Cognate noun constructions in Early Modern English
The case of Tyndale’s New Testament
Nikolaos Lavidas | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
This paper examines cognate noun constructions (CNCs) (e.g. smile a disarming smile) in Early Modern English, particularly in the first complete English translation of the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew by William Tyndale. Tyndale’s translation is produced during a period of significant expansion of CNCs in English. It is argued that CNCs in Tyndale are a marker of a particular English biblical register which involves archaic (early) English properties (cognate nouns in PPs) rather than a new tendency for cognate direct objects or the result of a translation effect alone. In other words, it is shown that Tyndale’s translation follows archaic/early English rules, thus deviating both from the new tendency for cognate direct objects and from the source text. This archaic characteristic of CNCs with cognate nouns in PPs instantiates a general tendency in Tyndale’s translation to use archaisms – as evidenced, for instance, in his dispreference of auxiliaries.
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