1.5. Development of subjunctive mood forms from oe to MnE

The outline of the problem discussed

1. Development of the analytical forms in the English language.

2. New forms of the Subjunctive Mood.

1. In the course of language development the grammatical system of English

underwent profound alteration. Since the OE period the very grammatical type of the

language has changed; from what can be defined as a synthetic or inflected language,

with a well developed morphology English has been transformed into a language of

the “analytical type", with analytical forms and ways of word connection prevailing

over synthetic ones. This does not mean, however that the grammatical changes were

rapid or sudden; nor does it imply that all grammatical features were in a state of

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perpetual change. Like the development of other linguistic levels, the history of

English grammar was a complex evolutionary process made up of stable and

changeable constituents. Some grammatical characteristics remained absolutely or

relatively stable; others were subjected to more or less extensive modification.

The division of words into parts of speech has proved to be one of the most

permanent characteristics of the language. Through all the periods of history English

preserved the distinctions between the following parts of speech: the noun, the

adjective, the pronoun, the numeral, the verb, the adverb, the preposition, the

conjunction, and the interjection. The only new part of speech was the article which

split from the pronouns in Early ME.

Between the 10th and the 16th c., that is from Late OE to Early NE the ways of

building up grammatical forms underwent considerable changes. In OE all the forms

which can be included into morphological paradigms were synthetic. In ME and

Early NE, grammatical forms could also be built in the analytical way, with the help

of auxiliary words. The proportion of synthetic forms in the language has become

very small, for in the meantime many of the old synthetic forms have been lost and

no new synthetic forms have developed.

In the synthetic forms of the ME and Early NE periods, few as those forms

were, the means of form-building were the same as in OE: inflections, sound

interchanges and suppletion; only prefixation, namely the prefix Ґe-, which was

commonly used in OE to mark Participle II, went out of use in Late ME.

Suppletive form-building was confined to a few words, mostly surviving from

OE and even earlier periods.

Sound interchanges, an important grammatical marker in the OE period, were

not productive any more, though they did not die out: they still occurred in many

verbs, some adjectives and nouns; moreover, a number of new interchanges arose in

Early ME in some groups of verbs. Nevertheless, their application in the language,

and their weight among other means was generally reduced.

Inflections — or grammatical suffixes and endings - continued to be used in all

the inflected ("changeable") parts of speech. It is notable, however, that as compared

with the OE period they became less varied. As mentioned before, the OE period of

history has been described as a period of “full endings", ME —as a period of

"levelled endings" and NE – as a period of “lost endings" (H. Sweet). In OE there

existed a variety of distinct endings differing in consonants as well as in vowels. In

ME all the vowels in the endings were reduced to the neutral [c] and many

consonants were levelled under -n or dropped. The process of levelling — besides

phonetic weakening — implies replacement of inflections by analogy, e.g. -(e)s as a

marker of plural forms of nouns displaced the endings -(e)n and -e. In the transition

to NE most of the grammatical endings were dropped.

The analytical way of form-building was a new device, which developed in

Late OE and ME and came to occupy a most important place in the grammatical

system. Analytical forms developed from free word groups (phrases, syntactical

constructions). The first component of these phrases gradually weakened or even lost

its lexical meaning and turned into a grammatical marker, while the second

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component retained its lexical meaning and acquired a new grammatical value in the

compound form.

The growth of analytical forms of the verb is a common Germanic tendency,

though it manifested itself a long time after Proto-Germanic split into separate

languages. The beginnings of these changes are dated in Late OE and in ME. The

growth of compound forms from free verb phrases was a long and complicated

process which extended over many hundred years and included several kinds of

changes.

A genuine analytical verb form must have a stable structural pattern different

from the patterns of verb phrases; it must consist of several component parts: an

auxilliary verb, sometimes two or three auxilliary verbs, e.g. NE would have been

taken – which serve as a grammatical marker, and a non-finite form – Infinitive or

Participle, - which serves as a grammatical marker and expresses the lexical meaning

of the form. The analytical form should be idiomatic: its meaning is not equivalent to

the sum of meanings of the component parts. The development of these properties is

known as the process of “grammatisation". Some verb phrases have been completely

grammatised, e.g. the Perfect forms. Some of them have not been fully grammatised

to this day and are not regarded as ideal analytical forms in modern grammars (for

instance, the Future tense).

