GRAMMATICALIZATION IN ENGLISH: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PASSIVE

CONSTRUCTIONS
Danica Popovi

CONTENTS
Introduction

..............................................................................................................................3

Chapter I

BE VERBS IN PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

Chapter II

PASSIVE CONTEXTS

Chapter III

PASSIVE IN NON-FINITE CLAUSES

Chapter IV

COMBINATION OF PASSIVE VOICE AND VERBAL ASPECTS . ..20

Chapter V

CONCLUSION .................................................................................................22

..........................................7

............................................................................12

....................................................18

Introduction
The aim of this paper is to show the development of the passive constructions within
the frame of the theory of grammaticalization. Apart from the generally theoretical review of
theories available for the development of the passive constructions, this paper will present a
corpus analysis of 50 letters from Stonor Letters and Papers. The efforts will be channeled into
showing to which extent the process of grammaticalization was completed until the Middle
English period. In order to present the process of the passive constructions development as an
instance of grammaticalization it would be indispensable to state the basic mechanisms
included in the process as well as results of grammaticalization.
Namely, as Campbell (2004: 292) states the most frequently cited definition of
grammaticalization is the one by Jerzy Kuryowicz. Grammaticalization consists in the
increase of the range of a morpheme advancing from a lexical to a grammatical or from a less
grammatical to a more grammatical status. Apart from the basic definition of
grammaticalization mechanisms responsible for this process will be taken into consideration
presently. Namely, authors such as Heine (2003: 598) believe that there are four basic
mechanisms which are fundamental parts of this process.
1. Desemanticalization ( Semantic Bleaching)
According to the same author this mechanism is essentially responsible for the initiation of the
grammaticalization. By losing some of its semantic content a lexical item becomes prone to
ensuing changes. One of which is described by yet another mechanism, extension, integrated in
the process of grammaticalization.
2. Extension
After having lost specific semantic characteristics, a lexical item acquires a more general
meaning. Consequently it is capable to appear in new contexts which were not available for it
before.
3. Decategorization
The source item loses some of its morphosyntactic characteristics and hence it becomes a
member of a different grammatical category and in some instances it even loses its
independent status and becomes a bound morpheme.
4. Erosion ( Phonetic Reduction)
The new grammaticalized item would be able to lose some of its phonetic content and
eventually be used as contacted form.
3

The results of the grammaticalization are categorized by Lehmann (as quoted in Heine,
2003: 588) in the following way:
i. paradigmatization; the new grammaticalized forms are arranged in paradigms
ii. obligatorification; optional forms become obligatory
iii. condensation; the shortening of the forms
iv. coalescence; adjacent forms collapse together
v. fixation; linear ordering becomes fixed
Another intent of this paper will be to distinguish to what extant were these results present
until the Middle English period and which changes occurred later thus establishing a more
precise timeline of the development of the passive constructions.
As an illustration of this phenomenon a few most commonly cited examples will be
mentioned. In the Classical and early post- Classical Greek the verb thlo had the meaning of
want and this is still preserved in Modern Greek. (example a) However, there is also a
grammaticalized form with the meaning of future marker (example b). Moreover, this verb has
also survived as a verbal prefix a (though spelled separately from the verb) used as future
tense marker (example c).
a.
b.
c.

thlo:

graphein

want: 1SG

write: INF

thlo:

graphein

1SG

write: INF

rfo

= I want to write
= I will write
= Ill be writing

FUT write: 1SG

(Heine, in Joseph and Janda, 2003: 580)
English will-future
English will- future is also an instance of grammaticalization. Will had the original
meaning want. Former verbal complement assumed the status of the main verb while will
obtained the status of an auxiliary verb and undergone erosion (will>ll).
The same type of transition from a lexical to grammatical status will be assumed to
have taken place during the historical development of the passive constructions. However, the
emphasis will not be placed upon a single lexeme; rather the stance presented in this paper will
take into account the grammaticalization of a single syntactic unit, namely the passive
construction. What is more, the effort will be made to establish the timeline of this
development by recording the changes observed during the aforementioned corpus analysis.
Additionally, conclusions will be drawn as to which changes ensued.
4

