The Semantic Predecessors of Need in the History of English (c750-1710)

by Loureiro-Porto, Luc�a

• ISBN13: 9781405192705
• ISBN10: 1405192704
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-28
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• More Book Details

Summary

In the history of English at least five verbs have been found to mean 'need': þurfan, beþurfan, need, behove and mister. By adopting a corpus-based approach, this book studies all of them diachronically, from the origins of the language (c.750) to the end of the early Modern English period (1710). Offers a detailed analysis of the meaning of these five verbs which have been found to mean 'need', filling a gap in the literature on modality and shedding new light on grammaticalization theory Spans the period c.750 to 1710, adopting a corpus-based approach to study the verbs diachronically Explores the evolution of necessity meanings in English, identifying regular semantic changes and challenging some well-established statements Provides a detailed grammaticalization analysis, paying attention to the different Present-Day-English modal classes, including marginal and emerging modals

Author Biography

Lucía Loureiro-Porto teaches grammar and linguistic variation within the Department of Spanish, Modern Languages and Latin at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Balearic Islands, Spain). She has previously held teaching and research positions at Reed College, Portland, and at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Her main research interests are the study of grammaticalization processes in the history of English, English historical syntax and semantics, and sociolinguistic variation from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of abbreviations

Introduction

Preliminary considerations

Present-Day English need and need tto

Traditional approaches

Modern considerations

Conclusion

A diachronic corpus

Organization of chapters

Theoretical Foundations

Introduction

Modality in English

Types of modality: root and epistemic

Semantic features of Present-Day English need and need to

Grammaticalization

Processes and parameters of grammaticalization

English Modals: a paradigmatic case of grammaticalization

Impersonal verbs and constructions

Terminological issues

Impersonal constructions: definition and structure

Allen's (1995) classification

Summary

Tharf and Betharf

Introduction

Preterite-presents and pre-modals: morphology, syntax and semantics

Morphology

Syntax

Semantics

Tharf and betharf diachronically

Semantic implications of tharf and betharf: the constraint of polarity

Tharf

Barriers

External forces

Internal forces

General forces

Betharf

Syntactic evidence for auxiliarihood: the importance of complementation

Tharf

Types of theme selected by tharf

Experiencer verb constructions found with tharf

Betharf

Conclusions

Behove and Mister

The evolution of behove

Introduction: The myth of an impersonal verb (Allen 1997)

The rise and fall of a Germanic verb in English

Semantic richness of a verb condemned to marginality

Old English: Preference for internal forces

Middle English: Peak in semantic richness

General forces in Middle English

Early Modern English: specialization of general forces

Syntactic evidence for a potential grammaticalization

Conclusions

The ephemeral pass of mister through the English language

Semantics

Syntax

Conclusion

Need in the History of English

Introduction: Need v.1 and need v.2: one or two verbs?

Semantic evolution of need

Physical forces

Root forces

External forces

Internal forces

General forces

Epistemic forces

Syntactic evolution of need v.1 and need v.2

Need v.1

Active need v.1

Passive need v.1

Need v.2

Need v.2: experiencer verb without an experiencer

Need v.2: experiencer verb with an experiencer

Types of themes, experiencer, and experiencer verb construction

Need v.2 in Type 'Personal' 8217: evidence for auxiliarihood

EModE auxiliaries

Need v.2 in the 'Personal' 8217 in early Modern English

Conclusions

Conclusions

Appendices

References

List of Tables

Index

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