Publication:
The development of "long" in Early Modern English: impersonal verbs of Desire in focus

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2021-06
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AsociaciĆ³n EspaƱola de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos (AEDEAN)
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ABSTRACT: The class of English verbs of Desire in Present-Day English comprises verbs such as "long" or "thirst", several of which are attested in earlier English in impersonal constructions characterised by the lack of a grammatical subject. In English, the impersonal construction decreased in frequency between 1400 and 1500, and effectively went out of use during the sixteenth century. Previous research has suggested that there is a need for a corpus-based study of not just Middle English, but also Early Modern English, in order to explore the different path(s) of development followed by individual impersonal verbs. The present article, therefore, investigates the development of the impersonal verb "long" (< OE "langian") with the following objectives: a) to determine when "long" ceases to occur in impersonal constructions; b) to provide a diachronic overview of the personal syntactic patterns that came to replace impersonal constructions in Early Modern English; and c) to identify, within the framework of Construction Grammar, factors that may account for the development of "long" as a prepositional verb.
RESUMEN: La clase de verbos de Deseo engloba predicados como "long" o "thirst". En estadios anteriores de la lengua inglesa, estos se podĆ­an emplear en construcciones impersonales caracterizadas por la ausencia de un sujeto gramatical. En inglĆ©s, la construcciĆ³n impersonal empieza a hacerse mĆ”s infrecuente entre los aƱos 1400 y 1500 y finalmente desaparece a lo largo del siglo diecisĆ©is. Trabajos previos apuntan la necesidad de acometer un estudio de corpus concerniente tanto al inglĆ©s medio como al inglĆ©s moderno temprano, lo cual permitirĆ­a arrojar luz sobre la(s) diversa(s) trayectoria(s) sintĆ”ctica(s) adoptada(s) por los distintos verbos impersonales. En consonancia con ello, el presente artĆ­culo investiga el desarrollo del verbo "long" (< OE "langian") en el inglĆ©s moderno temprano con los siguientes objetivos: a) determinar el momento en el que "long" deja de emplearse en construcciones impersonales; b) examinar la evoluciĆ³n de los patrones sintĆ”cticos personales que reemplazaron las construcciones impersonales; y c) desde la perspectiva de la GramĆ”tica de Construcciones, identificar los factores que inciden en el desarrollo de "long" como verbo de uso preferentemente preposicional.
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