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

Emotion verbs with to-infinitive complements 2 9
looking at data for all matrix verbs followed by a to-infinitive, it is clear that in Late
Modern English to-infinitive complement constructions could be used to encode
situations located prior to the time of the matrix verb and situations occurring at
the same time as the matrix verb. Neither of these functions is carried out by the
to-infinitive construction in Present-day English. Fanego ( 996) points out that
the backward-looking construction containing verbs such as remember followed
by a perfect infinitive is “no longer acceptable today, but was in use in Modern
English [. . .] and can even be found in texts dating back to the middle of the twentieth
century” (Fanego 996: 75). The evidence of the present paper points to a
similar direction of change in the case of same-time predications with the four
verbs under study. In both these cases the function formerly served by to-infinitive
complements has been assumed by -ing complement constructions. In Present-day
English the to-infinitive in complement constructions serves just three functions. It
is now restricted to the encoding of predications in the projected-future, judgements
(opinions) on the part of the subject, and general validity predications.
References
Primary
BNC: British National Corpus (200 ). Oxford: Oxford University Computing Services.
CLMET: see De Smet, Hendrik and Hubert Cuyckens (2005).
CETCT: The works contained in CETCT were all downloaded from Project Gutenberg. They are
listed here with the dates of birth of the authors and dates of publication.
Christie, Agatha (b. 890). The Mysterious Affair at Styles ( 920).
Colum, Padraic (b. 88 ). The King of Ireland’s Son (1916), The Adventures of Odysseus and the
Tales of Troy (1918), The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who lived before Achilles ( 92 ).
Dalton, Hugh (b. 887). With British Guns in Italy ( 9 9).
Dell, Ethel M. (b. 887). The Way of an Eagle ( 9 ), The Knave of Diamonds ( 9 2), The Bars
of Iron ( 9 6).
Ervine, St. John (b. 883). The Foolish Lovers ( 920).
Joyce, James (b. 882). Dubliners ( 9 4), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ( 9 6).
Keynes, J.M. (b. 883). The Economic Consequences of the Peace ( 920).
Lawrence, D.H. (b. 885). Sons and Lovers ( 9 3), Women in Love ( 920).
Lofting, Hugh (b. 886). Doctor Doolittle ( 920), Voyages of Doctor Doolittle ( 922).
MacKenzie, Compton (b. 883). The Altar Steps ( 922).
O’Kelly, Seumas (b. 88 ). Waysiders ( 9 8).
Peet, T. Eric (b. 882). Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders ( 9 2).
Ransome, Arthur (b. 884). Old Peter’s Russian Tales ( 9 6), Six weeks in Russia in 1919 ( 9 9),
The Crisis in Russia ( 920).
Rawlinson, A.E.J. (b. 884). Religious Reality ( 9 8).
Redgrove, H. Stanley (b. 887). Bygone Beliefs ( 9 9).
Rohmer, Sax (b. 883). The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu ( 9 3), The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu
( 9 6), The Quest of the Sacred Slipper ( 9 9).