Carrying Verbs Across the Channel

Beschreibung

"An innovative and insightful look at argument structure in contact, this book illustrates the influence of (Anglo-)French on English lexical verbs using tables, figures, 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

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, finding 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 field 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.

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.

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, finding 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 fi 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.

Autor*in

Michael Percillier

Themen in »Carrying Verbs Across the Channel«

Old French Middle English language contact argument structure syntax psycholinguistics bilingualism code-switching copying code mixing dialect birth (post-)colonial varieties nativization Anglo-French

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“The study under review sets the scene in a series of chapters of greatly varying lengths, each of which is provided with its own set of references. ... This is a most impressive empirical and corpus-informed study ... . The authors, and furthermore Professors Louise Sylvester and Sara M. Pons-Sanz, general editors of the series, are to be congratulated on producing a composite study which unites philology, corpus linguistics, and sociohistorical linguistic theory in such a lucid and dynamic way.” (Anthony Grant, SELIM - Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature, Vol. 31 (1) 2026)

“An innovative and insightful look at argument structure in contact, this book illustrates the influence of (Anglo-)French on English lexical verbs using tables, figures, 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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