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HISTORY OF THE INFINITIVE IN ENGLISH

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Date Issued:
1974
Summary:
This thesis is a comparison of Old English infinitives with present day English infinitive forms. The comparisons in this thesis provide insight into historical differences and developments involving the infinitive. One of the most obvious differences between Old English and present day English is the variety of Old English word orders; the evidence shows different patterns of interrogative and declarative subject-verb inversions, as well as adverb, adjective and object placement when the infinitive without to was used. With the exception of the interrogatives, the tendency in present day English is to have the modal or verb follow the subject and precede the infinitive. In comparing the uses of Old English verbs that cannot take the to + infinitive with those of present day English that must, it is evident that the to + infinitive structure is now much more common in sentences. One can assume that the present day preference for the to + infinitive after main verbs, with the exception of modal auxiliaries, has grown out of the Old English use of the inflected infinitive with to.
Title: HISTORY OF THE INFINITIVE IN ENGLISH.
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Name(s): HARPER, VIRGINIA E.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Faraci, Mary, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1974
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 53 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This thesis is a comparison of Old English infinitives with present day English infinitive forms. The comparisons in this thesis provide insight into historical differences and developments involving the infinitive. One of the most obvious differences between Old English and present day English is the variety of Old English word orders; the evidence shows different patterns of interrogative and declarative subject-verb inversions, as well as adverb, adjective and object placement when the infinitive without to was used. With the exception of the interrogatives, the tendency in present day English is to have the modal or verb follow the subject and precede the infinitive. In comparing the uses of Old English verbs that cannot take the to + infinitive with those of present day English that must, it is evident that the to + infinitive structure is now much more common in sentences. One can assume that the present day preference for the to + infinitive after main verbs, with the exception of modal auxiliaries, has grown out of the Old English use of the inflected infinitive with to.
Identifier: 13685 (digitool), FADT13685 (IID), fau:10519 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1974.
Subject(s): English language--Infinitive
English language--Grammar, Historical
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13685
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.