As already mentioned, the corpus analysis included 50 letters from the private
correspondence of the Stonor family. The main body of the corpus consisted of 34 letters
written by the members of Stonor family whereas additional 16 letters were written by people
who had personal or professional connections to the family. The corpus analysis was
conducted using the two-volume electronic edition of Stonor Letters and Papers 1290-1483
edited by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, available at:
http:// archive.org/details/publications29royauoft and
http://archive.org/details/publications30royauoft.
The selection of this particular corpus was beneficial for the examination of the
relevant topic for several reasons. Firstly, it consists of private letters and thus it provides more
realistic illustration of the spoken language of that time than a prose or poetic material. As
Aitchison (1991:98) explains a linguistic change has a snowball effect; i.e. first it gains a
foothold before starting its further development. Therefore, a change is more likely to gain
foothold in spoken language before entering standardized language of poetry or prose. What is
more, private correspondence is more likely to illustrate the state of the spoken language in
every day use where the changes taking place at a certain time are most likely to appear first
before entering rather rigid standardize language of prose and poetry. Therefore this corpus
was useful for the observation of changes which were happening in the course of late ME and
early Modern English period. The material included in the corpus was written between 1290.
and 1483. therefore it encompassed a significant time span necessary to observe a language
change, though most of the examples cited in this paper are from the fifteenth century. What is
more, members of the Stonor family were proprietors of large estates in a part of England
whose speech was becoming the basis for the Standard English language towards the end of
the fourteenth century; therefore it would be fair to suggest that no linguistic material in their
correspondence contains particularities of a dialectal nature.
As mentioned before, this paper will present the results of a corpus analysis of a private
correspondence dating chiefly from the fifteenth century because its aim is to provide more
insight into the development of the passive constructions by recording the completed changes
and the ones which would ensue in the following periods. Specifically, the several topics of
interest shall be discussed in greater detail.
Firstly, the nature of the original verbal group (Traugott, 1992: 172) will be discussed
with a special reference to the nature of BE-Verbs (Traugott, 1992: 172) and their further
development.
5

Subsequently, possibilities of passivization available in the corpus shall be compared

to the ones available in the previous as well as later periods of the English language history.
Additionally, an attempt will be made to distinguish between central passives (with a direct
semantic link between passive and active utterances) on one hand and semi- passives and
pseudo- passives on the other as well as the existence of the same distinction in ME.
Furthermore, non- finite clauses, as a possible context for passives, shall be presented.
Finally, special attention will be devoted to an option which is viable in Present Day
English, namely that of combining passive voice with different aspects. Though there are no
limitations as to the possibility of combining passives with any aspect today, such an
impediment existed during the Middle English period (henceforth ME).

CHAPTER I
BE VERBS IN PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
1.1. The Status of the Verb Be in Passive Constructions
Starting the discussion on the development of the passive constructions, the syntactic
possibilities of Old English (henceforth OE) shall be presented first.
There was only one instance of syntactic passive expressed by the means of inflections
in OE. Namely, that was the use of the passive form of the verb hatan. Two inflected passive
forms were found in OE. Those were the singular form hatte and the plural hatton as
shown in the 1) and 2) below.
1) se munuc hatte Abbo - the monk was called Abbo
2) on em bocum e hotton Apocalipsin in those books which are called the
Apocalypse.
(Traugott, 2003: 198)

However, even the use of this sole instance of inflected passive was not uniform. That is to say
even this verb could be found in a verbal group (Traugott, 1992: 179).
3) Ualens ws gelred from anum Arrianiscan biscepe Eudoxius ws haten. Valens
was taught by an Arian bishop called Eudoxius.
(Traugott, 1992: 174)

However, in OE there were constructions quite similar to the Present Day English
passive constructions. Traugott (1992: 198) suggests that the ancestor of the OE syntactic
passive with a verbal group consisting of an auxiliary BE- verb and the uninflected past
participle is to be found in a construction with a BE- verb and an inflected, originally
adjectival, past participle. That is to say, while there was no morphological indication
whether the singular past participle was inflected or not due to the zero strong inflection, plural
examples provided more insight into the matter. As it is apparent from the following examples,
OE made use of both inflected and noninflected past participles at one point interchangeably.
4) On re ilcan tide wurdon twegen elingas afliemde of Sciian At that same
time were two athelings put-to-flight from Scythia.
5) hu II elingas wurdon aflemed of Sciium and how two athelings were put-toflight from Scythia.
(Traugott, 1992: 199)

