Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
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86 Kristin Killie<br />
It is possible that Bertinetto et al.’s alternative hypo<strong>the</strong>sis about <strong>the</strong> origins of progressive<br />
constructions is closer to <strong>the</strong> truth than is <strong>the</strong>ir primary hypo<strong>the</strong>sis. It may<br />
well be true that many progressives originate as locative constructions, but judging<br />
<strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> history of <strong>the</strong> English progressive, this need not be <strong>the</strong> case. Thus, if we<br />
reformulate stage (i) so as to allow of several types of source constructions, assuming<br />
that stage (i) “constitutes an entirely independent evolutionary path”, it is possible<br />
that <strong>the</strong> English progressive has indeed undergone PROG imperfective drift,<br />
provided that <strong>the</strong> predominantly durative stage goes back to a time before written<br />
records. 13 Alternatively, <strong>the</strong> generalization in Fig. 1 may be generally correct, while<br />
<strong>the</strong> English progressive represents an aberrant development.<br />
5. Conclusion<br />
The clearest result of this corpus study is <strong>the</strong> finding that <strong>the</strong> English progressive<br />
has become increasingly focalized: while only twenty-eight percent of <strong>the</strong> Old<br />
English progressives are focalized, sixty-one percent of <strong>the</strong> Early Modern English<br />
progressives are. However, <strong>the</strong> data presented can nei<strong>the</strong>r confirm nor refute <strong>the</strong><br />
claim of Bertinetto et al. (2000) that <strong>the</strong> English progressive has undergone PROG<br />
imperfective drift. We have seen that <strong>the</strong> answer to this question to some extent<br />
depends on our definition of <strong>the</strong> process, i.e., on whe<strong>the</strong>r we presuppose that all<br />
progressives have a locative source, or whe<strong>the</strong>r we allow for multiple origins. It is<br />
doubtful whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> source of <strong>the</strong> progressive is to be found exclusively in a locative<br />
construction; most probably <strong>the</strong>re are several sources.<br />
But it is not only stage (i) in Fig. 1 which is problematic; stages (ii) and (iii)<br />
cannot be traced in <strong>the</strong> data ei<strong>the</strong>r. Durative progressives do not seem to have been<br />
frequent at any point in <strong>the</strong> written history of English. Thus, if <strong>the</strong> English progressive<br />
was ever predominantly durative, this stage must antedate <strong>the</strong> written records.<br />
This is not impossible, of course, and at least <strong>the</strong> figures suggest a decrease in <strong>the</strong><br />
use of durative progressives over time, as we would expect if <strong>the</strong> focalized progressive<br />
is indeed gradually replacing <strong>the</strong> durative progressive, becoming grammaticalized<br />
as <strong>the</strong> prototypical use of <strong>the</strong> English progressive. However, what role <strong>the</strong><br />
durative progressive has played in <strong>the</strong> history of English remains unclear. What<br />
seems clear is that narrative progressives are essentially an Old English phenomenon,<br />
while stative progressives are common in both Old and Middle English. The<br />
increased grammaticalization of <strong>the</strong> focalized progressive involves <strong>the</strong> loss of narrative<br />
progressives and decreased use of durative and stative progressives. It also<br />
involves increased use of <strong>the</strong> frame construction.<br />
13. This hypo<strong>the</strong>sis naturally does not work if one adopts <strong>the</strong> view that <strong>the</strong> beon/wesan + Vende<br />
construction was a literary phenomenon (cf. Dal 1952).