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In:English Historical Linguistics: Change in structure and meaning
Edited by Bettelou Los, Claire Cowie, Patrick Honeybone and Graeme Trousdale
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 358] 2022
► pp. 137–162

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Chapter 6
The role of (the avoidance of) centre embedding in the change from OV to VO in English

ORCiD logo with link | University of Oviedo
Published online: 2 February 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.358.06lor
Abstract
Authors from Colman (1988) to Ogura (2001, 2004) have discussed the role of Relative Clause Extraposition as a means to avoid centre-embedded structures in Old English, and its relevance as a factor in the change from OV to VO word order, but to date no study has addressed the full extent to which clausal embedding is allowed in Old English, the contexts for its application or its quantitative limits. Based on an extensive corpus analysis, this paper provides evidence about the factors (both language internal and external) that interact in the generation of centre-embedded structures in Old English while providing a reassessment of the role the avoidance of this kind of structures played in the change from OV to VO.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data, corpus and data retrieval
    • 2.1Database
    • 2.2Methodology
    • 2.3Corpus and data retrieval
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Single centre embedding
      • 3.1.1External factors
      • 3.1.2Internal factors
    • 3.2Multiple centre embedding
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Los, Bettelou
2025. Historical Syntax. In The New Cambridge History of the English Language, ► pp. 545 ff. DOI logo

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