Indeed, since we find simultaneous use of both inflected and noninflected past
participle, it would be reasonable to assume that past participle gradually came to be
interpreted as the main verb and not as a complement of the BE- verb. Hence, it could be said
7

that transition from VP [AP] to VP [AUX V] was well on the way of general acceptance.
Furthermore, it could be said that verbal group consisting of these verbs and past participle was
the locus for the syntactic change. According to Bybee (2003: 607) by expansion of its
syntactic distribution to take another verb phrase object is it possible for a lexical verb to
begin the process of grammaticalization. Interestingly enough, with passive constructions it
seems that the grammaticalization of once lexical BE-verbs was instigated by means of another
mechanism, namely that of reanalysis. That is to say, it was not the change of the nature of BEverbs that started and permitted the expansion; rather it seems that due to the change in the
interpretation of BE verb complements, past participles, it became possible to treat BE verbs as
auxiliaries with lexical verb complement. What is more, it could be said that BE- verbs, when
used without a verbal complement, acted as lexical verbs, but in combination with a verbal
component they were beginning to change their syntactic behavior.
According to Traugott (2003: 186) there were not sufficient evidence for crucial
properties of Present Day English auxiliaries, such as presence of these verbs in question tags,
absence of their reduced forms as well as reduced negatives, and therefore she simply classifies
them as BE- verbs. Therefore, the claim that BE- verbs changed their status by making a
gradual progress from a lexical to an auxiliary verb would perhaps require a further
investigation into the true nature of BE-verbs in OE. That is to say, it would perhaps be
beneficial to institute more precise syntactic tests, adapted to OE period syntax which would be
used for the identification of the true nature and status of the so called BE- verbs in OE.
Specifically, in order to further substantiate the claim that BE- verbs were indeed
grammaticalized in the passive constructions it would be beneficial to precisely determine their
original nature as lexical verbs. 1
Interestingly, certain authors mentioned below seem to agree that the category of
auxiliary verb was in fact a novelty introduced in the course of sixteenth century into the
English language. Namely, Lightfoot (as quoted in McMahon, 1994:120) believes that in the
course of the sixteenth century English acquired the category of auxiliary verb. Although his
discussion was concerned mainly with modal verbs it is an important one since he moves on to
say that it was from the sixteenth century that Subject-Verb inversion and Negative Placement
started to affect the first item from Auxiliary category which if empty would be filled with do
as an auxiliary. One of the possible reasons for the acquisition of a new category Lightfoot
explains by introducing the Transparency Principle (TP). What Lightfoot suggests is that if a
series of changes seem to have taken place near simultaneous, a suitable restrictive theory
1

from discussion with. Tatjana Miliev, Faculty of Philosophy, Novi Sad, 09.10.2009.

should offer a single, unifying explanation for them2. However, as McMahon (1994: 120)
justly observes, Lightfoot does not formulate the principle nor does he identify the exact
amount of opacity sufficient to trigger the TP. Although Lightfoots data was primarily
concerned with modal verbs, similar conclusions can be made regarding BE-verbs. It would
seem that BE-verbs acquired some of the characteristics typical of Present Day English
auxiliaries. However, a note of caution must be made, even though BE- verbs have gained
some characteristics of auxiliary verbs in certain constructions, they still retained full verb
behavior in other contexts. Therefore, Lightfoots discussion about modal verbs seems
beneficial as parameter by which the induction of new category is recorded, since modals
completely lost full verb status in the course of their development. Furthermore, from the
previous discussion it becomes clear that just like modal verbs, BE-verbs did not make a
transition to a new category instantly; rather through a gradual progress.
1.2. The Inventory of the BE- verbs in OE and ME
The inventory of what Traugott (1992: 179) terms BE-verbs in passive constructions
was quite limited. Verbs used in passive constructions were weoran, beon and wesan. The
development of these verbs had a certain degree of irregularity; this was mostly due to the fact
that different roots provided a source of various parts of the paradigm of this verb. The usual
West Saxon form of the first person singular indicative was eom or am, and it was from these
forms that Modern English am developed. OE second and third person singular form
developed regularly into art and is. However, even though West Saxon plural present
indicative had the form of sint or sinedon these forms were not the roots of their Present Day
English equivalent. Another dialect was responsible for this development; namely besides
these forms Anglican also had aron and earon forms. It was from these forms that Present Day
English plural are was derived. The forms of the verb bon also contributed to the formation of
Present Day English verb to be. The form be was used as an indicative until the seventeenth
century, but it was no longer used thus in the Modern English period. In Present Day English
the only surviving descendent of this OE root is the form be. This form only survived in
infinitive, subjunctive singular and plural, and the imperative and in its derived forms such as
present participle being and the past participle been. (Brook, 1964: 142)
In the preterit indicative OE had the first person singular ws, second person singular
wre, third person singular ws, and plural wron. These forms have regularly developed into
Present Day English was and were. Although, most of the OE strong verbs lost the distinction
between the preterit singular and plural by means of analogy, was and were are the rare
2

