Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang

130 Richard Ingham & Kleanthes K. Grohmann
Finally, the subject may occur in absolute clause-final position and be separated
from the non-finite verb by an adjunct. Relevant data are provided in (8):
(8) a. … and ther whas hangyd round abowt him all his instrumentes wich were
take with him. Cleop. 148 (1441)
b. There was redde among theym certeyne articles and poyntys that …
Gough 161 (1461)
c. Also in Aprill was set vpon the pillery in Cornhill ij men for forging of false
lettirs. Vitell. 205 (1495)
We shall refer to this type as ‘extraposed subjects’, noting that they typically involve
heavy subject constituents.
On the basis of the above classification, it is interesting to note that PFM
increases across time in embraciated and late subject contexts only, as seen
in Table 2 (for occurrences up to 1450) and Table 3 (for the period from 1451
to 1503):
Table 2. Clauses with auxiliaries in Bale, Bradf., Cleop., Greg., Jul., Lamb., Vitell. up to 1450
Embraciated Total
was
Late subject
2 were 37 39
was
Extraposition
5 were 25 30
was 10 were 9 19
Total 17 (19.3%) 71 (80.7%) 88
Table 3. Clauses with auxiliaries in Gough, Lamb., Vitell. chronicles 1451–1503
Embraciated Total
was
Late subject
16 were 8 24
was
Extraposition
14 were 6 20
was 6 were 9 15
Total 36 (61.0%) 23 (39.0%) 59
Why there was no increase in PFM in extraposed subject contexts between the two
periods is an interesting issue, to which we return below. Admittedly, the numbers
are relatively small, but the sharp increase in the other two contexts is very striking
and seems to us unlikely to be simply an artefact of small numbers.