why the old english lost the inflections? I am studying a degree in english teaching and I have a subject called history of the english language.. but the book doesnt say very much it's confusing me.. could you tell me more?
2006-09-19 20:13:45 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
I think the answer is simple - through usage (which tends to 'laziness', as evidenced by much of the English typed here).
By the way, it should be 'Why has Old English lost the inflections?' (You are obviously not English, so I point it out to help you learn! English has a very difficult word order when it comes to auxilliary verbs and past tenses!)
2006-09-19 20:21:57 · answer #1 · answered by Owlwings 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Do you mean the 'word endings' and the act of marking for number, gender, possession and so on?
We now have prepositions to describe location and the endings had all but ceased (apart from third person -s and possessive
-'s) by Shakespeare's time. The language became simplified as Old French and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) merged.
Around 1400 was an earlier watershed of modernization of the language.
Your best bet is to research it in Britannica or Wikipedia under the same search as your degree title.
2006-09-20 03:21:28 · answer #2 · answered by Bart S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