Carrying Verbs Across the Channel
Description
This book examines grammatical changes that took place in the medieval language contact situation between English and French from 1066 until 1500. It investigates structural copying phenomena and their connection with the lexicon, ?nding that copying of lexical verbs with a predicate-argument structure accelerated wider grammatical changes, and shows why the traditional notion of borrowing should be replaced with the more adequate concept of copying. The authors start by taking a fresh look at the relationship between Old French and Middle English in light of recent developments in the ? eld of linguistics, arguing that what has traditionally been seen as a diglossic situation (i.e., as contact between the dominating speakers of French and the native speakers of English) should instead be analysed through the framework of bilingualism. The two contact scenarios under scrutiny are the ones between Old French and Middle English and Middle English and the contact variety of Anglo-French. On the basis of their case studies they develop a holistic model of contact-induced change that integrates the bilingual individual as well as the speech community and its sociolinguistic background. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of language history and change, language contact and acquisition, sociolinguistics, multilingualism, and psycholinguistics.
Reviews / Votes
"An innovative and insightful look at argument structure in contact, this book illustrates the in?uence of (Anglo-)French on English lexical verbs using tables, ?gures, and enlightening examples. It argues that the copying of verbs not only affects the lexicon but also the syntax and semantics. Very impressive!" (Elly van Gelderen, Emeritus Professor, Arizona State University, USA)
"Carrying Verbs Across the Channel charts a new and exciting course for research in contact-induced change by focusing exclusively on the verb and thus broadening ways of thinking about the effect of borrowing at the syntax-semantics interface. Through careful corpus work, this series of case studies demonstrates compelling correlations between French verbs borrowed into Middle English and hitherto unnoticed developments in the argument structure possibilities of English. In addition, by considering contact induced change at the depth of secondary predication, this book argues convincingly for a principled use of the term Anglo-French, distinct from Anglo-Norman, as a heterogeneous contact variety. Carrying Verbs Across the Channel is interdisciplinary, expansive and principled in its approach, and provides a valuable contribution to research in language contact and diachronic syntax." (Michelle Troberg, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Canada)
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Persons
Michael Percillier is a postdoctoral lecturer in English linguistics at the University of Mannheim, Germany.
Yela Schauwecker is a postdoctoral lecturer in Romance linguistics at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Achim Stein is Full Professor of Romance linguistics at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Carola Trips is Full Professor of English historical linguistics at the University of Mannheim, Germany.
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction: Verbs in historical language contact.- Chapter 2: Historical Data.- Chapter 3: Anglo-French and Middle English as contact languages.- Chapter 4: A model of copying.- Chapter 5: Conclusion.