('She often waited for death' — the corresponding OE verb bidan ing the normal place of the subject.

ing the normal place of the subject. The type me likes fell into disuse, being
replaced by the type man liketh and / like. Mod E meseems and methinks are
governed the Gen. case.) reiics of the old c o n s t r u c t i o n .
At nyght were come into that hostelrye
Wei nyne and twenty in a compaignye... § 534. Some verb phrases merged into single grammatical or lexi­
('At night came into that inn a company of twenty-nine' the respec­ cal units and in this sense were "simplified". As shown in the preceding
tive OE form was nihtes — the Gen. case in an adverbial function.) paragraphs verb phrases consisting of a finite and a non-finite verb turned
In a tabard he rood upon a mere. into analytical forms, thus passing from the level of syntax to that
('He rode upon a mare in a long coat' — OE mearum ridan 'ride a of morphology. Verb phrases consisting of verbs and adverbs — which
horse' with a noun in the Dat. case; see also § 432) modified or specified the meaning of the verb — formed lexical units
Throughout ME and Early NE the use of prepositions displayed great known as "composite verbs" or "verb-adverb combinations" (this pro­
fluctuation. Many verbs were used with a variety of prepositions until cess made up for the loss of many OE verb prefixes). Likewise, many
the age of prescriptive grammars and dictionaries, and some verbs — verb phrases became inseparable "group-verbs" or phraseological units,
a long time after. During the NE period the size and complexity of verb e. g. maken melodie ('sing') in Chaucer and have mind upon your health,
patterns grew, as the verbs came to be extended by noun patterns of have war, have business, etc. in Shakespeare.
more complicated structure, by Infin. phrases and predicative construc­
tions with diverse components (see § 541 ff.). The Simple Sentence
§ 533. An important change took place in the patterns of numerous verbs
termed " i m p e r s o n a l " or "quasi-impersonal". These verbs indicated a state or feeling,
§ 535. In the course of history the structure of the simple sentence
e . g . OE lician ' p l e a s e ' (NE like), OE lystan ' d e s i r e ' , OE Zescomian (NE shame), in many respects became more orderly and more uniform. Yet, at the
Early ME wanten, semen (NE want, seem). Originally most of these verbs took two same time it grew complicated as the sentence came to include more
objects: one — to indicate the person who experienced the state or feeling, the extended and complex parts: longer attributive groups, diverse subjects
other — t o show its cause, e. g. OE him ne hlysle nanes metes 'he did not w a n t
any food'; the cause, or object of the feeling could sometimes be shown by the and predicates and numerous predicative constructions (syntactic com­
subject of the sentence — in the Nom. case: pam wife рй word wet licodon 'those plexes).
words pleased that woman well'. § 536. In OE the ties between the words in the sentence were shown
In Late ME these " i m p e r s o n a l " constructions were transformed into "per­ mainly by means of government and agreement, with the help of numer­
s o n a l " in which the relationships were reversed: the subject indicated the person
affected by the feeling or s t a t e , the object — the direction or cause of the feeling.
ous inflections. In ME and Early N E , with most of the inflectional
The change can be described as the transition of the type me llketh into / like. endings levelled or dropped, the relationships between the parts of the
The following examples from Chaucer show the variation stage of the change — sentence were shown by their relative position, environment, seman­
the parallel use of both types of construction with the same verb: tic ties, prepositions, and by a more rigid syntactic structure.
. . . so sore longeth me Every place in the sentence came to be associated with a certain
To eten of the smale peres grene. syntactic function: in the new structure of the sentence syntactic func­
('So badly I long to eat some of these small green pears.') tions were determined by position, and no position could remain va­
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.
cant. This is evidenced by the obligatory use of the subject. For instance,
('Then folks long to go on pilgrimages.')
in OE the formal subject, expressed by the pronoun hit, was used only
My God, me mette I was in swich meschief
in some types of impersonal sentences, namely those indicating weath­
('My God, I dreamed I was in such grief.')
er phenomena. In ME the subject it occurs in all types of impersonal
And eek I seyde, / mette of him al night sentences, e. g.
