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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Subjective progressives in 7th and 8th century English 43<br />
objective (i.e., aspectual) uses of <strong>the</strong> progressive. The evidence <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> relevant<br />
section of ARCHER-2 (A Representative Corpus of Historical English Registers 2)<br />
will <strong>the</strong>n be analysed. For <strong>the</strong> present purpose, I have analysed <strong>the</strong> seventeenth<br />
and eighteenth century data of <strong>the</strong> corpus, i.e., a subsection of 57 ,887 words. 3<br />
The evidence <strong>from</strong> this corpus study will provide a clear picture of <strong>the</strong> general<br />
development of subjectification and/or objectification of <strong>the</strong> progressive in its<br />
development in <strong>the</strong> seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.<br />
. Subjective and objective meanings of <strong>the</strong> progressive<br />
<strong>from</strong> Old English to Modern English<br />
Progressives generally seem to be used for two reasons in OE: <strong>the</strong>y ei<strong>the</strong>r highlight<br />
<strong>the</strong> imperfective character of a situation or “function [...] as an index of <strong>the</strong> speaker’s<br />
emotional attitude toward <strong>the</strong> propositional content expressed” (Hübler 998: 63).<br />
Hübler offers a number of examples of OE progressives where <strong>the</strong> progressive may<br />
be understood to underline <strong>the</strong> ‘remarkableness’ of an event (Hübler 998: 70),<br />
such as in Wæs he Mellitus mid lichoman untrymnesse mid fotadle swiðe gehefigad<br />
... he glaedlice all eorðlic þing wæs oferhleapende ... “Mellitus suffered severely<br />
<strong>from</strong> bodily infirmity ... , but still, ..., he surmounted with alacrity all earthly<br />
obstacles ...” (Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, 6, 30: example and translation <strong>from</strong><br />
Hübler 998: 69). Although <strong>the</strong>re can be little doubt that <strong>the</strong> progressive had subjective<br />
meanings in OE, it is problematic to consider <strong>the</strong> subjective function as its<br />
core function. Hübler’s ( 998: 86–89) argumentation in favour of this view is not<br />
convincing. He recognizes <strong>the</strong> fact that OE progressives were also used to express<br />
time-frame but claims that <strong>the</strong>se uses are distributionally different <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> progressives<br />
expressing speaker attachment, which he understands as <strong>the</strong> main function<br />
of <strong>the</strong> progressive in OE. But a brief look at OE instances, e.g., those adduced<br />
in Nickel ( 966), shows that aspectual and attitudinal meanings actually coincide<br />
in a number of examples. Nickel expresses <strong>the</strong> contrary position to Hübler: he<br />
believes that a subjective element may be observed in individual examples, but<br />
that this is by no means a systematic function (Nickel 966: 237). According to<br />
him, <strong>the</strong>re is ra<strong>the</strong>r a strong indication that imperfectivity was <strong>the</strong> distinguishing<br />
3. ARCHER-2 altoge<strong>the</strong>r includes nearly 2.5 million words of British and American English,<br />
covering different text types <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> timespan 600– 999. The corpus was accessed in June<br />
2005 at <strong>the</strong> University of Heidelberg. At <strong>the</strong> time, <strong>the</strong> American English part of <strong>the</strong> corpus<br />
only covered later periods, so that <strong>the</strong> data used for <strong>the</strong> present study only consists of British<br />
English.