Bettelou Los
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199274765
- eISBN:
- 9780191705885
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274765.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, ...
More
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other non-finite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. In fact, as early as Old English, the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today, and its syntactic behaviour clearly shows that it is already a clause rather than a phrase at this early date. Its spread was largely due to competition with finite subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced. Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The book provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that the infinitive marker to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. It concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs, and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb. The rise of to-infinitival Exceptional Case-Marking constructions is a Middle English innovation, triggered by changes in information structure that were in turn caused by the loss of verb-second.Less
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other non-finite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. In fact, as early as Old English, the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today, and its syntactic behaviour clearly shows that it is already a clause rather than a phrase at this early date. Its spread was largely due to competition with finite subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced. Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The book provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that the infinitive marker to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. It concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs, and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb. The rise of to-infinitival Exceptional Case-Marking constructions is a Middle English innovation, triggered by changes in information structure that were in turn caused by the loss of verb-second.
Andrew King
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187226
- eISBN:
- 9780191674662
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Scholarship on Middle English romance has done little to access the textual and bibliographical continuity of this remarkable literary tradition into the 16th century and its impact on Elizabethan ...
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Scholarship on Middle English romance has done little to access the textual and bibliographical continuity of this remarkable literary tradition into the 16th century and its impact on Elizabethan works. To an even greater extent, Spenserian scholarship has failed to investigate the significant and complex debts The Faerie Queene owes to medieval native verse romance and Malory's Le Morte D'arthur. This book accordingly offers a comprehensive study of the impact of Middle English romance on The Faerie Queene. It employs the concept of memory, in which both Middle English romance writers and Spenser show specific interest, in building a sense of the thematic, generic, and cultural complexity of the native romance tradition. The memorial character of Middle English romance resides in its intertextuality and its frequent presentation of narrative events as historical and consequently the basis for a favourable sense of local or even national identity. Spenser's memories of native romance involve a more troubled engagement with that tradition of providential national history as well as an endeavour to see in pre-Reformation romance a prophetic and objective authority for Protestant belief.Less
Scholarship on Middle English romance has done little to access the textual and bibliographical continuity of this remarkable literary tradition into the 16th century and its impact on Elizabethan works. To an even greater extent, Spenserian scholarship has failed to investigate the significant and complex debts The Faerie Queene owes to medieval native verse romance and Malory's Le Morte D'arthur. This book accordingly offers a comprehensive study of the impact of Middle English romance on The Faerie Queene. It employs the concept of memory, in which both Middle English romance writers and Spenser show specific interest, in building a sense of the thematic, generic, and cultural complexity of the native romance tradition. The memorial character of Middle English romance resides in its intertextuality and its frequent presentation of narrative events as historical and consequently the basis for a favourable sense of local or even national identity. Spenser's memories of native romance involve a more troubled engagement with that tradition of providential national history as well as an endeavour to see in pre-Reformation romance a prophetic and objective authority for Protestant belief.
Jeremy J. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291953
- eISBN:
- 9780191710568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291953.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter begins with a discussion of the strong evidential basis for the Old English-Middle English transition, and then proceeds to discuss the major quantitative sound-changes which ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the strong evidential basis for the Old English-Middle English transition, and then proceeds to discuss the major quantitative sound-changes which characterize this transition: homorganic lengthening, shortening, and Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening (MEOSL).Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the strong evidential basis for the Old English-Middle English transition, and then proceeds to discuss the major quantitative sound-changes which characterize this transition: homorganic lengthening, shortening, and Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening (MEOSL).
Malcolm Hebron
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186205
- eISBN:
- 9780191674440
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186205.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city ...
