Participial Prepositions And Conjunctions In The History Of English

Participial prepositions and conjunctions such as considering, during, considered and except are a comparatively recent phenomenon in the history of the English language. They originated in the intense language contact situation between Anglo-French and Middle English in late medieval England. In this book, it is shown that the development is part of a long process of typological change both in the Romance languages and in the English language. Through language contact a productive pattern has been established in English, which still produces new participial prepositions today (e.g. following, based on and looking at). Participial prepositions and conjunctions therefore clearly illustrate the mechanisms and consequences of language change through intense language contact.

Lexicalization, a process of language change, has been conceptualized in a variety of ways. Broadly defined as the adoption of concepts into the lexicon, it has been viewed by syntacticians as the reverse process of grammaticalization, by morphologists as a routine process of word-formation, and by semanticists as the development of concrete meanings. In this up-to-date survey, Laurel Brinton and Elizabeth Traugott examine the various conceptualizations of lexicalization that have been presented in the literature. In light of contemporary work on grammaticalization, they then propose a new, unified model of lexicalization and grammaticalization. Their approach is illustrated with a variety of case studies from the history of English, including present participles, multi-word verbs, adverbs, and discourse markers, as well as some examples from other Indo-European languages. The first review of the various approaches to lexicalization, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars of historical linguistics and language change.

The use of linguistic forms derived from the lexicon denoting sacred entities is often subject to tabooing behaviour. In the 15th and 16th century phrases like by gogges swete body or by cockes bones allowed speakers to address God without really saying the name; cf. Hock (1991: 295). The religious interjections based on the phonetically corrupt gog and cock are evidenced to have gained currency in the 16th century. In the 17th century all interjections based on religious appellations ceased to appear on stage in accordance with the regulations of the Act to Rest.

From Sanskrit to Scouse, this book provides a single-volume source of information about the English language. The guide is intended both for reference and and for browsing. The international perspective takes in language from Cockney to Creole, Aboriginal English to Zummerzet, Estuary English to Caribbean English and a historical range from Beowulf to Ebonics, Chaucer to Chomsky, Latin to the World Wide Web. There is coverage of a wide range of topics from abbreviation to Zeugma, Shakespeare to split infinitive and substantial entries on key subjects such as African English, etymology, imperialism, pidgin, poetry, psycholinguistics and slang. Box features include pieces on place-names, the evolution of the alphabet, the story of OK, borrowings into English, and the Internet. Invaluable reference for English Language students, and fascinating reading for the general reader with an interest in language.

The Oxford Companion to the English Language provides an authoritative single-volume source of information about the English language. It is intended both for reference and for browsing. The first edition of this landmark Companion, published in 1998, adopted a strong international perspective, covering topics from Cockney to Creole, Aboriginal English to Caribbean English and a historical range from Chaucer to Chomsky, Latin to the World Wide Web. It succinctly described and discussed the English language at the end of the twentieth century, including its distribution and varieties, its cultural, political, and educational impact worldwide, its nature, origins, and prospects, and its pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, word-formation, and usage. This new edition notably focuses on World Englishes, English language teaching, English as an international language, and the effect of technological advances on the English language. More than 130 new entries include African American English, British Sign Language, China English, digital literacy, multimodality, social networking, superdiversity, and text messaging, among many others. It also includes new biographical entries on key individuals who have had an impact on the English language in recent decades, including Beryl (Sue) Atkins, Adam Kilgariff, and John Sinclair. It is an invaluable reference for English Language students, and fascinating reading for any general reader with an interest in language.

This book, first published in 1970, is the reissue of the sixth edition of C. T. Onions’ standard introductory text-book, based on the principles and requirements of the Grammatical Society. The Introduction is designed to provide a full scheme of sentence analysis. The rest of the book is arranged in two parts: Part I offers a treatment of syntactical phenomena based on the analysis of sentences, while Part II classifies the use of forms. This book will be of interest to students of English language and linguistics.