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In:Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English
Edited by Peter Petré, Hubert Cuyckens and Frauke D'hoedt
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 343] 2018
► pp. 201–226

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Chapter 9
Betwixt, amongst, and amidst

The diachronic development of function words with final /st/

Published online: 4 July 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.343.09hot
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to examine, using historical corpora, the diachronic development of variants of the function words between, among, and amid with emphasis on the variants with final /st/, i.e. betwixt, amongst, and amidst. In Present-day English, the variants with final /st/ have a more formal, literary, or archaic ring to them than their counterparts without it. In older English, however, the former variants were more widely used than they are today. This paper addresses how individual variants – especially ones with final /st/ – came into being, how they competed with one another in terms of frequency in each period, and how this resulted in the Present-day English distribution.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Between
    • 2.1Etymological notes and historical overview based on the HC
    • 2.2Period-by-period description
    • 2.3Historical summary of between
  • 3. among
    • 3.1Etymological notes and historical overview based on the HC
    • 3.2Period-by-period description
    • 3.3Historical summary of among
  • 4. amid
    • 4.1Etymological notes and historical overview based on the HC
    • 4.2Period-by-period description
    • 4.3Historical summary of amid
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Proposed accounts of final t
    • 5.2Paragoge
    • 5.3Word boundary morphonology
    • 5.4Semantic association with the superlative
    • 5.5Small lexical group of function words
    • 5.6Accounting for the decline of the types with /st/
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (22)
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