Parameters of variation between verb-subject and subject-verb order in late Middle English

Warner, Anthony (2007) Parameters of variation between verb-subject and subject-verb order in late Middle English. English language & linguistics. pp. 81-111. ISSN 1360-6743

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Abstract

This article sets out to clarify the contribution of syntactic properties and subject weight for variation between verb-subject and subject-verb order in a database of fourteenth and fifteenth-century prose. It sets out the syntactic structures which are assumed, and investigates the impact on ordering of a set of factors, using established quantitative methodologies. A series of conclusions includes the continuing distinct status of initial then, the systematic importance of clause-final position, the different impacts of subject length in different contexts, and the presence of a definiteness effect for the late placement of a subject after a nonfinite unaccusative.

Item Type:	Article
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
Keywords:	WORD-ORDER, INVERSION
Academic Units:	The University of York > Language and Linguistic Science (York)
Depositing User:	Repository Officer
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2008 17:50
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2013 11:36
Published Version:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1360674306002127
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Related URLs:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1360674306002...
URI:	http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/3939

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