McMahon, April M.S., Understanding Language Change, 1994., p. 120

instances where the distinction between preterit singular and plural was retained. (Brook,
1964:143)
In the view of data recovered from corpus analysis a conclusion can be reached that
Present Day English stage had almost completely been reached regarding the paradigm of the
auxiliary verb in the passive constructions. However, the inventory of BE-verbs was
significantly changed in the ME. According to Fisher (2003:262) be had become the auxiliary
par excellence of the passive voice. She further noticed that from the earliest OE, weoran had
been far less frequent in the passive and that it became infrequent in ME (Fisher, 2003: 262). It
would be interesting to investigate why this development occurred. Though authors such as
Fisher leave this question open it could be examined in relation to the grammaticalization of
yet another grammatical notion, namely that of expressing temporal relations in English. In the
following example from The Peterborough Chronicle (dated 1154) the same past participle was
used with a different BE- verb. Aside from semantic distinction, which would reserve
weoran for activities and changes of state while beon and wesan for resultant states, other
consideration could be examined.
6) A.D. 1154. On is gr wrd e king Stephne ded & bebyried er his wif `& his
sune wron bebyried t fauresfeld.
his son

A.D. 1154. In this year died the King Stephen; and he was buried where his wife and
were buried, at Faversham.

It seems that though both passive constructions in the previous example were used to show
past events the latter one, which made use of the verb weoran, described past relations
normally expressed in Present Day English by Past Perfect.Therefore, with the merge of the
verbs beon and wesan into a single paradigm and becoming a sole auxiliary of the passive
constructions accompanied with further development of perfective periphrastic forms, which
mostly made use of the verb habben, it might be that the use of weoran became unnecessary.
What is more, corpus analysis found no passive voice constructions with the verb weoran;
therefore it might be concluded that weoran was no longer in use in ME.
Leaving aside the orthographic differences, late ME had the full paradigm of the verb
to be. Though in the corpus analysis the form for the indicative second person singular was
found in active sentences, such as 7) below it seems that in late ME the form be was still
widely used in passive constructions for second person singular. The form of indicative plural
present be was found where Present Day English would use are, at the begging of the fifteenth
century even the form beth could be found in the same position, as exemplified by 13) below.
10

7)

ye wot wele ye ar there as it plesyd e queen

(you know well you are there as it pleased the queen)

( 1472)

8)

yf ye be note purveyde
(if you are not provided)

(1478)

9)

I understonde that e be sumwhat amended

(I understand that you are somewhat amended)

(1476)

10)

the wyche is nott yet done

(1466)

( the which is not done yet)

11)

12)

Furthermore youre water of Erme ys y-stoppyd at Flutedamerel by the offycers

(Furthermore your water of Erme is stopped by the officers)

(1473)

I am answeryd that I shuld be at Holbyntun at the corte,

(1473)

(I am answered that I should be at Holbyntun at the court)

13)

as his endenturys erof beth enseylyd

(1424)

(as his leases are sealed)

14)

Syr Harry Fenne and Fyncham be resonabely well keelyd

(1478)

(Sir Harry Fenne and Fyncham are reasonably well cured)

Though the forms is and am did not have a uniform use, in the course of corpus analysis they
were found in their Present Day form, as 10) and 12) above exemplify.
As the above examples show at the beginning of the Early Modern English period forms of the
verb to be were used consistently as an integral part of the passive constructions.
Regarding the two indicative past forms was and were, both of them were found in the
course of corpus analysis in their Present day English use, as shown in 15) and 16) below.

15)

he wrote to me a letter of unkyndnes, y trowe in hast, and so it was answerd,

wherof me repented.

(c. 1474)
11

(he wrote to me a letter of unkindness, I throw in hast, and so it was answered,

for which I repented)
16)

ey were disposid in the said mateer.

