring to them than their counterparts without it. In older English, however, the former variants were more widely used than they are today. This paper addresses how individual variants – especially ones with final /st/ – came into being, how they competed with one another in terms of frequency in each period, and how this resulted in the Present-day English distribution.

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to examine, using historical corpora, the diachronic development of variants of the function words between, among, and amid with emphasis on the variants with final /st/, i.e. betwixt, amongst, and amidst. In Present-day English, the variants with final /st/ have a more formal, literary, or archaic ring to them than their counterparts without it. In older English, however, the former variants were more widely used than they are today. This paper addresses how individual variants – especially ones with final /st/ – came into being, how they competed with one another in terms of frequency in each period, and how this resulted in the Present-day English distribution.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.09hot

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1. Conspicuous lexical choice in past societies
  6. Chapter 1. Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon given names 15
  7. Chapter 2. News and relations 41
  8. Chapter 3. “… all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air” 61
  9. Part 2. Historical layers in text and genre
  10. Chapter 4. Conservatism and innovation in Anglo-Saxon scribal practice 79
  11. Chapter 5. Old English wills 103
  12. Chapter 6. Spatio-temporal systems in Chaucer 125
  13. Chapter 7. “A riddle to myself I am” 151
  14. Part 3. Lexis, morphology, and a changing society
  15. Chapter 8. Common to the North of England and to New England 183
  16. Chapter 9. Betwixt, amongst , and amidst 201
  17. Chapter 10. English word clipping in a diachronic perspective 227
  18. Index 253
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