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The Development of the English Progressive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2007

K. Aaron Smith
K. Aaron Smith
Affiliation:
Illinois State University
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Abstract

Invoking findings from studies on the grammaticization of tense/aspect meanings, I argue that semantic reconstruction of the Present Day English progressive from an often cited Old English construction (beon + PAP) is semantically very unlikely. Instead I argue for a reconstruction of the progressive from a locative construction source of the type, be on hunting. However, as I also show, there is a kind of formal relationship between the present-day English progressive and the OE construction that was encouraged by the prescriptions and proscriptions of the Early Modern English grammarians. Thus, by paying attention to both semantic and formal aspects of the development of the progressive, I provide a clearer picture of its historical reconstruction.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 205 - 241
Copyright
© 2007 Society for Germanic Linguistics

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