Description
Book SynopsisThe development from a synthetic to an analytic language is one of the most important topics in English historical syntax. This development is reflected in the gradual decrease of case-forms and the replacement of their functions with equivalent prepositional constructions. Focussing on the Old English period, when case-forms and prepositional constructions overlapped in various functions, this book aims to answer an unresolved question: was there a significant change in the use of case-forms and, alternatively, in the use of prepositions plus case-forms in contexts where both types were possible? The author makes a statistical comparison between prose texts written in the early Old English period and texts of the later Old English period; she also takes into account stylistic features of individual texts. Thus, this book addresses this Old English syntactic issue both from a historical and a stylistic perspective and shows the stages of development during the Old English period.
Trade Review«The single dimension along which Sato traces the development of competing forms is illuminating. [...] The dimension that she has elaborated and the summaries and generalizations that she has provided are admirable in their clarity.» (Thomas Cable, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies)
Table of ContentsContents: Instrumentality – Manner – Accompaniment – Point of Time – Duration of Time – Origin – Specification – Dative Absolute –
The Parker Chronicle –
Boethius –
Bede – Ælfric’s
Catholic Homilies – Ælfric’s
Lives of Saints – Wulfstan’s Homilies.
