2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Use and interchangeablity of third-person and demonstrative pronouns in Old English: towards a better understanding of the development of they
| Project/Area Number |
18K00643
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Review Section |
Basic Section 02080:English linguistics-related
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Aichi University of Education |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
|
| Keywords | 三人称代名詞 / 複数形 / 指示代名詞 / 古英語 / 行間注 / 有生性 / 方言 / 古ノルド語 |
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The purpose of this research was to reconsider the origin of they. It has traditionally been assumed that Modern English they has its origin in the Old Norse counterparts, which were borrowed or imposed as a result of intimate Anglo-Norse contact in the Danelaw. On the other hand, the possibility that the plural forms of Old English demonstrative se were the origin of they has been put forward mainly from phonological and morphological perspectives. No matter which of the two origins is considered, better understanding of the use of se is necessary to make more explicit the process of the development of they. Little, however, has been investigated on the details of the use of se and its interchangeability with the third-person pronoun.
This research focused on the early stages of the development of they, especially looking at biblical interlinear glosses and translations, and gained several noteworthy results possibly leading to a better understanding of the development of they.
|
| Free Research Field |
英語史
|
| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
本研究成果の学術的意義としては、まず第一に、これまで十分な蓄積がなかったtheyの発達に関わる古英語期の基礎データを収集・公表したことである。本研究で得たデータはtheyの起源や発達プロセスを今後考察する際に有用であると考える。また、本研究で、theyの発達は単に古ノルド語の影響によるのではなく、複雑なプロセスを経た可能性が指摘されたこと、また、中英語以降の格によるtheyの浸透速度の違いに対してより合理的な説明が与えられる可能性が指摘されたことなどは、多くの研究に資すると思われる。特に後者の点は中英語期以降の様々な言語状況の解明にもつながることであり英語史研究の発展に大きく寄与すると考える。
|
