Late Modern English Syntax [Hardcover]

Using increasingly sophisticated databases, this volume explores grammatical usage from the Late Modern period in a broad context.Looking specifically at morphological and syntactic change, this book draws on a diverse range of written language data. Examining a variety of genres such as sermons, chronicles, legal and literary texts, it shows the Late Modern period to be an important era in the development of English.Looking specifically at morphological and syntactic change, this book draws on a diverse range of written language data. Examining a variety of genres such as sermons, chronicles, legal and literary texts, it shows the Late Modern period to be an important era in the development of English.The Late Modern period is the first in the history of English for which an unprecedented wealth of textual material exists. Using increasingly sophisticated databases, the contributions in this volume explore grammatical usage from the period, specifically morphological and syntactic change, in a broad context. Some chapters explore the socio-historical background of the period while others provide information on prescriptivism, newspaper language, language contact, and regional variation in British and American English. Internal processes of change are discussed against grammaticalisation theory and construction grammar and the rich body of textual evidence is used to draw inferences on the precise nature of historical change. Exposing readers to a wealth of data that informs the description of a broad range of syntactic phenomena, this book is ideal for graduate students and researchers interested in historical linguistics, corpus linguistics and language development.1. Introduction. Late Modern English syntax in its linguistic and socio-historical context Marianne Hundt; Part I. Changes in the VP: 2. The decline of the BE-perfect, linguistic relativity, and grammar writing in the nineteenth century Lieselotte Anderwald; 3. Let's not, let's don't and don't let's in lóÜ