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Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city such as Troy, Thebes, or Jerusalem provided opportunities for the recreation of ancient chivalry and for reflections on historical change. Images of the siege in romances also point to other forms, such as drama and love allegory, where it represents the trial of the soul or the pursuit of the beloved. This book is the first full-length study of this important theme in medieval literature. Close reading of selected Middle English shows how writers used descriptions of sieges to explore such subjects as military strategy, heroism, chivalry, and attitudes to the past. This study also draws on a wide range of writings in several languages, to set the romances in a broad context. When they are seen against a background of military manuals, patristic commentary, pageantry, and love poetry, the sieges of romance take on deeper resonances of meaning and reflect the vitality of the theme in medieval culture as a whole.Less
Sieges were a popular subject in medieval romances. Tales of the Crusades featured champions of Christianity capturing towns in the Holy Land or mounting heroic defences. The fall of a great city such as Troy, Thebes, or Jerusalem provided opportunities for the recreation of ancient chivalry and for reflections on historical change. Images of the siege in romances also point to other forms, such as drama and love allegory, where it represents the trial of the soul or the pursuit of the beloved. This book is the first full-length study of this important theme in medieval literature. Close reading of selected Middle English shows how writers used descriptions of sieges to explore such subjects as military strategy, heroism, chivalry, and attitudes to the past. This study also draws on a wide range of writings in several languages, to set the romances in a broad context. When they are seen against a background of military manuals, patristic commentary, pageantry, and love poetry, the sieges of romance take on deeper resonances of meaning and reflect the vitality of the theme in medieval culture as a whole.
Brian Murdoch
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564149
- eISBN:
- 9780191721328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564149.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
There is a very full tradition of vernacular adaptations of the Vita Adae in Middle English prose and verse. Prose versions are independent (as in the Vernon manuscript), or can be incorporated into ...
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There is a very full tradition of vernacular adaptations of the Vita Adae in Middle English prose and verse. Prose versions are independent (as in the Vernon manuscript), or can be incorporated into collections such as the Gilte Legende. There are references in chronicles like that by John Capgrave. Metrical versions include the Canticum de creatione, and there are smaller allusions in the major mystery cycles. Welsh versions are known in prose and verse, but seem not to be connected with other Celtic versions. In the Cornish drama, there is much influence of the Holy Rood material, but little evidence of knowledge of the Vita Adae, although there are other Adam legends present.Less
There is a very full tradition of vernacular adaptations of the Vita Adae in Middle English prose and verse. Prose versions are independent (as in the Vernon manuscript), or can be incorporated into collections such as the Gilte Legende. There are references in chronicles like that by John Capgrave. Metrical versions include the Canticum de creatione, and there are smaller allusions in the major mystery cycles. Welsh versions are known in prose and verse, but seem not to be connected with other Celtic versions. In the Cornish drama, there is much influence of the Holy Rood material, but little evidence of knowledge of the Vita Adae, although there are other Adam legends present.
Andrew King
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187226
- eISBN:
- 9780191674662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187226.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Spenser's reception of the rich and complex imaginative, historical, and political traditions involved in Middle English romance is an aspect of The Faerie Queene which has been grossly neglected. ...
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Spenser's reception of the rich and complex imaginative, historical, and political traditions involved in Middle English romance is an aspect of The Faerie Queene which has been grossly neglected. Many areas and topics relating to Spenser's interaction with Middle English romance remain untouched, such as his completion in Book IV of Chaucer's Squire's Tale. This book has dealt only with Books I, II, and V because they arguably present a coherent narrative of response to native romance which does not necessitate detailed consideration of the convergent influences of Ariosto and Tasso; opening the door to Italianate romance, necessary in consideration of other books, would have resulted in a much larger, and possibly more diffuse study. The general neglect of interest in Spenser's use of native romance hopefully justifies a focused and single-minded book such as this.Less
Spenser's reception of the rich and complex imaginative, historical, and political traditions involved in Middle English romance is an aspect of The Faerie Queene which has been grossly neglected. Many areas and topics relating to Spenser's interaction with Middle English romance remain untouched, such as his completion in Book IV of Chaucer's Squire's Tale. This book has dealt only with Books I, II, and V because they arguably present a coherent narrative of response to native romance which does not necessitate detailed consideration of the convergent influences of Ariosto and Tasso; opening the door to Italianate romance, necessary in consideration of other books, would have resulted in a much larger, and possibly more diffuse study. The general neglect of interest in Spenser's use of native romance hopefully justifies a focused and single-minded book such as this.