(they were accorded in the said matter)

(1476)

It seems that the verb be remained in the same syntactic construction and was
established as a necessary part of the passive constructions thus displaying some of the first
results of grammaticalization, not only obligatorification but also fixation. Moreover, as it is
presented above, it seems that the verb be acquired a full verbal paradigm by ME period thus
showing signs of paradigmatization. However, grammaticalization of these forms took place in
passive constructions and therefore it would be perhaps more precise to talk about the
grammaticalization of the whole verbal group (Traugott 2003: 198).

CHAPTER II
PASSIVE CONTEXTS
2.1. Passivizzation of Indirect Objects
The range of passive voice in OE was quite limited. Namely, only direct objects in
accusative case could be passivized. However, when a verb had two objects, both of which
took the accusative case, it should have theoretically been allowed that either of the objects
was passivized. Such a verb was (ge) lran teach. Nonetheless, as certain authors, such as
Mitchell (as quoted in Traugott, 2003: 213) noticed that an object denoting what is taught was
not passivized. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that in the case where a verb was
associated with oblique NP(s), none of which was in accusative or nominative case, the so
called impersonal passive construction was used.
17) Ac m, (DAT) mg beon suie hrae geholpen but to-him may be very
quickly helped
(Traugott, 2003: 214)

In the previous example, it is apparent that the sentence had no true subject since the verb was
not associated with an accusative NP. Instead, the dative NP was simply placed in the initial
position. Therefore, when verb had no accusative NP objects, dative NP was placed initially.
However, although dative NP was placed in the position typical of subject, it was not a formal
subject, evident from the fact that it remained in dative instead of acquiring nominative case
typical for a subject.
12

However, during ME the scope of passive constructions enlarged to include indirect

object passives as well as prepositional passives. It would be interesting to examine causes
which permitted the expansion of the contexts in which passives were used. Namely, case
leveling is frequently mentioned as one of the basic causes responsible for the subsequent
reanalysis. That is to say, ME verbs due to the aforementioned case leveling could take internal
arguments in only one case, usually termed the oblique case. (Fischer, 2003: 233). With nouns
there was a syncretism between oblique case nouns and nominative nouns. Therefore, there
was no morphological distinction between oblique case objects and nominative case subject.
The oblique case was visible only with pronouns (especially personal pronouns). Nominative
case remained the case in which the subject was found. In the previous discussion, it was
mentioned that so called ditransitive verbs in OE permitted only the passivization of accusative
(direct) object, though dative could appear in the initial position without assuming the function
of the subject thus staying unaffected by the process of passivization
18) a him wear on slpe swefen tywed- then him was in sleep dream shown
(Fisher, 2003: 384)

The possibility of positioning indirect object, which did not have subject capacity,
initially remained possible until the end of the Middle English period. However, with the
fixation of SVO word order in ME it could be expected that the initial indirect object was
reanalyzed as subject of the passive constructions. The process of reanalysis was more likely to
had taken place first with nominal indirect objects since the oblique case of indirect nominal
objects was indistinguishable from nominative case of the subject. Since pronominal object
retained morphological distinction between nominal and oblique case, it became apparent that
the subject in initial position was indeed in nominal case and not just an indirect object placed
initially.
19) And ther they were yolded all the hundret schyppys -And there they were
surrendered all the hundred ships
(Fisher, 2003: 385)

However, example number 19) taken from the correspondence of Paston family is dated as late
as 1449. Furthermore, Fisher states that unambiguous indirect passive do not appear before
1500 (Fisher, 2003: 408)
Indeed, corpus analysis found scarce instances of indirect object passive. Furthermore,
the instances of indirect object passive were found only in the late fifteenth century. Therefore,
13

a tentative conclusion can be drawn that this construction was not frequent perhaps until late
ME. That is to say, it seems that during ME the direct object passive was still preferred.
20)

whiche was delivered to him on Munday

( which was delivered to him on Monday)

(1471)

21)

that ytt myte be delyveryd unto the seyde party.

( that it might be delivered to the said party)

(1473)

22)

but he wylle be to morow at his plase as hyt thys tollde me

( but he will be tomorrow at his place as it is told me)

(1476)

However, the instances of indirect object passive were found as well.

23)

for erst I kannat be delyveryd the lond of the ward

( for I cannot be delivered the land of the ward earlier)

(1473)

As apparent from previous examples, a ditransitive verb was passivized, however in most cases
the writers choice seems to have been direct object passive construction. However, in case
when a direct object was a clause anticipatory it was frequently used.
24)

hyt was sayde to me at I kept you here...

( it was said to me that I kept you here...)

