The dynamics of changes in the early English inflection
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Elżbieta Adamczyk
Abstract
This study examines the mechanisms of the reorganisation of the Old English nominal morphology, which embraced a range of phonological and analogical developments conditioned by a variety of factors deriving from different domains. The immediate consequences of these changes are most prominent in the minor (unproductive) declensional classes, whose inflection tended to be remodelled on the patterns of the major (productive) paradigms. The focus of the study is primarily on three factors which had a major impact on the restructuring patterns of the Old English nominal morphology: frequency of occurrence, morpho-phonological salience of inflectional exponents and the formal inflectional overlap across paradigms. Interacting mostly in a synergetic way, they largely determined the shape of the nominal system as it is known now in modern English. The analysed material demonstrates as well that the dynamics of the changes in the nominal system worked towards retaining or enhancing the functionality of the system.
Abstract
This study examines the mechanisms of the reorganisation of the Old English nominal morphology, which embraced a range of phonological and analogical developments conditioned by a variety of factors deriving from different domains. The immediate consequences of these changes are most prominent in the minor (unproductive) declensional classes, whose inflection tended to be remodelled on the patterns of the major (productive) paradigms. The focus of the study is primarily on three factors which had a major impact on the restructuring patterns of the Old English nominal morphology: frequency of occurrence, morpho-phonological salience of inflectional exponents and the formal inflectional overlap across paradigms. Interacting mostly in a synergetic way, they largely determined the shape of the nominal system as it is known now in modern English. The analysed material demonstrates as well that the dynamics of the changes in the nominal system worked towards retaining or enhancing the functionality of the system.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The dynamics of changes in the early English inflection 9
- “Subsumed under the dative”? 35
- ‘Thone vpon thother’ 57
- Leveraging grammaticalization 77
- Old English wolde and sceolde 111
- A corpus-based study on the development of dare in Middle English and Early Modern English 129
- Counterfactuality and aktionsart 149
- Conservatism or the influence of the semantics of motion situation in the choice of perfect auxiliaries in Jane Austen’s letters and novels 175
- Signs of grammaticalization 199
- From time-before-place to place-before-time in the history of English 223
- Variation and change at the interface of syntax and semantics 247
- Further explorations in the grammar of intensifier marking in Modern English 269
- The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English 287
- Index 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The dynamics of changes in the early English inflection 9
- “Subsumed under the dative”? 35
- ‘Thone vpon thother’ 57
- Leveraging grammaticalization 77
- Old English wolde and sceolde 111
- A corpus-based study on the development of dare in Middle English and Early Modern English 129
- Counterfactuality and aktionsart 149
- Conservatism or the influence of the semantics of motion situation in the choice of perfect auxiliaries in Jane Austen’s letters and novels 175
- Signs of grammaticalization 199
- From time-before-place to place-before-time in the history of English 223
- Variation and change at the interface of syntax and semantics 247
- Further explorations in the grammar of intensifier marking in Modern English 269
- The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English 287
- Index 309
