Why a Determiner? The Possessive + Determiner + Adjective Construction in Old English

Cynthia L. Allen*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    There is debate on the existence of a determiner (as opposed to specifically demonstrative) category in Old English. A major reason for this is the fact that determiners could co-occur with possessives in this early stage. This chapter reports some results from an investigation into the properties of one of the constructions where such co-occurrence is found and shows that a consideration of information structure is essential in any attempt to understand its use. It begins with a comparison of two possible combinations of possessives and determiners in Old English generally. In the first, the determiner precedes the possessive; and in the second the possessive precedes the determiner, and there is always an adjective present. The chapter focuses on a comparison of this second Poss(essive) + Det(erminer) + Adj(ective) sequence (Poss Det Adj) and the factors which favored its use instead of the Poss(essive) + Adj(ective) combination, in which no determiner accompanies the possessive (Poss Adj).

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationInformation Structure and Syntactic Change in the History of English
    PublisherOxford University Press
    ISBN (Electronic)9780199949601
    ISBN (Print)9780199860210
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2012

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