In order to become a member of a grammatical category and a paradigm the

new form had to acquire another important quality: a specific meaning of its own

which would be contrasted to the meaning of its opposite member within the

grammatical category (in the same way as e. g. Past is opposed to Present or plural is

opposed to singular). It was only at the later stages of development that such semantic

oppositions were formed. Originally the verb phrases and the new compound forms

were used as synonyms (or "near synonyms") of the old synthetic forms; gradually

the semantic differences between the forms grew: the new forms acquired a specific

meaning while the application of the old forms was narrowed. It was also essential

that the new analytical forms should be used unrestrictedly in different varieties of the

language and should embrace verbs of different lexical meanings.

The establishment of an analytical form in the verb system is confirmed by the

spread of its formal pattern in the verb paradigm. Compound forms did not spring up

simultaneously in all the parts of the verb system: an analytical form appeared in

some part of the system and from there its pattern extended to other parts. Thus the

perfect forms first arose in the Past and Present tense of the Indicative Mood in the

Active Voice and from there spread to the Subjunctive Mood, the Passive Voice, the

non-finite verb.

2. In OE the forms of the Subjunctive Mood, like other forms of the verb, were

synthetic. In the course of ME and Early NE there sprang up several new analytical

forms of the Subjunctive Mood. The sources of the new forms as well as the ways of

their development are in many respects similar to those of the Future tense.

In ME the formal distinctions between the Subjunctive and Indicative Moods

were to a large extent neutralised. The increased homonymy of the forms stimulated

the more extensive use of modal phrases, indicating imaginary and probable actions.

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In OE modal phrases consisting of sculan, willan, ma Ґan and an Infinitive

were commonly used to indicate future actions; if the modal verb had the form of the

Subjunctive — Present or Past, — the meanings of the phrase approached that of the

Subjunctive Mood of the notional verb, with some additional shades of modality,

belonging to the modal verbs.

In ME many more modal phrases of similar meaning came into use, with

biden, deignen, granten, leten (NE bid, deign, grant, let) and others as their first

components; but sholde and wolde outnumbered the other verbs. Modal phrases

expressing problematic and imaginary actions occur in the works of Chaucer and his

contemporaries along with the old synthetic forms.

ME sholde and wolde could weaken or even lose their lexical meanings and

turn into auxiliaries. By the age of Shakespeare the change was complete and the

forms should/would — originally Past Subjunctive of shall and will — had become

formal markers of the new, analytical forms of the Subjunctive Mood.

The use of should and would as mood auxiliaries was supported by the parallel

development of shall and will as the auxiliaries of the Future tense. The rules

prescribing the distribution of shall and will according to person applied also to

should and would. Consequently, in the course of the 18th and 19th c. should became

the dominant auxiliary for the 1st person, would — for the 2nd and 3rd; those were

the rules of correct usage in Standard British English. At the same time, similarly

with will and shall, would and –‘d tended to replace should. The replacement has

been completed in American English and is still going on in British English, perhaps,

under American influence.

The development of the new forms of the Subjunctive Mood was accompanied

by important changes in the use of forms — both synthetic and analytical — and by

certain modifications in their meanings.

On the whole, as compared with OE, the use of the Subjunctive Mood became

more restricted: gradually it fell out of use in indirect speech.

As the frequency of the forms with should and would grew, the employment

of the old synthetic forms became more restricted. In Early NE, the new analytical

forms did not differ from the synthetic forms in meanings and usage and were

interchangeable practically.

It was not until the end of the 18th c. that the modern differentiation in the

usage of synthetic and analytical forms was established.

As compared with OE, the meanings of the tenses in the Subjunctive Mood

underwent some alterations. In ME and Early NE the Past tense acquired a new

function: to indicate a present or future action presented as imaginary or unreal. The

Present tense of the Subjunctive Mood expressed probable or problematic actions

referred to the future, or, less frequently, to the present; it was most common in

adverbial clauses of condition.

