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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206 Claudia Lange & Ursula Schaefer<br />
and Finegan (1992: 689) proliferates in <strong>the</strong> EModE period and is well represented<br />
in <strong>the</strong> searchable Chadwyck-Healey English Drama Database (ChHEDD), which<br />
contains 1,224 plays <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> period under discussion. It has to be kept in mind,<br />
however, that <strong>the</strong> ChHEDD is not a balanced corpus in any strict sense of <strong>the</strong> word,<br />
nor is it possible to give anything o<strong>the</strong>r than absolute figures for <strong>the</strong> occurrences<br />
of it is I/me.<br />
A first search within <strong>the</strong> time frame given by <strong>the</strong> Helsinki Corpus subperiods for<br />
EModE was again disappointing: we found no examples for it is me and its variants<br />
in EModE 1 and just three examples in EModE 2; it is only <strong>from</strong> EModE 3 onwards<br />
that we have more than a handful of examples for it is me. We <strong>the</strong>refore extended<br />
our search to include <strong>the</strong> period <strong>from</strong> 1600 to 1800, which is represented in <strong>the</strong><br />
ChHEDD by 1,784 plays. It seems, <strong>the</strong>n, that <strong>the</strong> expression it is me was not established,<br />
or even available in sufficient quantity, at <strong>the</strong> time when <strong>the</strong> “stabilization of<br />
<strong>the</strong> state of affairs” supposedly took place. The actual figures for occurrences of it is<br />
me and related constructions are given in Table 2 below.<br />
Table 2. ClCs and IdCCs in <strong>the</strong> ChHEDD, 1600–1800<br />
Construction<br />
Total no of<br />
examples. IdCC<br />
subject<br />
ClC,<br />
Ø rel.<br />
subject<br />
ClC,<br />
+ rel.<br />
Σ<br />
subject<br />
ClCs<br />
object<br />
ClC,<br />
Ø rel.<br />
it is I 49 20 8 21 29 – –<br />
’twas I 323 81 110 128 238 1 3<br />
’tis I 627 303 212 108 320 3 1<br />
it is not I 11 1 3 7 10 – –<br />
’tis not I 13 9 – 4 4 – –<br />
is it I 9 1 – 7 7 – 1<br />
Σ 1,032 415 333 275 608 4 5<br />
object<br />
ClC,<br />
+ rel.<br />
it is me/it’s me 11 5 – 3 3<br />
it is not me 7 5 – – – 2 –<br />
’tis not me 7 4 – – – 2 1<br />
’twas not me 1 1 – – – – –<br />
not me/be me 2 19 14 – – – 4 1<br />
’tis me 37 13 – – – 21 3<br />
’twas me 15 3 – – – 12 –<br />
it was me 3 2 – – – 1 –<br />
is it me 4 – – – – 2 2<br />
Σ 104 47 – – – 36 10<br />
2. This category comprises tokens where <strong>the</strong> dummy subject it is/’tis is omitted (e.g., why<br />
not me?) and subjunctives or o<strong>the</strong>r modal expressions (e.g., if it be not me, that must be me<br />
(cf. example 21)).