The Early History of they (Hardcover)
Language: English
Published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2026
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.Grand Eagle Retail
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Hardcover. This book challenges the long-held theory that the English pronouns they, their, them are loanwords from Old Norse, arguing instead that the pronouns ultimately derive from the Old English demonstratives tha thara tham. Based on the most comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis yet published of third-person plural personal pronoun usage in early English, the study presents evidence of morphosyntactic and phonological continuity from Old to Middle English, particularly in the northern and (south)western dialects. It concludes that contact with Old Norse primarily reinforced existing native developments rather than introducing entirely new forms, thus highlighting the complex interplay of internal linguistic evolution and language contact that combined to shape they, their, them. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Historical Linguistics, Language Variation and Change, Language Contact, as well as readers interested in the history of the English language. This book challenges the long-held theory that the English pronouns they, their, them are loanwords from Old Norse, arguing instead that the pronouns ultimately derive from the Old English demonstratives tha thara tham. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…
Seller Inventory # 9783032056849
- Title
- The Early History of they (Hardcover)
- Author
- Marcelle Cole
- Publisher
- Springer Nature Switzerland AG
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- new
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 3032056845
- ISBN 13
- 9783032056849
This book challenges the long-held theory that the English pronouns they, their, them are loanwords from Old Norse, arguing instead that the pronouns ultimately derive from the Old English demonstratives þā – þāra – þām. Based on the most comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis yet published of third-person plural personal pronoun usage in early English, the study presents evidence of morphosyntactic and phonological continuity from Old to Middle English, particularly in the northern and (south)western dialects. It concludes that contact with Old Norse primarily reinforced existing native developments rather than introducing entirely new forms, thus highlighting the complex interplay of internal linguistic evolution and language contact that combined to shape they, their, them. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Historical Linguistics, Language Variation and Change, Language Contact, as well as readers interested in the history of the English language.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Marcelle Cole is Assistant Professor of English Historical Linguistics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her area of expertise covers language variation and change in Old and Middle English, particularly Old Northumbrian and Northern Middle English. She is the author of Old Northumbrian Verbal Morphosyntax and the (Northern) Subject Rule (2014).
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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