Table of Contents

List of figures and tables; List of abbreviations; Note on data references; Preface; 1: Introduction; 1.1: What is syntax?; 1.2: What is syntax for?; 1.3: Three dimensions of syntax; 1.3.1: Introduction; 1.3.2: Morphology or syntax?; 1.3.3: The expression of the semantic roles; 1.3.4: Word order variation; 1.4: Word order and meaning; 1.4.1: Introduction; 1.4.2: Pragmatics and information structure; 1.4.3: Discourse markers; 1.4.4: Discourse routines become syntax; 1.5: Interpreting historical data; 1.5.1: Introduction; 1.5.2: Sufficient data; 1.5.3: Genre and register; 1.5.4: Spoken versus written texts; 1.5.5: Dating texts; 1.5.6: The problem of negative evidence; 1.6: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 2: Nominal categories: The loss of nominal morphology; 2.1: Introduction; 2.2: Derivation and inflection; 2.3: Inherent versus contextual inflection; 2.4: Number; 2.5: Gender; 2.6: Case; 2.7: The grammaticalisation of prepositions; 2.7.1: To; 2.7.2: Of; 2.8: The expression of definiteness; 2.9: Loss of morphology and word order change; 2.10: Modelling morpho-syntactic variation of case and prepositions; 2.11: Why is morphology lost?; 2.12: Which morphology is lost?; 2.13: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 3: Verbal categories: The rise of the auxiliaries have and be; 3.1: Introduction; 3.2: Modality, tense, and aspect (TMA); 3.3: Lexical and grammatical aspect; 3.4: Alternative expressions for aspect; 3.4.1: Lexical items; 3.4.2: Prefixes and particles; 3.4.3: Positional verbs; 3.4.4: In or on; 3.4.5: Aspectualisers; 3.5: The perfect; 3.5.1: The development of the have+past participle perfect; 3.5.2: The development of the be+past participle perfect; 3.5.3: Competition between have- and be-perfects; 3.6: The development of the be+present participle progressives; 3.7: The passive; 3.8: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading ; 4: Verbal categories: The rise of the modal auxiliaries; 4.1: Introduction ; 4.2: The NICE-properties in PDE; 4.2.1: Introduction; 4.2.2: Negation; 4.2.3: Inversion; 4.2.4: Code (or ellipsis); 4.2.5: Emphasis; 4.3: Modelling the NICE properties; 4.3.1: Introducing the IP; 4.3.2: Negation; 4.3.3: Negative contraction; 4.3.4: Inversion; 4.3.5: Code (or ellipsis); 4.3.6: Adverb placement; 4.4: NICE-properties in historical perspective; 4.4.1: Inversion: From V-to-I-to-C movement to I-to-C movement; 4.4.2: Negation; 4.4.3: Code (or ellipsis); 4.4.4: Emphasis; 4.4.5: Adverb placement; 4.4.6: Conclusions; 4.5: The verbal characteristics of auxiliaries ; 4.5.1: Introduction; 4.5.2: Agreement and tense; 4.5.3: Argument structure; 4.5.4: Concluding remarks; 4.6: The rise of do-support; 4.7: Ragged edges: be, do, have, dare, need and ought to; 4.8: Modelling the grammaticalisation of the modals; 4.9: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 5: Complementation ; 5.1: Introduction; 5.2: Ragged edges: Usage and productivity; 5.2.1: Introduction; 5.2.2: Set; 5.2.3: Make; 5.2.4 Cause; 5.2.5: Conclusions; 5.3: The rise of the ing-form; 5.3.1: Introduction; 5.3.2: Origin of gerunds; 5.3.3: From nominalisations to gerunds; 5.3.4: The rise and spread of the gerund as verb complement; 5.3.5: The present participle/gerund nexus; 5.4:The rise of the to-infinitive; 5.4.1: Introduction; 5.4.2: Origin of to-infinitives; 5.4.3: Diagnostic tests for clausal status; 5.4.4: From adjunct to verb complement; 5.4.5: Stage I: Verbs of spatial manipulation; 5.4.6 Stage II: Verbs of firing up; 5.4.7: Stage III: Verbs of commanding and permitting; 5.4.8: Stage IV: Expressing ‘dependent desires’; 5.4.9: Stage V: Verbs of thinking and declaring; 5.5: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 6: The structure of the clause; 6.1: Introduction; 6.2: The text; 6.3: The word order of the subclause ; 6.3.1: Introduction; 6.3.2: Identifying subclauses ; 6.3.3: Special positions for old information; 6.3.4: Extraposition; 6.3.5: And-clauses; 6.4: Modelling S-(A)-O-V; 6.4.1: Right-headed VP and IP; 6.4.2: Verb raising; 6.5: The change from OV to VO; 6.5.1: Postverbal objects; 6.5.2: Postverbal pronouns and particles; 6.5.3: Postverbal stranded prepositions; 6.5.4: Information structure as a diagnostic for change; 6.6: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 7: Verb-Second; 7.1: Introduction; 7.2: Verb-movement to the second position; 7.3:Modelling movement to the second position; 7.4: Verb-movement to the third position; 7.5: The adverbs þa, þonne, þær and nu; 7.6: Modelling movement to the third position; 7.7: Early verbs in subclauses; 7.7.1: Introduction; 7.7.2: Main-clause-like subclauses; 7.7.3: Extraposition; 7.7.4: Verb projection raising; 7.7.5: Left-headed IP; 7.7.6: Conclusion; 7.8: Charting the decline of Verb-Second; 7.8.1: Introduction; 7.8.2: Interrogative and negative clauses; 7.8.3: Then, there, thus, so; 7.8.4: Stance adverbs; 7.8.5: Verbs of saying; 7.8.6: Nominal and pronominal subjects; 7.8.7: Discourse functions; 7.8.8: The elevated style; 7.8.9: The ‘late subject’ construction; 7.9: Causes of the decline; 7.9.1: Language-internal causes; 7.9.2: Language-external causes; 7.10: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading; 8: Syntax and discourse; 8.1: Introduction; 8.2:Grounding, assertion and subordination ; 8.3: Foregrounding and peak marking; 8.4: Creating suspense; 8.4.1:The durative main clause+ oþ-clause pair; 8.4.2: Durative motion verbs, AcIs and Verb-First in Beowulf; 8.4.3: Durative onginnan/beginnan ‘begin’ and Verb-First in Ælfric; 8.5: Correlative linking; 8.5.1: Introduction; 8.5.2: Complement clauses; 8.5.3: Adverbial clauses; 8.5.4: Relative clauses; 8.6: From parataxis to hypotaxis; 8.7: V-to-C in þa-correlatives; 8.8: Summary of points; Exercises; Further reading