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In:Motivation in Language: A cognitive perspective
Edited by Grzegorz Drożdż and Barbara Taraszka-Drożdż
[Human Cognitive Processing 83] 2027
► pp. 138–152

Chapter 6
In search of motivation of the variation in the medieval English perfective construction

 | University of Silesia in Katowice
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Abstract
Unlike most other Germanic languages, English lost the pluperfect construction with the auxiliary be + Past Participle. The occurrences of habban with intransitive verbs are found in Old English when some kind of accomplishment is expressed. In Early Middle English one can observe interesting manuscript variation here. From Late Middle English onwards ben was becoming recessive for all intransitives. The genetic motivation for this change might have been due to the following factors: formally perfect forms gradually marking aspect rather than tense, the heavy functional load of ben and the obligatory use of haven in perfect forms expressing counterfactuality. The study is based on the texts from the Dictionary of Old English Corpus and the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Auxiliary verbs in Old English
  • 3.Auxiliaries in early Middle English
  • 4.Auxiliaries in Late Middle English
  • 5.The pluperfect as a marker of unreality/counterfactuality
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • References
References (45)
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