Watching as -clauses in Late Modern English
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Cristiano Broccias
Abstract
Eventive percepts can be expressed not only by means of non-finite complements, either with an infinitive or a participle (e.g. She watched his hand trace/tracing the words), but also by means of hypotactic integration with or without a direct object (e.g. She watched his hand as it traced the words, She watched as it traced the words). In this paper, I mainly investigate the diachronic development of the relation between these two strategies in the case of the verb watch and the subordinator as in Late Modern English. However, the history of other options such as the use of eventive nominals and adjectives (e.g. She watched the setting of the sun, She watched the setting sun) and small clauses (e.g. He watched her out of sight) is also considered. The historical analysis, carried out mainly using the 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (COHA), reveals a shift from more nominal to more clausal strategies in the expression of eventive percepts. The non-finite complement option, especially in its infinitive variant, and the hypotactic integration strategy without a direct object, emerged as the preferred options by the end of the last century. The paper concludes with some speculations as to why such changes have taken place.
Abstract
Eventive percepts can be expressed not only by means of non-finite complements, either with an infinitive or a participle (e.g. She watched his hand trace/tracing the words), but also by means of hypotactic integration with or without a direct object (e.g. She watched his hand as it traced the words, She watched as it traced the words). In this paper, I mainly investigate the diachronic development of the relation between these two strategies in the case of the verb watch and the subordinator as in Late Modern English. However, the history of other options such as the use of eventive nominals and adjectives (e.g. She watched the setting of the sun, She watched the setting sun) and small clauses (e.g. He watched her out of sight) is also considered. The historical analysis, carried out mainly using the 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (COHA), reveals a shift from more nominal to more clausal strategies in the expression of eventive percepts. The non-finite complement option, especially in its infinitive variant, and the hypotactic integration strategy without a direct object, emerged as the preferred options by the end of the last century. The paper concludes with some speculations as to why such changes have taken place.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- At the crossroads of language change, variation, and contact 1
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PART I: Language change
- Knitting and splitting information 11
- The order of adverbials of time and place in Old English 39
- The demise of a preterite-present verb 61
- Gradience in an abrupt change 83
- Vowels before /r/ in the history of English 95
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PART II: Language variation
- “Pained the eye and stunned the ear” 113
- Watching as -clauses in Late Modern English 137
- Colloquialization and “decolloquialization” 163
- Letters of Artisans and the Labouring Poor (England, c . 1750–1835) 187
- New-dialect formation in medieval Ireland 213
- Tracing uses of will and would in Late Modern British and Irish English 239
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PART III: Variation and change in contact situations
- The subjunctive mood in Philippine English 259
- Revisiting a millennium of migrations 281
- <U> or <o>: A dilemma of the Middle English scribal practice 305
- Index 325
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- At the crossroads of language change, variation, and contact 1
-
PART I: Language change
- Knitting and splitting information 11
- The order of adverbials of time and place in Old English 39
- The demise of a preterite-present verb 61
- Gradience in an abrupt change 83
- Vowels before /r/ in the history of English 95
-
PART II: Language variation
- “Pained the eye and stunned the ear” 113
- Watching as -clauses in Late Modern English 137
- Colloquialization and “decolloquialization” 163
- Letters of Artisans and the Labouring Poor (England, c . 1750–1835) 187
- New-dialect formation in medieval Ireland 213
- Tracing uses of will and would in Late Modern British and Irish English 239
-
PART III: Variation and change in contact situations
- The subjunctive mood in Philippine English 259
- Revisiting a millennium of migrations 281
- <U> or <o>: A dilemma of the Middle English scribal practice 305
- Index 325
