TY  - BOOK
AU  - Los,Bettelou
TI  - The rise of the to-infinitive
SN  - 0199274762
AV  - PE597 .L67 2005
U1  - 427.02 22
PY  - 2005///
CY  - Oxford, New York
PB  - Oxford University Press
KW  - English language
KW  - Middle English, 1100-1500
KW  - Infinitive
KW  - Old English, ca. 450-1100
N1  - Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--1999; Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-332) and index; Part I; Introduction --; 1; Introduction --; Part II; The to-infinitive as GOAL --; 2; The Expression of Purpose in Old English --; 3; The to-infinitive as GOAL-argument --; Part III; The to-infinitive as THEME --; 4; Intention --; 5; Commanding and Permitting --; 6; Commissives --; Part IV; Syntactic Status --; 7; Introduction --; 8; The Changing Status of Infinitival to --; Part V; Changes in Middle English --; 9; The Rise of to-infinitival ECM --; 10; Innocent Bystander: The Loss of the Indefinite Pronoun man --; Part VI; Summary and Conclusions --; 11; Summary and Conclusions
N2  - "This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other nonfinite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. Dr. Los shows that, even as early as Old English, the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today. She argues that its spread was largely due to competition with subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced." "The exposition is clear and does not assume an up-to-date knowledge of generative theory. The book will appeal to the wide spectrum of scholars interested in the transformation from Old to Middle English, as well as those studying the processes and causes of syntactic change more generally."--BOOK JACKET
ER  -