Cynthia L. Allen
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199216680
- eISBN:
- 9780191711893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216680.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
By the end of the Middle English period, the -s genitive in Middle English had changed its character. This chapter documents the evidence for the nature of this possessive marker in Early and Late ...
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By the end of the Middle English period, the -s genitive in Middle English had changed its character. This chapter documents the evidence for the nature of this possessive marker in Early and Late Middle English as well as the rise of the group genitive.Less
By the end of the Middle English period, the -s genitive in Middle English had changed its character. This chapter documents the evidence for the nature of this possessive marker in Early and Late Middle English as well as the rise of the group genitive.
Andrew King
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187226
- eISBN:
- 9780191674662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187226.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter examines Middle English romance as a native tradition. It also discusses the history of the readership of native romance and its importance for judging Spenser's strategy in ...
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This chapter examines Middle English romance as a native tradition. It also discusses the history of the readership of native romance and its importance for judging Spenser's strategy in incorporating tradition in The Faerie Queene. The continued reading of Middle English romance in medieval manuscripts is significant in relation to Spenser since this allows for the possibility that he encountered the romances in this form. Romances in print are deprived from their manuscript ‘home’ — the context of other romances, historical works, saints' lives, and other kinds of writing — which can adjust a reader's perception of a work's generic and thematic value. Just as The Shepheardes Calender presents the sense of being an earlier, ‘edited’ text, so too The Faerie Queene might be likened to a manuscript-anthology, particularly in terms of its structure.Less
This chapter examines Middle English romance as a native tradition. It also discusses the history of the readership of native romance and its importance for judging Spenser's strategy in incorporating tradition in The Faerie Queene. The continued reading of Middle English romance in medieval manuscripts is significant in relation to Spenser since this allows for the possibility that he encountered the romances in this form. Romances in print are deprived from their manuscript ‘home’ — the context of other romances, historical works, saints' lives, and other kinds of writing — which can adjust a reader's perception of a work's generic and thematic value. Just as The Shepheardes Calender presents the sense of being an earlier, ‘edited’ text, so too The Faerie Queene might be likened to a manuscript-anthology, particularly in terms of its structure.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is ...
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One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is therefore of considerable importance to attempt to describe what was happening in this early stage of his work and why he may have switched to glossing in Latin. In order to do so, this chapter considers all of the tremulous hand's early work in Middle English, beginning with his copy of Worcester Cathedral MS F. 174. His marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G provide the best evidence as to how he treated his exemplars in F. 174. This chapter suggests that the marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G are the work of a corrector, preparing the manuscripts to be copied, and that a similar process of updating punctuation, spelling, word division, and vocabulary must underlie F. 174. The tremulous scribe appears to have encountered problems when he attempted to translate standard late West Saxon Old English into Middle English.Less
One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is therefore of considerable importance to attempt to describe what was happening in this early stage of his work and why he may have switched to glossing in Latin. In order to do so, this chapter considers all of the tremulous hand's early work in Middle English, beginning with his copy of Worcester Cathedral MS F. 174. His marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G provide the best evidence as to how he treated his exemplars in F. 174. This chapter suggests that the marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G are the work of a corrector, preparing the manuscripts to be copied, and that a similar process of updating punctuation, spelling, word division, and vocabulary must underlie F. 174. The tremulous scribe appears to have encountered problems when he attempted to translate standard late West Saxon Old English into Middle English.
Tim William Machan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282128
- eISBN:
- 9780191718991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282128.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in ...
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This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in particular) and the relative status among varieties of English.Less
This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in particular) and the relative status among varieties of English.