('And also I said I dreamt of him all night'.)
This man mette in his bed, ther as he lay... . For it reynyd almoste euery othir day. (Brut)
('This man dreamt in his bed, where he lay.') ('For it rained almost every other day.')
The two parallel syntactic constructions — me longeth// long, me mette/I mette Of his falshede it dulleth me to ryme. (Chaucer)
were used in free variation as synonyms or syntactic v a r i a n t s . Eventually the ('Of his falsehood it annoys me to speak.')
second variant (the " p e r s o n a l " construction) prevailed with most of the verbs.
The selection of this variant and the obsolescence of the impersonal type was deter­ The use of the verb-substitute do, as well as the use of auxiliary and
mined by morphological and syntactic factors. The loss of inflectional endings in modal verbs without the notional verb proves that the position of the
nouns made it impossible to distinguish between the subject and object in such
instances as this man(e) mette (the last example). Syntactic ambiguity stimulated
predicate could not be vacant either. This is evident in short answers
the appearance of the / like type, for man was more readily associated with the and other statements with the notional verb left out, e. g.:
Nom. case of pronouns than with the Obj. case. It must have been interpreted as
the subject of the sentence not only owing to the lack of inflectional endings but Helpeth me now, as I dyde yow whileer. (Chaucer)
also due to its position before the verb-predicate, which by that time was becom- ('Help me now as I did (help) you formerly.')

280 281
 Stand! So I do, against my will... Is Guilliams with the packet Most frequent in Chaucer's works was a verb phrase of aspective mean-
gone? He is, my lord, an hour ago. (Shakespeare) ing gan plus Inf. (NE begin):
He stired the coles til relente gan the wex.
§ 537. As compared with OE the subject of the sentence became more ('He stirred the coals till the wax began to melt.')
varied in meaning, as well as in the forms of expression. We have al-
ready mentioned the increased use of the formal subject it. Due to the § 538. One of the peculiar features of the OE sentence was multi-
growth of new verb forms the. subject could now denote not only the ple negation. The use of several negative particles and forms continued
agent or a thing characterised by a certain property, but also the re- throughout the ME period, e. g.:
cipient of an action or the "passive" subject of a state and feeling. Ne bryng nat every man into thyn hous. (Chaucer)
The predicate had likewise become more varied in form and mean- ('Don't bring every man into your house.')
ing. The simple predicate could be expressed by compound forms which
indicated multiple new meanings and subtle semantic distinctions, lack- (-ne- is a negative particle used with verbs, nat — another negative
ing in OE verb forms or expressed formerly by contextual means. particle, for its origin see §219.)
Though some types of compound predicates had turned into simple No berd hadde he, ne nevere sholde have. (Chaucer)
— as the verb phrases developed into analytical forms — the compound ('He had no beard, and never would have one.')
predicate could express a variety of meanings with the help of numerous See also the example: No, though I seye, I nam nat lief to gabbe above
new link-verbs and more extended and complex predicatives. ME wit- where nam is made up of the negative particle ne and am. In Shake-
nessed a remarkable growth of link-verbs: about 80 verbs occur as
speare's time the use of negations is variable: the sentence could contain
copulas in texts between the 15th and 18th c. In a way the new link-
one or more means of expressing negation. Cf.:
verbs made up for the loss of some OE prefixes and compound verbs
•which denoted the growth of a quality or the transition into a state, So is it not with me as with that Muse ...
e. g.: Good madam, hear me speak,
And tho it drewe nere Cristenesse. (Brut) And let no quarrel, nor no brawl to come,
('And though it drew near Christmas', 'Christmas was coming') Taint the condition of this present hour... (Shakespeare)
Cecilie cam, whan it was woxen night... Gradually double negation went out of use. In the age of Correctness
('Cecily came when it was night...') !— the normalising 18th c. — when the scholars tried to improve and
as me best thinketh (Chaucer) perfect the language, multiple negation was banned as illogical: it was
believed that one negation eliminated the other like two minuses in math-
('as it seems best to me') ematics and the resulting meaning would be affirmative. These logi-
cal restrictions on the use of negations became a strict rule of English
It fallep profyte to summe men to be bounde to a stake. (Wyklif) grammar.
