Description
Book SynopsisEnglish verbs of speaking have been affected by profound and intriguing changes, in particular between Old and Middle English. These changes crucially involve the loss of the verb cweþan and its replacement by say, which remains the most common verb of speaking to this day. The present study provides an exhaustive corpus-based, cross-period, and multi-dimensional appraisal of verbs of speaking used as part of the linguistic expression of communication in the history of English situated within a frame-semantic and constructionist framework. Moreover, it elucidates the fascinating changes affecting the verbs used to talk about communication between Old and Middle English. Also, this study sheds light on the functions of medially placed reporting clauses emerging in the Middle English period.
Table of ContentsElements of a communication frame – Construction grammar – The linguistic expression of communication – Frequencies and complementation patterns of cweþan, say, speak, talk, and tell in Old and Middle English – Communication construction and direct-speech construction – Structure and functions of medial reporting clauses in Middle English
