Studies in the History of the English Language IV: Empirical and Analytical Advances in the Study of English Language Change

444 Pages·2008·2.33 MB·English

by  Susan M. Fitzmaurice (ed.)

Studies in the History of the
English Language IV:
Empirical and Analytical
Advances in the Study of
English Language Change
Edited by
Susan M. Fitzmaurice
Donka Minkova
Mouton de Gruyter
Studies in the History of the English Language IV
≥
Topics in English Linguistics
61
Editors
Elizabeth Closs Traugott
Bernd Kortmann
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Studies in the History
of the English Language IV
Empirical and Analytical Advances
in the Study of English Language Change
Edited by
Susan M. Fitzmaurice
Donka Minkova
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
MoutondeGruyter(formerlyMouton,TheHague)
isaDivisionofWalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,Berlin.
(cid:2)(cid:2)Printedonacid-freepaperwhichfallswithintheguidelines
oftheANSItoensurepermanenceanddurability.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
StudiesinthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageIV:empiricalandana-
lytical advances in the study of English language change / edited by
SusanM.Fitzmaurice,DonkaMinkova.
p.cm.(cid:2)(TopicsinEnglishlinguistics;61)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-3-11-020587-9(alk.paper)
1.Englishlanguage(cid:2)History. 2.Englishlanguage(cid:2)Grammar,
Historical. I.Fitzmaurice,SusanM. II.Minkova,Donka,1944(cid:2)
III.Title:StudiesinthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage4. IV.Title:
Empirical and analytical advances in the study of English language
change.
PE1075.S885 2008
420.9(cid:2)dc22
2008040565
ISBN 978-3-11-020587-9
ISSN 1434-3452
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternetathttp://dnb.d-nb.de.
”Copyright2008byWalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,10785Berlin
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
bookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechan-
ical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,without
permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
Coverdesign:ChristopherSchneider,Berlin.
Typesetting:ptp(cid:2)berlingmbH,Berlin.
PrintedinGermany.
Richard Hogg was the UK ambassador to the first SHEL meeting at
UCLA in 2000. As the grand-marshal of the just finished 6-volume
Cambridge History of the English Language, he brought the accumulated
wisdom, good will, and best wishes of the ICEHL community to
North America. Later he continued his enthusiastic involvement with
the SHEL series as a presenter and reviewer, and only his sudden death
in September 2007 stopped him from attending SHEL-5. As the invited
commentator for the Old English section of the SHEL-4 collection
he was characteristically prompt, incisive, and generous in supporting
the enterprise.
We dedicate this volume to his memory with deep appreciation
of his lasting contributions to our field, of his collegiality and
friendship.

Table of contents
Dedication to Richard M. Hogg v
Tabula Laudatoria ix
Introduction: Heuristics and evidence in studying the history
of the English language 1
Susan Fitzmaurice and Donka Minkova
Triggering events 11
William Labov
What’s new in Old English? 55
Richard M. Hogg
Coding the York-Toronto-Helsinki Parsed Corpus
of Old English Prose to investigate the syntax-pragmatics interface 61
Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Susan Pintzuk
Anglian dialect features in Old English anonymous
homiletic literature: A survey, with preliminary findings 81
R.D. Fulk
The elusive progress of prosodical study 101
Thomas Cable
Fidelity in versification: Modern English translations of Beowulf
andSir Gawain and the Green Knight 121
Jennifer Anh-Thu Tran Smith
Response to Tom Cable’s comments 153
Jennifer Anh-Thu Tran Smith
Metrical evidence: Did Chaucer translate The Romaunt of the Rose? 155
Xingzhong Li
Trochees in an iambic meter: Assumptions or evidence? 181
Xingzhong Li
viii Table of contents
“Ubbe dubbede him to knith”: The scansion of Havelok
and Middle English -es, -ed, and -ed(e) 187
Christina M. Fitzgerald
A response to Tom Cable 205
Christina M. Fitzgerald
Patterns and productivity 207
David Denison
Borrowed derivational morphology in Late Middle English:
A study of the records of the London Grocers and Goldsmiths 231
Chris C. Palmer
Fixer-uppers and passers-by:
Nominalization of verb-particle constructions 265
Don Chapman
Words and constructions in grammaticalization:
The end of the English impersonal construction 301
Graeme Trousdale
Variation in Late Modern English: Making the best use of ‘bad data’ 327
Joan C. Beal
English/French bilingualism in nineteenth century Louisiana:
A social network analysis 337
Connie Eble
Taking permissible shortcuts? Limited evidence, heuristic reasoning
and the modal auxiliaries in early Canadian English 357
Stefan Dollinger
‘What strikes the ear’: Thomas Sheridan and regional pronunciation 387
Raymond Hickey
Author index 413
Subject index 423
Tabula Laudatoria
Richard Hogg Dieter Kastovsky
Cindy Allen Christian Kay
Leslie Arnovick Ans van Kemenade
Joan Beal Peter Kitson
Ricardo Bermúdez-Otero Bill Kretzschmar
Douglas Biber Ian Lancashire
Derek Britton Katie Lowe
Thomas Cable Emma Moore
Don Chapman Lynda Mugglestone
Claire Cowie Christian Mair
Anne Curzan Derek Pearsall
David Denison Malcolm Richardson
Teresa Fanego Nikolaus Ritt
Maurizio Gotti Jeremy Smith
Jonathan Hope Robert Stockwell
Raymond Hickey Graeme Trousdale
Patrick Honeybone Ilse Wischer
Marianne Hundt Wim van der Wurff