('It appears good for some men to be bound to a stake.')
A murd'rous guilt shows not itself more soon Word Order
Than love that would seem hid...
§ 539. In ME and Early NE the order of words in the sentence
The rose looks fair ... (Shakespeare). underwent noticeable changes: it has become fixed and direct: subject
plus predicate plus object (S-f-P+O) or subject plus the notional part
The structure of the predicative became more complex: it could of the predicate (the latter type was used mainly in questions).
include various prepositional phrases and diverse attributes, e. g.: Stabilisation of the word order was a slow process, which took many
Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse. (Chaucer) hundreds of years: from Early ME until the 16th or 17th c. The fixation
('He was twenty years old, I guess.') of the word order proceeded together with reduction and loss of inflec-
tional endings, the two developments being intertwined; though syn-
That's a deep story of a deeper love; tactic changes were less intensive and less rapid. They may have been
For he was more than over shoes In love. (Shakespeare) delayed by the break in the written tradition after the Norman con-
The compound verbal predicate in ME was characterised by a wider quest and by the general unsettling of the grammatical system during
use of modal phrases and verbs of aspective meaning, e. g.: the Early ME dialectal divergence, whereas morphological changes may
have been intensified for these very reasons.
No, though I seye, I nam nat lief to gabbe. (Chaucer) Though the word order in Late ME may appear relatively free, sev-
('No, though I say I am not inclined to gabble.') eral facts testify to its growing stability. The practice of placing the
282 282
verb-predicate at the end of a subordinate clause had been abandoned, Late ME and Early NE texts: the Nom. with the Inf. and with Par­
so was the type of word order with the object placed between the Sub­ ticiples I, II (also known as Subjective predicative constructions), the
ject and the Predicate (see OE examples in § 224). The place before Nom. Absolute construction and the Absolute construction with pre­
the Predicate belonged to the Subject, which is confirmed by the prev­ positions, and, finally, the /ог-phrase with the Inf. and the Gerundial
alence of this word order in prosaic texts and also, indirectly, by the construction.
transition of the "impersonal" constructions into "personal": as shown The following quotations from Early NE texts exemplify various
above, in the pattern the mann(e) liketh the noun was understood as predicative constructions:
the Subject, though originally it was an Object in the Dat. case (cf. him
liketh, see § 533). Objective Predicative Constructions ("Complex Object")
§ 540. In the 17th and 18th c. the order of words in the sentence I would desire you to draw your knife and grave your name. (Dekker)
was generally determined by the same rules as operate in English today. When the Noble Caesar saw him stab; ... and bid them speak for me;
The fixed, direct word order prevailed in statements, unless inversion ... mothers shall but smile when they behold
was required for communicative purposes or for emphasis, e. g.: Their infants quartered with the hands of war. (Shakespeare)
Now comes in the sweetest morsel in the night... These numbers will Subjective predicative construction ("Complex Subject")
I tear and write in prose. (Shakespeare) Although he were adjudged, in the court of Rome, to have forfeeted,
The order of the Subject and Predicate remained direct in sentences all the right which he had to his Kingdome ... (Holinshed)
beginning with an adverbial modifier: He was reported to be a very uncontended person. (Puttenham)
then the two bears will not bite one another when they meet. (In OE Absolute constructions
an initial adverbial modifier required an inverted word order — P + S My flesh being troubled, my heart doth hear the spear. (Wyatt)
— see § 225.) ... and, after that dede done, ther was no more money yoven us. (Pas-
In questions the word order was partially inverted — unless the ques­ ton Letters)
tion referred to the subject group. The analytical forms of the verb and ... and with hym mette a shippe callyd Nicolas of the Towre, with
the use of the do-periphrasis instead of simple forms made it possible other shippis wayting on him. (Paston Letters)
to place the notional part of the Predicate after the Subject even with (The Absolute construction could at first be introduced by various pre­
simple Predicate. Cf.: positions; later with was standardised.)
