Studies in the history of the English language VI : evidence and method in histories of English

The relationships among data, evidence, and methodology in English historical linguistics are perennially vexed. This volume– which ranges chronologically from Old to Present-Day English and from manuscripts to corpora– challenges a wide variety of assumptions and practices and illustrates how diverse methods and approaches construct evidence for historical linguistic arguments from an increasingly large and diverse body of linguistic data. Contents Introduction: Evidence and method in the historical study of English Part I: Corpora, evidence, method The development of free adjuncts in English and Dutch Semantic dependencies and the history of ellipsis alternation The phrasal verb in American English: Using corpora to track down historical trends in particle distribution, register variation, and noun collocations On the grammaticalization of the thing is and related issues in the history of American English Alfredian īo ~ ēo, reluctant function words, and Schriftbilder Part II: Reconfiguring History: Overlooked evidence of English Metrical resolution, spelling, and the reconstruction of Old English syllabification The shortest history of vowel lengthening in English Vowel system restructuring in the West Midlands of England Style and politics in The Battle of Brunanburh and The Battle of Maldon Trinitarian terminology in Old English liturgical creeds Part III: Emerging paradigms: New methods, new evidence Ælc þara þe þas min word gehierþ and þa wyrcþ ... : Psycholinguistic perspectives on early Englishes Complex systems and the history of the English language An ideological history of the English term onomatopoeia Name index Subject index The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies, which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics. For further publications in English linguistics see also our Dialects of English book series. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Natalie Fecher. The relationships among data, evidence, and methodology in English historical linguistics are perennially vexed. This book challenges a wide variety of assumptions and practices and illustrates how diverse methods and approaches construct evidence for historical linguistic arguments from an increasingly large and diverse body of linguistic data.