Restructuring of Early English Morphology

Even though the synchronic and diachronic aspects of§linguistics have been rather strictly separated in§theory, actual practice has shown a mutual interest§between these areas of the study of language. CVCV§Theory is no exception. The author uses this theory§to analyse the restructuring of regular inflectional§morphology between Old and Middle English. The book§comprises three basic parts. Firstly, elementary§notions of historical linguistics are considered, and§the dependence of diachronic study on general§linguistic theories is pointed out. Secondly, the§author discusses the interaction of phonology and§morphology; the relevant claims of CVCV Theory are§introduced as well. Thirdly, an analysis of the§restructuring of early English morphology is§presented, using CVCV Theory. It will be shown that§this particular theory may help us to analyse early§English from some new perspectives which often fall§out automatically as a consequence of the use of this§particular theory. The book will be of interest to§historians of Old and Middle English as well as to§theoretical phonologists and morphologists who are§interested in historical analyses.