Are they good}... Can you make no use of your discontent? ... Who Gerundial complexes
comes here? ... Lady, will you walk about with your friend? ... Did he ... the very next day after his coming home departed out of this world
never make you laugh? (Shakespeare) to receive his reward in the Spiritual court of Heaven. (Dekker) (See
Occasionally we find simple verb forms .in questions placed before also § 474).
the Subject: Which way looks he? ... How came you to this? Full inver­ For-phrase with the Infinitive
sion in questions is more common with Shakespeare than with later
authors (see also § 508 for the history of forms with do). The descriptions whereof were too long for mee to write, and you to
read. (Dekker)
The advantage of the /ог-phrase and the Gerundial construction over
Predicative Constructions other predicative constructions was that they were less restricted syn­
tactically: they could be employed in various syntactic functions.
All predicative constructions were formed according to a single pat­
§ 541. One of the most important developments in Late ME and tern: they consisted of a nominal element indicating the agent or sub-
Early NE syntax was the growth of predicative constructions. Predica­ 'ect of an action or state and a non-finite form denoting this action.
tive constructions date from the OE period, when D a t . Absolute was used hen relationships between the component parts of predicative construc-
in translations from Latin and the Acc. with the Inf. — in original ions were firmly established, the second element began to be ex-
English texts; the latter construction occurred only with verbs of physi­ ressed by nominal parts of speech without the help of verbals, e. g.
cal perception (see § 216); a short time later a new type of construction djectives and nouns:
appeared after verbs of physical perception: the Acc. with Part I.
In Late ME and in Early NE the Acc. with the Inf. and the Acc. ... and you shall not sin
with the P a r t , came to be used with an increasing number of verbs of If you do say we think him over-proud and under-honest. (Shake-
various meanings. New types of predicative constructions appeared in eare)

285
284
 ... came the Emperour ... from huntyng, the Dophin on his ryght The poem begins with an adverbial clause of time introduced by
hand, the Duke of Orleans on the lyfft. (Fabian) whan that: the interrogative adverb whan ('when') is accompanied by
§ 542. Though all predicative constructions are based on a uniform the conjunction that, the two words together being used as a conjunc-
underlying pattern, they have developed from different sources: from tion; another adverbial clause of time whan Zephirus... goes on for two
verb patterns with direct and prepositional objects followed by an in- and a half lines, then two temporal clauses are joined by and, and two
finitive or a participle, noun patterns with participles used as attri- more clauses are inserted — an attributive clause beginning with That
butes, verbal nouns modified by possessive pronouns or nouns, elliptical slepen... and a parenthetical clause; then, finally, the principal clause
infinitive sentences. Some scholars believe that predicative construc- begins with the adverb thanne which correlates with whan that and whan
tions in English arose under the influence of Latin and that they should in the first and fifth lines.
be regarded as direct borrowings from Latin (M. Callaway). Though I -Many new conjunctions and other connective words appeared during
predicative constructions were frequently used in translations from Lat- the ME period: both...and, a coordinating conjunction, was made up of
in at all historical periods, there seems to be no doubt of their native a borrowed Scandinavian dual adjective bath and the native and; be-
origin. cause, a subordinating conjunction, was a hybrid consisting of the native
The earliest instances of the Acc. with the Inf. are found in BEO- English preposition by and a borrowed Latin noun, cause (by+cause
WULF, an original OE epic; as mentioned above they were first used 'for the reason'); numerous connectives developed from adverbs and
after verbs of physical perception and were soon extended to other verbs, pronouns — who, what, which, where, whose, how, why. These connec-
while the Inf. began to alternate with Part. I. tives sometimes occurred in combination with that (like whan that in the
In Late ME and Early NE predicative constructions of different types above quotation from Chaucer), which probably served to show that
were commonly used both in translations and in original texts. In the the former pronouns and adverbs were employed in a new, connective,
age of the Literary Renaissance many works were translated from Latin function.
