Object insertion in Old English verbs of throwing: A corpus-based study
Object insertion in Old English verbs of throwing: A corpus-based study

Summary/Abstract: This study demonstrates for the first time that ballistic motion is part of Old English ditransitives, functioning in the Nominative-Accusative-Dative construction. A search for throw terms in A Thesaurus of Old English generates a pilot list of candidates, whose participation in ditransitives is verified through queries performed on the Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus. The findings reveal a relatively diverse group of 14 verb types and 51 tokens expressing deictically directed transfer (i.e., throwing to and from), with some units emphasizing force or manner of motion. In line with Diachronic Construction Grammar, the new verb class is incorporated into a lexicality-schematicity hierarchy, a semantic map proposal for the group is discussed in detail, and the argument structure of Old English throw verbs is formalized into boxes and described. This study pays particular attention to the typological distinction between basic and derived coding frames, and, more specifically, to object insertion as a mechanism for generating ditransitives from primary caused-motion constructions. A comparison of the argument structures found in the Old English corpus with those of their modern English counterparts suggests a lower degree of constructionalization in the Old English throw group, based on the frequent presence of a fourth argument, a directional.

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