Collocational and idiomatic aspects of composite predicates in the history of English

✍ Scribed by Laurel J Brinton; Minoji Akimoto

• Publisher: J. Benjamins Pub. Co
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 300
• Series: Studies in language companion series, v. 47
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The focus of this carefully selected volume concerns the existence, frequency, and form of composite/complex predicates (the "take a look" construction) in earlier periods of the English language, an area of scholarship which has been virtually neglected. The various contributions seek to understand the collocational and idiomatic aspects of these structures, as well as of related structures such as complex prepositions (e.g., "on account of") and phrasal verbs (e.g., "look up"), in their earliest manifestations. Moreover, study of these constructions at the individual stages of English leads. Read more...

✦ Table of Contents

Content: COLLOCATIONAL AND IDIOMATIC ASPECTS OF COMPOSITE PREDICATES IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH; Editorial page; Title page; LCC data; Table of contents; Preface; CHAPTER 1. Introduction; CHAPTER 2. The Origin of the Composite Predicate in Old English; CHAPTER 3. Composite Predicates in Middle English; CHAPTER 4. Composite Predicates and Phrasal Verbs in The Paston Letters; CHAPTER 5. Verbal Phrases and Phrasal Verbs in Early Modern English; CHAPTER 6. Collocational and Idiomatic Aspects of Verbs in Early Modern English: A corpus-based study of MAKE, HAVE, GIVE, TA.
Abstract:

The analysis of complex verbs, phrasal verbs and complex prepositions carried out in this volume demonstrates the interrelations among grammaticalization, lexicalization and idiomization. The text also argues that the synchronic and diachronic sides of language complement each other. Read more...