Re: Language Change
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, January 9, 2000, 17:25 |
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Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> Also, I've read that in Elizabethan English, do-periphrasis was well
> on its way to becoming the unmarked construction in all kinds of
> sentences. (As in 'I do understand,' 'Do come see us,' and similar
> that now are marked and convey emphasis). That trend then reversed
> itself for indicative clauses, but went to completion for questions.
From what I've read, "do" was never all that common in simple
statements. At its peak, it was only used something like one in ten
statements.
--
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