"The papers in this volume cover a wide range of interrelated syntactic phenomena, from the history of core arguments, to complements and non-finite clauses, elements in the clause periphery, as well as elements with potential scope over complete sentences and even larger discourse chunks. In one way or another, however, they all testify to an increasing awareness that even some of the most central phenomena of syntax - and the way they develop over time - are best understood by taking into account their communicative functions and the way they are processed and represented by speakers' cognitive apparatus. In doing so, they show that historical syntax, and historical linguistics in general, is witnessing a convergence between formerly distinct linguistic frameworks and traditions. With this fusion of traditions, the trend is undeniably towards a richer and more broadly informed understanding of syntactic change and the history of English. This volume will be of great interest to scholars of (English) historical syntax and historical linguistic within the cognitive-linguistic as well as the generative tradition"--.

• Explorations in English Historical Syntax
• Editorial page
• Title page
• LCC data
• Table of contents
• Foreword
• Introduction. Exploring English historical syntax
  • 1. A renewed appreciation for English historical syntax
  • 2. Factors of change
  • 3. Contributions to this volume
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Chapter 1. “Permissive” subjects and the decline of adverbial linking in the history of English: “Permissive” subjects and the decline of adverbial linking in the history of English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. “Permissive subjects”
  • 3. Adverbial positions and discourse linking in Old English
  • 4. The rise of valency alternations
  • 5. Adverbial discourse links, “late subjects”, and flexible argument structure in PDE
  • 6. Tail–head linking in Dutch and German narratives
  • 7. Conclusions
  • References
• Chapter 2. Cognate noun constructions in Early Modern English: Cognate noun constructions in Early Modern English: The case of Tyndale’s New Testament
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Theoretical and historical background
    • 2.1 Theoretical background: Cognate nouns and CNCs
    • 2.2 Historical background: Cognate nouns and their diachrony in English
  • 3. The data from Tyndale
    • 3.1 CNCs in Tyndale vs. other biblical translations
    • 3.2 Archaic “sacral stamp” vs. indirect effects of translation in Tyndale
  • 4. Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• Chapter 3. On the differential evolution of simple and complex object constructions in English: On the differential evolution of simple and complex object constructions in English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Simple object structures: Increased functional diversity
    • 2.1 Directive verbs
    • 2.2 Body part instruments
    • 2.3 Other instrumental objects
  • 3. External possessor constructions
  • 4. Double object constructions
  • 5. Clausal complements after the sequence V+O
    • 5.1 That-clauses
    • 5.2 Infinitival complements
    • 5.3 Dependent interrogative clauses
  • 6. Conclusion
  • References
  • Electronic sources
• Chapter 4. Finite causative complements in Middle English: Finite causative complements in Middle English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The frequency of finite causative complements
  • 3. Finite causative complements in OE
    • 3.1 “First” and “second” causatives
    • 3.2 V+NP+þæt in OE
  • 4. Finite causative complements in ME
    • 4.1 V+that in ME
    • 4.2 Survival of V+that
    • 4.3 V+NP+that
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
    • Primary sources
    • Dictionaries and electronic corpora
    • Secondary sources
  • Appendix 1
  • Appendix 2
    • V+ that
    • V+NP+that
• Chapter 5. Causative make and its infinitival complements in Early Modern English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Data and methods
  • 3. Causative make plus to- and bare infinitives in Early Modern English: A historical overview
  • 3. Causative make plus to- and bare infinitives in Early Modern English: A historical overview
  • 4. Linguistic factors affecting the choice of to- and bare infinitives
    • 4.1 Preliminary remarks
    • 4.2 Complexity in general
    • 4.3 The object/causee of make
    • 4.4 Coordination of infinitives
    • 4.5 Infinitives of different verbs
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Chapter 6. Semantic and lexical shifts with the “into-causative” construction in American English: Semantic and lexical shifts with the “into-causative” construction in American English: Semantic and lexical shifts with the “into-causative” construction i
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Previous research
  • 3. Corpus data
  • 4. Lexical diversity
  • 5. Semantic changes: Some generalizations
  • 6. Neutral verbs
  • 7. Positive verbs
  • 8. Indirect causation
  • 9. Interaction with the “way” construction
  • 10. Conclusion, and a final note on corpus size
  • References
• Chapter 7. Free adjuncts in Late Modern English: A corpus-based study
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. An introduction to FAs and their characteristics
    • 2.1 Head of the free adjunct
    • 2.2 Position
    • 2.3 Elements introducing free adjuncts
    • 2.4 Semantic features
    • 2.5 Textual distribution
  • 3. Data and methodology
  • 4. Analysis of the data and results
    • 4.1 Overall frequencies
    • 4.2 Head elements
    • 4.3 Position
    • 4.4 Introductory elements
    • 4.5 Semantics
    • 4.6 Textual distribution
  • 5. Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Chapter 8. Complexity and genre distribution of left-dislocated strings after the fixation of SVO syntax: Complexity and genre distribution of left-dislocated strings after the fixation of SVO syntax: Complexity and genre distribution of left-dislocated s
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. A brief historical survey of LD
  • 3. Goals and hypotheses
    • 3.1 Factors that determine the complexity of the LDed constituent
    • 3.2 The link between less complex LDed items and speech-related genres
  • 4. Data and methodology
    • 4.1 Determining the length of the LDed constituent
    • 4.2 Exploring the link between speech-related genres and complexity of the LDed constituent
    • 4.2 Exploring the link between speech-related genres and complexity of the LDed constituent
  • 5. Results
    • 5.1 The diachrony of LD: An overview
    • 5.2 Results from the linear model: Complexity of the LDed constituent
    • 5.3 Results from univariate statistical tests: Orality and genre
  • 6. Discussion and concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Chapter 9. Why Scotsmen will drown and shall not be saved: Why Scotsmen will drown and shall not be saved: The historical development of will and shall in Older ScotsThe historical development of will and shall in Older Scots
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Classification of modal meanings
  • 3. Data and method
  • 4. Will and shall in the Helsinki Corpus of Older Scots
    • 4.1 The modal meanings expressed by will and shall in the HCOS
    • 4.2 The distribution of will and shall by grammatical person
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix. Pearson’s Chi-squared test results
• Chapter 10. A study of Old English dugan: Its potential for auxiliation
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Old English dugan: Its etymology
  • 3. Auxiliation of pre-modals
    • 3.1 Some formal features of the modals
    • 3.2 Evaluative readings
  • 4. Old English dugan
    • 4.1 Verse texts
    • 4.2 Homiletic prose
    • 4.3 Medical prose
  • 5. Middle English and Modern English periods
    • 5.1 Middle English douen
    • 5.2 Scots dow ‘can’
  • 6. Germanic cognates of Old English dugan
  • 7. Conclusion
  • List of abbreviations
  • References
    • Dictionaries
    • Editions
    • Studies
• Chapter 11. Sequentiality and the emergence of new constructions: Sequentiality and the emergence of new constructions: That’s the bottom line is (that) in American English
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Theoretical and historical background
    • 2.1 Shell noun constructions
    • 2.2 A brief history of bottom line
  • 3. Survey results
    • 3.1 The distributional patterns
    • 3.2 Sequential use and the flow of information
    • 3.3 The emergence of apo-koinou constructions – loss of the negative adverb not
  • 4. Discussion
    • 4.1 Apo-koinou constructions as a case of constructionalization
    • 4.2 Constructional expansion
  • 5. Concluding remarks and further issues
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
  • Corpora
• Index