Counterfactuality and aktionsart
-
Judith Huber
Abstract
In Middle English (ME), manner of motion verbs occur in perfect periphrases with both BE and HAVE as auxiliaries (e.g. is/has run, is/has ridden), the BE-variant being the older, the HAVE-variant the more recent form with these verbs. Los (2015) hypothesizes that the choice of auxiliary with manner of motion verbs in ME might depend systematically on aktionsart in that HAVE is chosen when the verb denotes a controlled process (e.g. he has run fast for an hour), and BE when the verb denotes a change of location (e.g. he is run into town), much as in Present-Day Dutch. Also taking into account other factors that have been suggested to influence the choice of BE vs. HAVE in Middle English (such as counterfactuality, infinitive, or past perfect), I test this hypothesis on data from the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. I show that aktionsart is indeed a very reliable predictor, but overridden by counterfactuality.
Abstract
In Middle English (ME), manner of motion verbs occur in perfect periphrases with both BE and HAVE as auxiliaries (e.g. is/has run, is/has ridden), the BE-variant being the older, the HAVE-variant the more recent form with these verbs. Los (2015) hypothesizes that the choice of auxiliary with manner of motion verbs in ME might depend systematically on aktionsart in that HAVE is chosen when the verb denotes a controlled process (e.g. he has run fast for an hour), and BE when the verb denotes a change of location (e.g. he is run into town), much as in Present-Day Dutch. Also taking into account other factors that have been suggested to influence the choice of BE vs. HAVE in Middle English (such as counterfactuality, infinitive, or past perfect), I test this hypothesis on data from the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. I show that aktionsart is indeed a very reliable predictor, but overridden by counterfactuality.
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