Kleanthes K. Grohmann and Richard Ingham
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199560547
- eISBN:
- 9780191721267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560547.003.0018
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, Historical Linguistics
This chapter deals with a grammatical phenomenon in Late Middle English here identified as Postfinite Misagreement, in which a finite singular auxiliary form co‐occurs with a plural subject in ...
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This chapter deals with a grammatical phenomenon in Late Middle English here identified as Postfinite Misagreement, in which a finite singular auxiliary form co‐occurs with a plural subject in post‐finite position. It is proposed that an expletive subject played a role in agreement which it has not retained in standard present‐day English.Less
This chapter deals with a grammatical phenomenon in Late Middle English here identified as Postfinite Misagreement, in which a finite singular auxiliary form co‐occurs with a plural subject in post‐finite position. It is proposed that an expletive subject played a role in agreement which it has not retained in standard present‐day English.
Richard Dance
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265864
- eISBN:
- 9780191772016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265864.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ...
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English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ‘transition’, when (amongst many other things) influence from both Norse and French is increasingly apparent in writing. This article explores the etymologies, semantics and textual contexts of some key words from this crucial time, as a way to think about the evidence for contact and change at the boundary of Old and Middle English, and to illustrate how rich, diverse, challenging and surprising its voices can be. It concludes with a case study of words meaning ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ in Old and early Middle English, concentrating on the vocabulary of the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 343.Less
English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ‘transition’, when (amongst many other things) influence from both Norse and French is increasingly apparent in writing. This article explores the etymologies, semantics and textual contexts of some key words from this crucial time, as a way to think about the evidence for contact and change at the boundary of Old and Middle English, and to illustrate how rich, diverse, challenging and surprising its voices can be. It concludes with a case study of words meaning ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ in Old and early Middle English, concentrating on the vocabulary of the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 343.
Andrew King
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187226
- eISBN:
- 9780191674662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187226.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter explores the intertextuality of a selection of Middle English romances — King Horn, Havelok, Of Arthour and of Merlin, Richard Coeur de Lion Sir Brevis of Hampton, and ...
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This chapter explores the intertextuality of a selection of Middle English romances — King Horn, Havelok, Of Arthour and of Merlin, Richard Coeur de Lion Sir Brevis of Hampton, and Guy of Warwick — and looks at their overlapping of themes and narratives patterns and their generic ambiguity reflected in the physical evidence of their collection and contextualization in manuscripts. These narratives, particularly the story of King Horn, illustrates the providential treatment of history which defines the romance mode. This perspective will remain important to the native romances which follow as well as to The Faerie Queene.Less
This chapter explores the intertextuality of a selection of Middle English romances — King Horn, Havelok, Of Arthour and of Merlin, Richard Coeur de Lion Sir Brevis of Hampton, and Guy of Warwick — and looks at their overlapping of themes and narratives patterns and their generic ambiguity reflected in the physical evidence of their collection and contextualization in manuscripts. These narratives, particularly the story of King Horn, illustrates the providential treatment of history which defines the romance mode. This perspective will remain important to the native romances which follow as well as to The Faerie Queene.
Tim William Machan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282128
- eISBN:
- 9780191718991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282128.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes ...
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This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes their social meanings. It asks how the status of a language such as Middle English comes into being.Less
This chapter examines two royal letters that were written in English and released by Henry III in 1258. These letters are used to talk about the many contextual factors that give utterances and codes their social meanings. It asks how the status of a language such as Middle English comes into being.
Tim William Machan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282128
- eISBN:
- 9780191718991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282128.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
This chapter considers how the status of a language can figure in cultural activity by looking at two late-medieval poems: Chaucer's Reeve's Tale and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. ...
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This chapter considers how the status of a language can figure in cultural activity by looking at two late-medieval poems: Chaucer's Reeve's Tale and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Their implications for the significance of social and regional variation in Middle English are considered.Less
This chapter considers how the status of a language can figure in cultural activity by looking at two late-medieval poems: Chaucer's Reeve's Tale and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Their implications for the significance of social and regional variation in Middle English are considered.
