Spreading Patterns: Diffusional Change in the English System of Complementation (Oxford Studies in the History of English) - Hardcover

De Smet, Hendrik

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199812756 ISBN 13: 9780199812752

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Spreading Patterns examines how new constructions emerge and spread through the grammar of a language, in a process called "diffusion". This is done by tracking the development of three types of complements from the Middle English period to the present day. These are subject-controlled gerund complements, for…to-infinitives, and subject-controlled participial complements. In the first half of the book, De Smet focuses on how and why patterns diffuse. In the second half, which is largely corpus-based, De Smet tests his theoretical model of diffusion on the three complement types. His work demonstrates how diffusion interacts with the grammatical system of complementation, how diffusion proceeds, step-by-step, and why diffusion is directional.

Spreading Patterns will appeal to scholars and advanced students of English, history of English, and historical linguistics.

About this title

About the Author

Hendrik De Smet is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Linguistics at the University of Leuven.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199812756
• ISBN 13: 9780199812752
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304