(1477)

25)

it is said in this contre the King purposes to send Northwardes my lorde of

Gloucestre
( 1482)
(it is said in this country (that) the King purposes to send my lord Gloucester
northward)
2.2. Central and Peripheral Passives
Apart from passive constructions discussed so far termed central passives (Quirk et al.

1985: 167), in the sense that they have a direct active passive relation, there are other
constructions which may be considered to be passive. However, these are less typical instances
of the passive voice category. Quirk et al. (1985: 168) term them mixed or semi-passives
since past participles in these constructions have both adjectival and verbal properties. Verbal
properties are reflected in the possibility to form semantic equivalents in the active voice.
Conversely, adjectival properties can be diagnosed by the following tests:
(a) coordination of participle and another adjective
(b) modification of participle with a modifier

14

(c) possible replacement of be by lexical copular verb such as feel or seem (Quirk et al.
1985:168)
The attempt will be made here to provide examples from corpus analysis from Stonor family
correspondence in order to draw a tentative conclusion that semi passives existed earlier in the
course of the English language history. What is more, in the course of the corpus analysis,
apart from the instances of central passives the so called semi passives and pseudopassives were observed and analyzed. The analysis of this corpus found 95 instances of
passive voice. The most frequent type of passive was the central passive which accounted for
more than half of all passive instances; though both semi-passive and pseudo-passive
constructions were found, together they represented approximately a quarter of all passive
instances.
Type of passive construction

Number of occurrences

Central passive

70

Semi passive

19

Pseudo passive

Pseudo
passive
8%
Semi passive
20%

Central
passive
72%

The majority of central passive instances had passivized direct objects of

monotransitive verbs. However, instances of passivized ditransitive verbs were found as well.
Nevertheless, when a ditransitive verb was passivized, in the most cases, a direct object passive
15

was produced. Therefore, of 70 instances of central passive only 8 instances of passive

ditransitive verb were found, of these 8 instances only one instance was found of the indirect
object passive. This might lead one to a tentative conclusion that perhaps passivization of
indirect object was not fully productive operation. Furthermore, direct object passivization
was preferred even when the direct object was a clause in which case an anticipatory it was
placed initially and the actual clausal object extra posed. Therefore, the majority of all central
passive instances were direct object passives of monotransitive verbs with sporadic instances
of direct object passives of ditransitive verbs, many of which were extra posed.
Central passive

Number of occurrences

direct object of monotransitive verbs

64

indirect object of ditransitive verbs

extra posed direct object of

ditransitive verbs

2.3. Prepositional Passives

According to several authors English acquired another passivization possibility during
ME, namely that of passivizing a prepositional object. Since OE did not have such an option it
would be interesting to examine the reasons why this possibility became acceptable in the
course of ME. Namely, Traugott(2003: 214) assumes that OE had no category of phrasal
verbs, and that combinations of the type verb preposition and noun were exactly just that a
combination in which a preposition governed a noun and assigned it an oblique case, thus
dismissing the possibility of passivization. Therefore, these combinations were of the type
[VP] + [PP] + [NP], whereas later they developed from V [P NP] to VP [NP].
The emergence of a new type of verbs, phrasal verbs, will be presented as a possible
source providing morphological uniformity of the two objects and subsequently allowing
passivization of the former. Namely, one possibility is that since OE inseparable prefixes were
16

almost completely lost, the new class of verbs was introduced instead. However, alternative
solution presented by Fisher (2003) seems more plausible. The group of Old English verbs
with a separable prefix offers more insight into the cause of the inception of phrasal verbs.
These verbs could have a particle preceding or following them in OE; however in ME the
particle became fixed after the verb. This change must have instigated the reanalysis from V [P
NP] to VP [NP]. Indeed, this reanalysis was truly necessary for the emergence of prepositional
passive. On the other hand, other authors such as Bacchielli (1999) believe that the true factor
which instigated the rise of phrasal verbs was the development of languages from synthetic and
highly inflected (with free word-order) to analytical / phrasal systems (with fixed word-order).
He believes that the free word-order of I.E. languages allowed for verbs to be followed by
particles, then began the synthetic phase by which a large number of particles assumed a
preverbal position, and even became verbal prefixes. However, not all the particles underwent
that change; some of them continued to be autonomous and were postponed to verbs.
Nevertheless, it seems that while the preposition was an independent element it governed its
nominal complement thus assigning it an oblique case and disabling passivization. However,
once the verb-preposition combination was viewed as a unique VP, the following NP was
naturally interpreted as a direct object of the verb thus receiving accusative case and the
possibility to be passivized.
The corpus analysis found the scarce instances of prepositional passives. However,
there were numerous examples such as the following:
26)

And y spake to Willyam Fowel of the sam mater

(1473)

(And I spoke to William Fowler about the same matter)

That is to say, it seems that phrasal verbs were indeed lexicalized units; however, sentences
such as 27) below were scarce in the corpus examined for the purposes of this paper.
27)

that y be note bete owte ayane.