At the time of Shakespeare the modal difference between the forms became

even more distinct.

In order to indicate improbable events in the past, a new set of forms came to

be used: the Past Perfect forms which did not differ from the forms of the Indicative

Mood.

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Similar semantic differences developed in the system of the new analytical

forms: should/would plus the Indefinite Infinitive indicated a simultaneous or

subsequent action of problematic or imaginary character, while should/would with

the Perfect infinitive presented a past or a preceding improbable event.

1.6. THE ROLE OF THE FOREIGN ELEMENT AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

The outline of the problem discussed

1. Old English borrowings.

1.1. Latin borrowings.

1.2. Celtic borrowings.

2. External means of enriching vocabulary in Middle English.

2.1. Scandinavian borrowings.

2.2. French borrowings.

3. External means of enriching vocabulary in New English.

3.1. Early New English borrowings.

3.2. Late New English borrowings.

1. Old English borrowings

As we understand, borrowings into a language are a result of contacts with

other nations. The Germanic tribes had but few contacts with other nations at the

beginning of A.D., consequently the number of borrowed words in Old English was

not great. The main borrowings that we can single out in Old English were Latin and

Celtic borrowings.

1.1. The first Latin borrowings entered the language before the Germanic tribes

of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians invaded the British Isles, i.e. at the time when

they still lived on the continent. Due to trade relations with their southern powerful

neighbour — the Roman empire — Germanic tribes learned a number of products

that had been unknown to then, and, consequently, their names. So the first stratum

of borrowings are mainly words connected with trade. Many of them are preserved in

Modem English, such as: pound, inch, pepper, cheese, wine, apple, pear, plum, etc.

The second stratum of words was composed of loan Latin words that the

Germanic tribes borrowed already on British soil from the romanized Celts, whom

they had conquered in the 5th century. Those were words connected with building and

architecture, as the preserved nowadays: tile, street, wall, mill, etc. They denoted

objects which the Germanic invaders encountered on the British Isles.

The third stratum of Latin loan words was composed of words borrowed after

the introduction of the Christian religion. They are generally of a religious nature,

such as the present-day words: bishop, devil, apostle, monk.

As Latin was the language of learning at the time, some words that were not

directly connected with religion, such as master, school, palm, lion, tiger, plant,

astronomy, etc., also entered the language.

1.2. The Celtic language left very few traces in the English language, because

the Germanic conquerors partly exterminated the local population, partly drove them

away to the less fertile mountainous parts of the country, where they were not within.

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reach of the invaders. The Celtic-speaking people who remained on the territory

occupied by the Germanic tribes were slaves, and even those were not very

numerous. It is small wonder therefore that the number of Celtic loan words was

limited. Among the few borrowed words we can mention: down (the downs of

Dover), binn (bin - basket, crib, manger). Some Celtic roots are preserved in

geographical names, such as: kil (church — Kilbrook), ball (house— Ballantrae), esk

(water — river Esk) and some others.

2. The principal means of enriching vocabulary in Middle English are external

— borrowings. Two languages in succession enriched the vocabulary of the English

language of the time — the Scandinavian language and the French language, the

nature of the borrowings and their amount reflecting the conditions of the contacts

between the English and these languages.

2.1. The Scandinavian invasion and the subsequent settlement of the

Scandinavians on the territory of England, the constant contacts and intermixture of

the English and the Scandinavians brought about many changes in different spheres

of the English language: wordstock, grammar and phonetics. Due to contacts between

the Scandinavians and the English-speaking people many words were borrowed from

the Scandinavian language, for example:

Nouns: law, fellow, sky, skirt, skill, skin, egg, anger, awe, bloom, knife, root,

bull, cake, husband, leg, wing, guest, loan, race

Adjectives: big, week, wrong, ugly, twin

Verbs: call, cast, take, happen, scare, hail, want, bask, gape, kindle

Pronouns: they, them, their; and many others.

The conditions and the consequences of various borrowings were different.