Bettelou Los
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199274765
- eISBN:
- 9780191705885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274765.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter presents an overview of issues of the to-infinitive discussed in the literature. It is usually assumed that the infinitive is a noun in Old English, and that, hence, the to-infinitive is ...
More
This chapter presents an overview of issues of the to-infinitive discussed in the literature. It is usually assumed that the infinitive is a noun in Old English, and that, hence, the to-infinitive is a prepositional phrase; this entails that there has been a category change, which is usually argued to have taken place in Middle English. The author argues that the category change must predate Old English, as the to-infinitive is already completely verbal at that stage, which means that the syntactic innovations in Middle English cannot be due to a category change. Another traditional assumption that is discussed and rejected is the view that the to-infinitive gained ground at the expense of the infinitive without to, the so-called ‘bare infinitive’.Less
This chapter presents an overview of issues of the to-infinitive discussed in the literature. It is usually assumed that the infinitive is a noun in Old English, and that, hence, the to-infinitive is a prepositional phrase; this entails that there has been a category change, which is usually argued to have taken place in Middle English. The author argues that the category change must predate Old English, as the to-infinitive is already completely verbal at that stage, which means that the syntactic innovations in Middle English cannot be due to a category change. Another traditional assumption that is discussed and rejected is the view that the to-infinitive gained ground at the expense of the infinitive without to, the so-called ‘bare infinitive’.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
The shaky handwriting of the 13th-century scribe known as ‘the tremulous hand of Worcester’ appears in at least twenty manuscripts dating from the late 9th to the 12th century, glossing perhaps ...
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The shaky handwriting of the 13th-century scribe known as ‘the tremulous hand of Worcester’ appears in at least twenty manuscripts dating from the late 9th to the 12th century, glossing perhaps 50,000 Old English words, sometimes into Middle English, but much more often into Latin. This book examines the full range of the scribe's work and addresses some important questions, such as which of the Worcester glosses may be attributed to him, why he glossed the words he did, what the purpose of the glossing may have been, and how well he knew or came to know Old English. It argues that the scribe went through a methodical learning process, one step of which was the preparation of a first-letter alphabetical English-Latin word list, the earliest known in the English language. This first full-scale study of the Worcester glosses is important for the wealth of information it provides about the work methods of the tremulous scribe, the English language at a transitional point in its history, and about the ability to read Old English in the 13th century.Less
The shaky handwriting of the 13th-century scribe known as ‘the tremulous hand of Worcester’ appears in at least twenty manuscripts dating from the late 9th to the 12th century, glossing perhaps 50,000 Old English words, sometimes into Middle English, but much more often into Latin. This book examines the full range of the scribe's work and addresses some important questions, such as which of the Worcester glosses may be attributed to him, why he glossed the words he did, what the purpose of the glossing may have been, and how well he knew or came to know Old English. It argues that the scribe went through a methodical learning process, one step of which was the preparation of a first-letter alphabetical English-Latin word list, the earliest known in the English language. This first full-scale study of the Worcester glosses is important for the wealth of information it provides about the work methods of the tremulous scribe, the English language at a transitional point in its history, and about the ability to read Old English in the 13th century.
ANDREA HOPKINS
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117629
- eISBN:
- 9780191671029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117629.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter provides an introduction to the idea of romance and the different definitions it has in a variety of fields and times, including literature and medieval times. It further provides ...
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This chapter provides an introduction to the idea of romance and the different definitions it has in a variety of fields and times, including literature and medieval times. It further provides additional discussions on love and romance in literature and poetry. Related concepts, such as the romance hero and the nature of romance, are discussed. Middle English romance is also covered.Less
This chapter provides an introduction to the idea of romance and the different definitions it has in a variety of fields and times, including literature and medieval times. It further provides additional discussions on love and romance in literature and poetry. Related concepts, such as the romance hero and the nature of romance, are discussed. Middle English romance is also covered.
