Contextualizing Old English noun phrases
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Kristin Bech
Abstract
This three-part study considers adjectival modification in Old English noun phrases from a micro-level perspective. In the first part, I outline and discuss Fischer’s (2000, 2001, 2006, 2012) and Haumann’s (2003, 2010) academic exchange on the topic. Fischer’s proposal is that there is a relation between adjective position on the one hand, and definiteness, declension and linear iconicity on the other, while Haumann proposes that pre- or postnominal position follows from interpretive contrasts, such as attribution vs. predication, individual-level vs. stage-level reading, given vs. new information, and restrictive vs. non-restrictive modification. In the second part, I carry out a close reading of noun phrases taken from two Old English texts, Cura Pastoralis and the West-Saxon Gospels, focusing on constructions with conjoined adjectival modification. I show that neither Fischer’s nor Haumann’s generalizations can account for the distribution. Finally, in the third part of the study, I turn to noun phrases containing prenominal or postnominal adjectival present participles in Cura Pastoralis. Here the focus is on the intertextual relation between the original Latin text and the translation into Old English, which sheds light on noun phrase structure.
Abstract
This three-part study considers adjectival modification in Old English noun phrases from a micro-level perspective. In the first part, I outline and discuss Fischer’s (2000, 2001, 2006, 2012) and Haumann’s (2003, 2010) academic exchange on the topic. Fischer’s proposal is that there is a relation between adjective position on the one hand, and definiteness, declension and linear iconicity on the other, while Haumann proposes that pre- or postnominal position follows from interpretive contrasts, such as attribution vs. predication, individual-level vs. stage-level reading, given vs. new information, and restrictive vs. non-restrictive modification. In the second part, I carry out a close reading of noun phrases taken from two Old English texts, Cura Pastoralis and the West-Saxon Gospels, focusing on constructions with conjoined adjectival modification. I show that neither Fischer’s nor Haumann’s generalizations can account for the distribution. Finally, in the third part of the study, I turn to noun phrases containing prenominal or postnominal adjectival present participles in Cura Pastoralis. Here the focus is on the intertextual relation between the original Latin text and the translation into Old English, which sheds light on noun phrase structure.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of tables and figures VII
- Grammar – discourse – context: Grammatical variation and change and the usage-based perspective 1
- Contextualizing Old English noun phrases 15
- Syntax, text type, genre and authorial voice in Old English: A data-driven approach 49
- The intensifier system of the Ormulum and the interplay of micro-level and macro-level contexts in linguistic change 93
- Constructional change across the lifespan: The nominative and infinitive in early modern writers 125
- Contextualizing dual-form adverbs in the Old Bailey Corpus: An assessment of semantic, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic factors 157
- Bridging contexts in the reanalysis of naturally as a sentence adverb: A corpus study 191
- From parataxis to amalgamation: The emergence of the sentence-final is all construction in the history of American English 221
- The role of context in the entrenchment of new grammatical markers in World Englishes 249
- Paradigms, host classes, and ancillariness: A comparison of three approaches to grammatical status 277
- The motivated unmotivated: Variation, function and context 305
- Grammar in context: On the role of hypercharacterization in language variation and change 333
- List of contributors 365
- Index 367
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of tables and figures VII
- Grammar – discourse – context: Grammatical variation and change and the usage-based perspective 1
- Contextualizing Old English noun phrases 15
- Syntax, text type, genre and authorial voice in Old English: A data-driven approach 49
- The intensifier system of the Ormulum and the interplay of micro-level and macro-level contexts in linguistic change 93
- Constructional change across the lifespan: The nominative and infinitive in early modern writers 125
- Contextualizing dual-form adverbs in the Old Bailey Corpus: An assessment of semantic, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic factors 157
- Bridging contexts in the reanalysis of naturally as a sentence adverb: A corpus study 191
- From parataxis to amalgamation: The emergence of the sentence-final is all construction in the history of American English 221
- The role of context in the entrenchment of new grammatical markers in World Englishes 249
- Paradigms, host classes, and ancillariness: A comparison of three approaches to grammatical status 277
- The motivated unmotivated: Variation, function and context 305
- Grammar in context: On the role of hypercharacterization in language variation and change 333
- List of contributors 365
- Index 367
