원문정보
초록
영어
This paper is designed to show the diachronic syntactic changes from Old English (OE) to Present-day English (PE) by noting such changes in English Bible versions from the Anglo-Saxon Version of 995 A.D. (AS) (OE) through the Wycliffe Version of 1389 A.D. (Wycliffe) (Middle English (ME)) and the Tyndale Version of 1526 A.D. (Tyndale) (Early Modern English (ENE)) to the New International Version of 2011 A.D. (NIV) (PE). I take the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) as a specific illustrative example. The focus is on word order, with particular reference to Verb-2(Second), reflexivization, impersonal construction (null-subject parameter), and tenses employed (preterit vs. present perfect, and simple present vs. future tense). I find the diachronic syntactic changes in the English language result from parameter resetting mediated by markedness. For example, concerning the tenses, in OE, the present and future tenses were in free variation, and the preterit and present perfect were in free variation with ambiguity. The present tense signified future as well as present, and the preterit signified present perfect as well as past. By AVOID AMBIGUITY PARAMETER, the present and preterit tenses, which were ambiguous, became marked and were then replaced by future and present perfect, respectively.
목차
II. Diachronic Syntactic Changes in English
1. Diachronic changes of English word order from OE to PE
2. Impersonal constructions (Null-subject parameter resetting)
3. Reflexivization
4. Diachronic Changes of Tense: Future, Preterit, and Present Perfect
III. Conclusion
Works Cited
Abstract
