Some developments in the semantics of the English progressive from old English to early modern English

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive account of the development of the semantics of English be + -ing from Old English (henceforth OE) to early Modern English (henceforth eModE). Questions such as whether it is possible to ascribe one single meaning to the cluster or whether the modern English (henceforth ModE) function(s) can be traced back to OE will be dealt with in this study. In this respect, examples from OE, Middle English (ME) and eModE will be analyzed and discussed to illustrate the use of the progressive in such periods. Moreover, the combination of be + -ing and time adverbials will also be described in this paper, since the study of the interrelation between the two has proved very fruitful in the analysis of the semantics of the English progressive.