The intensifier system of the Ormulum and the interplay of micro-level and macro-level contexts in linguistic change
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Belén Méndez-Naya
Abstract
This study offers an analysis of the intensifier system of the Middle English Ormulum, and explores the role both micro-level (i.e. linguistic) and macrolevel contexts (here language contact) play in its configuration and development. At the micro-level it is argued that the emergence of degree meanings is triggered by the reinterpretation of adverbs in specific linguistic contexts. At the macrolevel, norsification is shown to be an important feature of Orm’s intensifier system, both as regards the inventory of intensifiers itself, with the inclusion of some Norse-derived items, and as regards the frequency and distribution of particular intensifiers, since some native forms appear to be bolstered by their Scandinavian cognates.
Abstract
This study offers an analysis of the intensifier system of the Middle English Ormulum, and explores the role both micro-level (i.e. linguistic) and macrolevel contexts (here language contact) play in its configuration and development. At the micro-level it is argued that the emergence of degree meanings is triggered by the reinterpretation of adverbs in specific linguistic contexts. At the macrolevel, norsification is shown to be an important feature of Orm’s intensifier system, both as regards the inventory of intensifiers itself, with the inclusion of some Norse-derived items, and as regards the frequency and distribution of particular intensifiers, since some native forms appear to be bolstered by their Scandinavian cognates.
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