1. Sometimes the English language borrowed a word for which it had no

synonym. These words were simply added to the vocabulary. Examples: law, fellow.

2. The English synonym was ousted by the borrowing. Thus, Scandinavian

taken (to take) and callen (to call) ousted the English synonyms niman and clypian,

respectively.

3. Both the words, the English and the corresponding Scandinavian, are

preserved, but they became different in meaning. Compare Modern English native

words and Scandinavian borrowings:

Native Scandinavian borrowing

heaven sky

starve die

4. Sometimes a borrowed word and an English word are etymological doublets,

as words originating from the same source in Common Germanic.

Native Scandinavian borrowing

shirt skirt

shatter scatter

raise rear

5. Sometimes an English word and its Scandinavian doublet were the same in

meaning but slightly different phonetically, and the phonetic form of the

Scandinavian borrowing is preserved in the English language, having ousted the

English counterpart. For example, Modern English to give, to get come from the

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Scandinavian gefa, geta, which ousted the English Ґiefan and Ґietan, respectively.

Similar Modern English words are gift, forget, guild, gate, again.

6. There may be a shift of meaning. Thus, the word dream originally meant

"joy, pleasure"; under the influence of the related Scandinavian word it developed its

modern meaning.

2.2. It stands to reason that the Norman conquest and the subsequent history of

the country left deep traces in the English language, mainly in the form of borrowings

in words connected with such spheres of social and political activity where Frenchspeaking

Normans had occupied for a long time all places of importance. For

example:

— government and legislature: government, noble, baron, prince, duke, court,

justice, judge, crime, prison, condemn, sentence, parliament, etc.

— military life: army, battle, peace, banner, victory, general, colonel,

lieutenant, major, etc.

— religion: religion,sermon, prey, saint, charity

— city crafts: painter, tailor, carpenter (but country occupations remained

English: shepherd, smith)

— pleasure and entertainment: music, art, feast, pleasure, leisure, supper,

dinner, pork, beef, mutton (but the corresponding names of domestic animals

remained English: pig, cow, sheep)

— words of everyday life: air, place, river, large, age, boil, branch, brush,

catch, chain, chair, table, choice, cry, cost

— relationship: aunt, uncle, nephew, cousin.

The place of the French borrowings within the English language was different:

1. A word may be borrowed from the French language to denote notions

unknown to the English up to the time: government, parliament, general, colonel, etc.

2. The English synonym is ousted by the French borrowing:

English French

micel large

here army

‘a river

3. Both the words are preserved, but they are stylistically different:

English French

to begin to commence

to work to labour

to leave to abandon

life existence

look regard

ship vessel

As we see, the French borrowing is generally more literary or even bookish,

.the English word - a common one; but sometimes the English word is more literary.

Compare: foe (native, English) — enemy (French borrowing).

4. Sometimes the English language borrowed many words with the same wordbuilding

affix. The meaning of the affix in this case became clear to the Englishspeaking

people. It entered the system of word-building means of the English

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language, and they began to add it to English words, thus forming word-hybrids. For

instance, the suffix -ment entered the language within such words as "government",

"parliament", "agreement", but later there appeared such English-French hybrids as:

fulfilment, amazement. The suffix -ance/-ence, which was an element of such

borrowed words as "innocence", "ignorance", "repentance", now also forms wordhybrids,

such as hindrance.

A similar thing: French borrowings "admirable", "tolerable", "reasonable", but

also: readable, eatable, unbearable.

5. One of the consequences of the borrowings from French was the appearance

of etymological doublets.

— from the Common Indo-European:

native borrowed

fatherly paternal

— from the Common Germanic:

native borrowed

yard garden

ward guard

choose choice

— from Latin:

earlier later

(Old English) (Middle English)

borrowing borrowing

mint money

inch ounce

6. Due to the great number of French borrowings there appeared in the English

language such families of words, which though similar in their root meaning, are

different in origin:

native borrowed

mouth oral

sun solar

see vision

7. There are calques on the French phrase:

It's no doubt - Ce n'est pas doute

Without doubt - Sans doute

Out of doubt - Hors de doute.

