LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TAG-QUESTIONS (FROM THE TEXTS OF THE EARLY PERIOD OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT)
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2019-7-88-95
Introduction. We are continuing the cycle of works on historical development of some constructions of spoken English interaction. The article deals with the early history of tag-questions focusing on the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. Aim and objectives. Some constructions with tag-questions from the texts of the certain historical period were investigated to find their lexical, phonetic and grammatical (structural, punctual) particularities and to compare them with the same constructions of Renaissance period. Material and methods. Exemplifying sentences are taken from the works written by English authors from 1688 to 1730. Drama and novel texts are used as a source. The methods of theoretical analysis of linguistic concepts, total selection of the material, linguistic research of language facts, comparative analysis are applied. Results and discussion. Three groups and ten types of the structures are distinguished. The base of groups differentiating is the existence of lexical and grammatical connection between the anchor (the main clause) and the tag. The base of the types differentiating is the content of the tags. So-called canonical tag-questions like He is a student, isn’t he? and other structures (containing predicative tags like He is a student, you say? and non-predicative tags like He is a student, eh?) are under analysis. Tag-questions from the texts of two epochs – Renaissance and Enlightenment are compared. The discussion consists of authorial choice of lexical means, the arrangement of words in the tags, the place of tags in the anchors, the peculiarities of graphical representation of the constructions in the texts. Conclusion. Some changes in word order in the tags and in the tags positions in the anchors have been found. The results can be used to conduct further researches as well as to provide lectures in Language History, Theoretical Grammar, etc.
Keywords: syntax of the English language, historical syntax of the English language, tag-question, language change
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Issue: 7, 2019
Series of issue: Issue 7
Rubric: RESEARCH OF GERMAN LANGUAGES
Pages: 88 — 95
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