Caused-Motion Verbs in the Middle English Intransitive Motion Construction

Huber J (2013)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes

Publication year: 2013

Publisher: John Benjamins

Edited Volumes: Variation and Change in the Encoding of Motion Events

Series: Human Cognitive Processing

City/Town: Amsterdam

Book Volume: 41

Pages Range: 203-222

ISBN: 9789027223951

URI: https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/hcp.41.09hub/details

DOI: 10.1075/hcp.41.09hub

Abstract

Based on an analysis of more than 300 Middle English verbs attested in the intransitive motion construction, this chapter shows that among them, different from Present-Day English, there is a surprisingly high proportion of verbs that are primarily verbs of caused motion, such as throuen ‘throw’. I argue here that the sporadic intransitive motion use of these verbs may be explained by a number of formally and semantically similar patterns in which both intransitive and caused-motion verbs occur. These include be + past participle and the combination with a reflexive pronoun. These patterns form a closely-knit family of constructions tending to blur the distinction between the two types of verbs.

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APA:

Huber, J. (2013). Caused-Motion Verbs in the Middle English Intransitive Motion Construction. In Goschler Juliana, Stefanowitsch Anatol (Eds.), Variation and Change in the Encoding of Motion Events. (pp. 203-222). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

MLA:

Huber, Judith. "Caused-Motion Verbs in the Middle English Intransitive Motion Construction." Variation and Change in the Encoding of Motion Events. Ed. Goschler Juliana, Stefanowitsch Anatol, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2013. 203-222.

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