into English — it has been found that predicative constructions, es- The following examples from Chaucer's works illustrate various
pecially the Objective predicative and the Absolute construction were types of subordinate clauses in ME and some of the connectives used to
more frequent in translations from Latin than in original prose. Since join the clauses, especially the polyfunctional that:
their frequency continued to grow in later ages it seems probable that Subject and object clauses:
the literal translation of Latin constructions played a certain role in And notified is thurghout the toun
their further growth; it is also probable that some of the more compli- That every wight with greet devocioun,
cated patterns — with the passive forms of the verbals — appeared as Sholde preyen Crist that he this mariage
direct replicas of Latin constructions. With the exception of these as- Receyve in gree, and spede this viage.
pects, neither the origin of the constructions nor their growth in NE ('And it is notified throughout the town that every man should pray
can be attributed to foreign influence. Their growing productivity in to Christ with great devotion that he receive this marriage favourably
the NE period is part of the development towards more complicated and make the voyage successful.')
syntactic structures in the written forms of-the language in the ages of
Literary efflorescence. An attributive clause joined by that and which correlated with thil-
ke ('such'):
A knyght ther was and that a worthy man
Compound and Complex Sentences
That fro the tyme that he first bigan
§ 543. The growth of the written forms of English, and the advance To riden out, he loved chivalrie...
of literature in Late ME and Early NE manifested itself, among other ('There was a knight and he was a worthy man, that loved chivalry
changes, in the further development of the compound and complex sen- from the time he first began to ride out (as a knight.')
tence. Differentiation between the two types became more evident, the
That oon of hem was blynd and myghte nat see,
use of connectives — more precise. The diversity of sentence struc-
But it were with thilke eyen of his mynde
tures in Late ME and Early NE reveals considerable freedom in the na-
With whiche men seen, after that they been blynde.
ture and use of clauses. The flexibility of sentence patterns and the va-
('That one of them was blind and could not see except with such
riable use of connectives were subjected to new constraints and regula-
eyes of his mind, with which men see after they get blind.')
tions in the period of normalisation.
§ 544. The complicated hierarchical structure of the sentence in An adverbial clause of result joined by so ... that:
Late ME and also correlation of connectives inherited from OE is illus- And so ferforth she gan oure lay declare
trated by the opening stanza of Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES That she the constable, er that it was eve
(see the text in § 361). Converted, and on Crist made hym bileve.
286 287
 ('And she began to declare ("preach") our creed to such a degree vous counsels which disdayned love, and envious pride could geve unto
that she converted the governor and made him believe in Christ, before him; the wicked wretch (taking a time that Argalus was gone to his
evening came.) countrie, to fetch some of his principal frendes to honour the mariage,
which Parthenia had most joyfully consented unto), the wicked Dema­
The last two quotations contain also adverbial clauses of time intro­ goras (I say) desiring to speake with her, with ummercifull force, (her
duced by after that, er that. weake arms in vaine resisting) rubd all over her face a most horrible
An adverbial clause of manner introduced by as: poyson: the effect whereof was such, that never leaper lookt more ugly
And for to kepe his lordes hir degre — than she did: which done, having his men and horses ready, departed
As it is ryght and skylfyl that they be away in spite of her servants, as redy to revenge as they could be, in such
Enhaunsed and honoured, ... n unexpected mischiefe."
