2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A Prosodic and Semantic Study of the Changes in Word Order in the English Language
| Project/Area Number |
23520588
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
English linguistics
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| Research Institution | Seigakuin University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-04-28 – 2016-03-31
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| Keywords | 古英語 / 中英語 / 語順 / 統語論 / 韻律論 / 情報構造 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This study explores prosodic and semantic factors as the causes of changes in word order in Old English (OE) and Middle English (ME) by investigating and analysing Alfred’s Circle’s literature of verse and prose, Aelfric’s prose in late OE, and the prose part of the Peterborough Chronicle in early ME.
The V1 word order in OE prose, which often occurs in OE verse, is analysed in order to relate it to a semantic factor, which corresponds to a prosodic one. This study clarifies that the extinction of this word order was caused by the decline of V1 in ME verse and the V3 word order, which was related to a semantic factor, changed the predominant V2 word order Aelfric’s prose in late OE to the SV(O) word order.
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| Free Research Field |
英語歴史言語学
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