(1478)

(that I am not beaten out again.)

Therefore, frequency of phrasal verbs would suggest that phrasal verbs were fully
lexicalized and as such integrated into the language system. However, since only one instance
of phrasal passive was found in the corpus it might be just to say that this type of passive
though present at the end of the fifteenth century might have been less approved alternative.

17

CHAPTER III
PASSIVE IN NON-FINITE CLAUSES
An interesting development in the history of the passive constructions is the institution
of passive voice in the non- finite clauses. Yet again, this option was not always available in
the English language history. Namely, in OE, there were two morphological types of infinitive.
So called bare infinitive with (i) an suffix and inflected infinitive with the preposition to
and suffix anne/ -enne. Traugott (2003: 242) suggests that unambiguous instances of passive
infinitives were rare, and when they did appear they were always bare infinitives.
However, another point regarding infinitives was raised by Fisher (2003: 326). Namely,
she noticed that formally active infinitive was employed during the Old English period where
Present Day English would use the passive infinitive. What is more, the same author states that
ME used passive morphology in the same contexts. As a possible reason for this phenomenon
she states the difference in word order. Certain authors such as Van der Gaaf suggest a
psycholinguistic explanation. Van der Gaaf (as quoted in Fisher 2003: 326) feels that analogy
played an essential role. He feels that the lack of passive morphology on the semantically
passive infinitives was considered an anomaly, which was therefore amended. However,
Fischer (2003) believes that the spread of the passive infinitives is directly linked with the
word order changes. Using the following example she attempts to prove her point.
28) Scipia het ealle burg towearpan- Scipio commanded the town [to be] destroy[ed]
(Fisher, 2003: 327)

She argues that ealle burg in the example above, would be understood in OE as object
whereas the same phrase would be interpreted as subject of the infinitive in Middle English.
The difference in interpretation in fact reflexes the difference between OE SOV and ME SVO
word order. Precisely because of the SVO interpretation passive infinitive becomes necessary.
However, the corpus analysis found evidence which would suggest that though the
previously cited claim was doubtlessly substantiated it was by no means without exception.
That is to say, it was possible to find instances where, as in OE, active morphology was
employed in order to express a passive content.
18

29)

and sche sent me a gobelet to amend : the wyche gobelet I have schuyde unto
dyverys

golldsmythys : and thay say hyt cane not be amendyd,

(1476)
(and she sent me a goblet to be amended which I have shown to different
goldsmiths and they say it cannot be amended)
Apparently in the previous example the passive meaning is intended however active
morphology is employed. Therefore, instances of discrepancy between passive meanings
expressed with an active infinitive construction in some cases still existed as late as the
fifteenth century.
Furthermore, when discussing passive voice in non- finite clauses in Modern English,
Denisoni differentiates two distinct types of constructions illustrated in 30) and 31) below. The
former construction prefers passive verbal voice; whereas the latter prefers active verbal voice.
30)

a. There is nothing to say.

b. There is nothing to be said.

31)

a. This problem is easy to solve.

b. **This problem is easy to be solved. (Denison, 1998: 184)
It seems that the same was true as early as the fifteenth century hence the examples

such as the following were found in the corpus.

32)

take a dyrection what is to be done yn the premisses,

(1468)

( take direction as to what is to be done in the premises)

Both examples 30b) and 32) have identical structure, NP BE TO V, and it seems that this
structure requires passive verbal voice. However, in the view of the fact that the corpus
analysis found several instances of the aforementioned passive construction it might be
possible to draw the tentative conclusion that the construction of this type was not the novelty
of the Early Modern English period. It is more likely that it became a norm even in the late
fifteenth century.
Moreover, it seems that active infinitive was preferred in a construction such as 31)
even in late ME, since examples like the following one were easily found in the corpus.
33)

to have your cownsell in what is best to do.