('And to maintain the rank of his lords, as it is right and reasonable § 546. The structure of the sentence was further perfected in the 18th
t h a t they should be promoted and honoured, ...') and 19th c. It suffices to say that from the 15th to 18th c. the number
Adverbial clauses of condition joined by if that and if; of coordinating connectives was almost doubled. As before, most con­
What wot I, if that Crist have hider ysent spicuous was the frequent use of and, a conjunction of a most general
My wyf by see... meaning; other conjunctions widened their meanings and new connec­
('What do I know if Christ has hither sent my wife by sea.') tives arose from various sources to express the subtle semantic relation­
ships between clauses and sentences, e. g. in consequence, in fact, to con­
And if so be that thou me fynde fals, clude, neither...nor. In the Age of Correctness the employment of connec­
Another day do hange me by the hals tives, as well as the structure of the sentence, was subjected to logical
('And if it be so that you find me false, the next day hang me by the regulation in the writings of the best stylists: J. Dryden, S. Johnson,
neck.') R. Steele, J. Addison, J. Swift, D. Defoe, and others. Their style com­
Adverbial clauses of concession joined by wher-so and though that: bined a clear order with ease and flexibility of expression, which mani­
But forth she moot, wher-so she wepe or singe. fested itself in the choice of words, grammatical forms and syntactic
('But she must (go) forth, whether she weeps or sings.') patterns.

For I ne can nat fynde The concern of I8th c. men-of-letters with language m a t t e r s is illustrated by
A man, though that I walked in-to Ynde the debate about the use of relative pronouns. In 1711 R. Steele, one of the
editors of the first English newspapers, published a letter entitled " T h e Humble
Neither in citee nor in no village. Petit ion of Who and Which", in which he claimed that the upstart that was
('For I cannot find a man, though I walked to India, either in a city ousting the older ai/i-forms. He was wrong in asserting that who and which as
relative pronouns were older than that: that was common as a relative (also as
or in a village.') a conjunctive) pronoun since the earliest periods of history, while who and which —
An adverbial clause of cause joined with the help of by way of reason and originally interrogative — turned into relative pronouns at a far later date — p r o b ­
ably in ME.
by cause that:
R. Steele objected vehemently to the use of which ' in reference to human
Than seye they ther-in swich difficultee beings and suggested that the use of that should be restricted. Other authors, who
By way of resoun, for to speke al playn, took part in the debate, agreed that a strict distinction should be made between
By cause that ther was swich diversitee who and which, and argued that whose was the Gen. of who but not of which. It is
noteworthy that the editors of Shakespeare's plays in the 18th c. (Rowe, Pope)
Bitwene her bothe lawes... made many " c o r r e c t i o n s " of the forms of pronouns: they corrected who and what
('Then they saw there such difficulty in it for the reason, to speak to which with an inanimate antecedent, emended who to whom as an interrogative
1
plainly, because there was so much difference between their two laws...') and relative pronoun in the function of object. In this way they attempted
to improve English syntax — i n line with the general tendency of 18th c. norma-
§ 545. In the 16th-17th c. the structure of the sentence became more lisators to make the language more logical and correct.
complicated, which is natural to expect in a language with a growing The development of English syntax at this stage of history — a s well as later —
and flourishing literature. The following passage from a prose romance was to a considerable extent determined by the formation and differentiation of
by Philip Sidney, one of the best authors of the Literary Renaissance, styles which is beyond the scope of this course.
shows the complex structure of the sentence:
" B u t then, Demagoras assuring himselfe, that now Parthenia was 1
her owne, she would never be his, and receiving as much by her owne The distinction between who and which recommended by 18th c. grammar­
ians has been established as a standard of " g o o d " , educated English; the recom­
determinate answere, not more desiring his owne happines, then envying mendations concerning whose and whom have not been fully observed: whose is
Argalus, whom he saw with narrow eyes, even ready to enjoy the per­ still used instead of of which and who interchanges with whom when used as an
fection of his desires; strengthening his conceite with all the mischie- object.

288 19 Расторгуева Т. A. 289