Huber J (2017)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes
Publication year: 2017
Publisher: John Benjamins
Edited Volumes: Motion and Space across Languages. Theory and applications
Series: Human Cognitive Processing
City/Town: Amsterdam
Book Volume: 59
ISBN: 9789027246752
In the Middle English period, a number of pure path verbs (e.g. enter, issue, descend, ascend) were borrowed from French and Latin into English. An analysis of the Old and Middle English motion verb inventory reveals that before this, pure path verbs hardly existed; an analysis of c. 1,000 Old and Middle English motion descriptions shows that path information is typically expressed outside the verb. The borrowed path verbs are therefore a new pattern in the Middle English system of talking about motion. By comparing their use in autonomous Middle English texts and in texts translated from French or Latin, I show that in autonomous texts, they are more restricted to non-literal motion (such as ‘descend from one’s ancestors’) and to specific types of literal motion, while in the translations, they are more freely used for general literal motion.
APA:
Huber, J. (2017). The early life of borrowed path verbs in English. In Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano (Eds.), Motion and Space across Languages. Theory and applications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
MLA:
Huber, Judith. "The early life of borrowed path verbs in English." Motion and Space across Languages. Theory and applications. Ed. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2017.
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