3. Very many new words appear in New English due to borrowing. It is

necessary to say here that the process of borrowing, the sources of loan words, the

nature of the new words is different from Middle English and their appearance in the

language cannot be understood unless sociolinguistic factors are taken into

consideration.

Chronologically speaking, New English borrowings may be subdivided into

borrowings of the Early New English period — XV—XVII centuries, the period

preceeding the establishment of the literary norm, and loan words which entered the

25

language after the establishment of the literary norm — in the XVIII—XX centuries,

the period which is generally alluded to as late New English.

3.1. Borrowings into the English language in the XV—XVII centuries are

primarily due to political events and also to the cultural and. trade relations between

the English people and peoples in other countries. Thus, in the XV century — the

epoch of Renaissance, many words borrowed from the Italian tongue appeared in the

English language: cameo, archipelago, dilettante, fresco, violin, balcony, gondola,

grotto, volcano; in the XVI century — Spanish and Portuguese words, such as:

armada, negro, tornado, mosquito, renegade, matador, and also Latin (the language

of culture of the time), for instance:

— verbs, with the characteristic endings -ate, -ute: aggravate, abbreviate,

exaggerate, frustrate, separate, irritate, contribute, constitute, persecute, prosecute,

execute, etc.,

— adjectives ending in -ant, -ent, -ior, -al: arrogant, reluctant, evident,

obedient, superior, inferior, senior, junior, dental, cordial, filial.

As a result of numerous Latin borrowings at the time there appeared many

etymological doublets:

Latin

strictum

(direct) strict strait (through French)

factum

fact feat

In the XVII century due to relations with the peoples of America such words

were borrowed as: canoe, maize, potato, tomato, tobacco, mahogany, cannibal,

hammock, squaw, moccasin, wigwam, etc.

French borrowings — after the Restoration: ball, ballet, billet, caprice,

coquette, intrigue, fatigue, naive.

3.2. Late New English borrowings (XYI1I—XX centuries)

— German: kindergarten, waltz, wagon, boy, girl

— French: magazine, machine, garage, police, engine

—Indian: bungalow, jungle, indigo

— Chinese: coolie, tea

—Arabic: caravan, divan, alcohol, algebra, coffee, bazaar, orange, cotton,

candy, chess

—Australian: kangaroo, boomerang, lubra

—Russian. Before the October Revolution the borrowings from the Russian

language were mainly words reflecting Russian realia of the time: borzoi, samovar,

tsar, verst, taiga, etc. After the Revolution words that testified to the political role of

this country in the world entered the English language, such as: Soviet, bolshevik,

kolkhoz. Cultural and technical achievements are reflected in such borrowings as:

26

sputnik, lunnik, lunokhod, synchrophasotron and recently such political terms as:

glasnost, perestroika.

In New English there also appeared words formed on the basis of Greek and

Latin vocabulary. They are mainly scientific or technical terms, such as: telephone,

telegraph, teletype, telefax, microphone, sociology, politology, electricity, etc.

LITERATURE

1. Аракин В.Д. История английского языка: Учеб. пособие для студентов пед.

ин-тов по спец. № 2103 «Иностранные языки». – М.: Просвещение, 1985. –

256 с.

2. Иванова И.П., Беляева Т.М., Чахоян Л.П. Практикум по истории

английского языка. Учебное пособие. Серия «Учебники для вузов.

Специальная литература». – Спб.: Издательство «Лань», 1999. – 160 с.

3. Расторгуева Т.А. История английского языка. – 2-е изд., стер. – М.: ООО

«Издательство Астрель»: ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2002. – 352 с. – На

англ. яз.

4. Резник Р.В., Сорокина Т.С., Резник И.В. A History of the English language.

История английского языка: Учебное пособие. – М.: Флинта: Наука, 2001. –

496 с. – На англ. яз.

5. Hook J.N. The Story of British English. - Scott, Foresman and Company, 1974. -

206 p.

6. Ilyish B. History of the English Language. - L.: Prosvesheniye, 1972. – 352 p.