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Article published In: NOWELE
Vol. 78:2 (2025) ► pp.178–215

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‘Busked hem redy boun’: Integrating Norse‑derived busken into the class of ‘prepare’ verbs in medieval English

ORCiD logo with link | University of Mannheim
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

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Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Mannheim.

Published online: 11 December 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.00099.elt
Abstract
This paper advances a recent line of inquiry investigating how loan verbs are assigned argument structure in the replica language and whether lexical copying may effect changes in argument structure. It delineates how Middle English busken ‘prepare’ (< Old Norse reflexivised búa-sk) is assigned argument structure in the replica language both by copying from the model language and by assignment from near-synonyms in the replica language as a mixed copy. A comparative qualitative corpus study of the structural integration of busken and the diachronic development of its native near-synonyms in Old and Middle English shows how cognacy of linguistic units and structures, and mutual intelligibility between the languages in contact influence the lexical and, more importantly, structural outcomes of contact.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Anglo-Scandinavian contact: Prior research and considerations
  • 3.Contact-induced change in verb argument structure
  • 4.The integration of Norse-derived lexemes into the set of medieval English ‘prepare’ verbs: The case of ME busken
    • 4.1Data and methodology
      • 4.1.1Verb class compilation and data extraction
      • 4.1.2Data annotation and analysis
    • 4.2Results of the item-oriented study
    • 4.3Results of the class-oriented study
      • 4.3.1‘Prepare’ verbs in OE
      • 4.3.2‘Prepare’ verbs in ME
      • 4.3.3Comparative results: Etymological and diachronic differences in the argument structure of English ‘prepare’ verbs
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Integration of Norse-derived ‘busken’
    • 5.2Loan verb integration effects on the verb class
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (62)
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