Conservatism or the influence of the semantics of motion situation in the choice of perfect auxiliaries in Jane Austen’s letters and novels
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Nuria Calvo Cortés
Abstract
The present study focuses on the analysis of the choice of either be or have in combination with the past participles of eleven motion verbs (arrive, become, come, enter, fall, go, get, grow, pass, return and run) to form perfective structures in Jane Austen’s letters and novels. She has previously been considered conservative in her grammar, specifically in relation to her preference for be as opposed to have in this type of structure. A corpus-based study shows that although she could indeed be considered conservative, the option of the auxiliary might also have been motivated by the different components of the motion situation involved in each instance. The conclusions show that some tendencies can be observed in relation to the behaviour of some of these verbs, despite the low number of occurrences of some of the verbs included in the analysis.
Abstract
The present study focuses on the analysis of the choice of either be or have in combination with the past participles of eleven motion verbs (arrive, become, come, enter, fall, go, get, grow, pass, return and run) to form perfective structures in Jane Austen’s letters and novels. She has previously been considered conservative in her grammar, specifically in relation to her preference for be as opposed to have in this type of structure. A corpus-based study shows that although she could indeed be considered conservative, the option of the auxiliary might also have been motivated by the different components of the motion situation involved in each instance. The conclusions show that some tendencies can be observed in relation to the behaviour of some of these verbs, despite the low number of occurrences of some of the verbs included in the analysis.
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