Andrea Hopkins
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117629
- eISBN:
- 9780191671029
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117629.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This book is a detailed study of a small group of Middle English romances which concern themselves with the sin, repentance, and atonement of their heroes. Despite being few in number, the poems – ...
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This book is a detailed study of a small group of Middle English romances which concern themselves with the sin, repentance, and atonement of their heroes. Despite being few in number, the poems – Guy of Warwick, Sir Ysumbras, Sir Gowther, and Robert of Cisyle – form a coherent and distinctive group, and have never previously been studied in association with one another. The author finds that in this closely related group of texts, the kind of penance experienced by the heroes, and its treatment by the authors, reflects archaic traditions and views at variance with the contemporary teaching and practice of the Church, and that this surprising departure is largely determined by the nature of the kind of literature to which the poems belong: romance. The author discusses the nature of romance and the extent to which the poems are entitled to be considered as such. Detailed examination of the penitential romances illuminates other more important and frequently studied texts, particularly Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.Less
This book is a detailed study of a small group of Middle English romances which concern themselves with the sin, repentance, and atonement of their heroes. Despite being few in number, the poems – Guy of Warwick, Sir Ysumbras, Sir Gowther, and Robert of Cisyle – form a coherent and distinctive group, and have never previously been studied in association with one another. The author finds that in this closely related group of texts, the kind of penance experienced by the heroes, and its treatment by the authors, reflects archaic traditions and views at variance with the contemporary teaching and practice of the Church, and that this surprising departure is largely determined by the nature of the kind of literature to which the poems belong: romance. The author discusses the nature of romance and the extent to which the poems are entitled to be considered as such. Detailed examination of the penitential romances illuminates other more important and frequently studied texts, particularly Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Laura Wright
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266557
- eISBN:
- 9780191905377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266557.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s ...
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This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s occupation, and the appearance of the house. In the early fourteenth century heraldic names appeared on commercial premises: tavern names such as la Worm on the Hope, and shop names such as the Golden Tea Kettle & Speaking Trumpet. From the eighteenth century five main categories are identified: the transferred place-name, the nostalgically rural, the commemorative, names associated with the nobility, and the latest fashion or fad. From the nineteenth century new developments are ‘pick & mix’ names consisting of uncoupled elements from British place-names joined together in new combinations, and jocular house-names. Historically, the house-name Sunnyside predominates in Scotland, and is traced through Middle English, Medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman French Scottish Gaelic, and the influence of Old Norse, recording a prehistoric Nordic land-division practice known as solskifte. It was spread southwards in the eighteenth century by Nonconformists, and became a Quaker shibboleth. Quakers took the name to North America where it remains in use as a church name. A specific historic Sunnyside in the Scottish Borders influenced author Washington Irving to name his famous New York Sunnyside, which boosted the name’s popularity. London Sunnysides of the 1870s were grand suburban residences owned by rich industrialist Nonconformists with Scottish family ties, confirming the trend.Less
This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s occupation, and the appearance of the house. In the early fourteenth century heraldic names appeared on commercial premises: tavern names such as la Worm on the Hope, and shop names such as the Golden Tea Kettle & Speaking Trumpet. From the eighteenth century five main categories are identified: the transferred place-name, the nostalgically rural, the commemorative, names associated with the nobility, and the latest fashion or fad. From the nineteenth century new developments are ‘pick & mix’ names consisting of uncoupled elements from British place-names joined together in new combinations, and jocular house-names. Historically, the house-name Sunnyside predominates in Scotland, and is traced through Middle English, Medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman French Scottish Gaelic, and the influence of Old Norse, recording a prehistoric Nordic land-division practice known as solskifte. It was spread southwards in the eighteenth century by Nonconformists, and became a Quaker shibboleth. Quakers took the name to North America where it remains in use as a church name. A specific historic Sunnyside in the Scottish Borders influenced author Washington Irving to name his famous New York Sunnyside, which boosted the name’s popularity. London Sunnysides of the 1870s were grand suburban residences owned by rich industrialist Nonconformists with Scottish family ties, confirming the trend.