( to have your counsel in what is best to do)

19

(1476)

CHAPTER IV
COMBINATION OF PASSIVE VOICE AND VERBAL ASPECTS
Table 2 (Quirk et. al, 1985: 159: Table 3.64)

[1] present:
[2] past:
[3] modal :
[4] perfective:
[5] progressive:
[6] modal + perfective:
[7] modal + progressive:
[8] perfective + progressive:
[9] modal + perfective +
progressive :

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

kisses kissed may kiss has kissed is kissing may have kissed may be kissing has been kissing -

is kissed
was kissed
may be kissed
has been kissed
is being kissed
may have been kissed
may be being kissed
has been being kissed

may have been kissing - may have been being kissed

Following the table provided above regarding the structure of the passive verb phrase,
the attempt was made to discover which structural possibilities were available in ME period
and which were novelties introduced in the later periods of the English language history. The
first four structures from the table above were easily found in the corpus thus suggesting that
these syntactic options were viable even during the ME.
34)

grette labore at hys made for here agynes you:

(1474)

(great labor that is made by her against you)

35)

.a letter as this that was wrytyn yestyrday

(1468)

(a letter as this that was written yesterday)

36)

blewe gowne of damaske may be sent to me

(1476)

( blue gown of damask may be sent to me)

37)

how hyt hath byn usyd yn tymys past

(1473)

(how it has been used in times past)

Construction of the type modal + perfect (Quirk et. al, 1985:159) does not seem to be
a recent innovation, since it occurred quite frequently in ME corpus. Therefore, examples such
as 38) could easily be found.
20

38)

which shuld have byn delyveryd to e seide Robert Goldriche at Bradfeld

(1472)
(which should have been delivered to the said Robert Goldrich at Bradfield)
What is more, even lexical verbs with the modal epistemic meaning were at this time

used in passive constructions. Therefore, it was quite frequent to find the verb let in such
constructions.
39)

let me be recomaundyd to my [sister] yowr wyff.

(1475)

(let me be recommended to my sister your wife.)

The verb be acquired two auxiliary functions during ME; namely that of progressive
auxiliary and passive auxiliary. However, the combination of these two functions of the verb
be was a novelty introduced in the course of the Modern English period. Therefore, instances
of a passive verb phrase with the structure as [5] from the table above were not found in the
corpus, and therefore it could be tentatively assumed that such instances of passive
constructions developed during the Modern English period. What is more, no instances of
passive verb phrase of the type [5, 7, 8, and 9] from the table above were found in the corpus.
Therefore, it seems that combination of the verb be with a progressive aspect auxiliary function
and be with passive voice auxiliary function was not possible during ME.

21

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
Following the brief outline of the history of the passive constructions development, the
grammaticalization frame seems plausible theoretical background upon which one might base
the theory about the development of the passive constructions. Starting from the original verbal
group it has been argued that it the verb be underwent the process of grammaticalization.
However, the combination of BE- verbs and past participle was the expression targeted for
grammaticalization (following terminology suggested by Heine, 2003: 593). Originally, the
structure was interpreted as a lexical verb with an adjectival complement. However, through
the corpus analysis it was possible to determine that this structure began its grammaticalization
in ME. Namely, it seems that passive constructions had a solidified structure consisting of the
verb be and past participle, thus demonstrating that obligatorification as one of the results of
grammaticalization had already taken place. Moreover, linear ordering becomes fixed in the
passive verb phrase thus signaling another effect of grammaticalization, namely that of
fixation. Furthermore, it was presented that all the Present Day English members of the verb
be paradigm were found during the corpus analysis hence it could be said that paradigmization
had already taken place by the ME period.
Apart from gaining a generally theoretical knowledge the corpus analysis provided
perhaps more insight into the diverse changes happening in ME. Namely, it provided basis for
a conclusion about the nature and extend of the use of indirect object passive as well as phrasal
passive. Furthermore, occurrence of passives in non-finite clauses was recorded and certain
amount of discrepancy between syntactic form and semantic content was observed. Finally, it
also provided a basis for establishing the starting point of changes which occurred in the
Modern English period. Namely, it was shown that possibility of combining be as passive and
progressive auxiliary was not possible in ME, thus leading one to conclude that this
combination was a novelty introduced into the English language in later periods.
As a part of the corpus analysis peripheral types of passive constructions were taken
into account along side with central passive constructions. Therefore, the concern here was not
only for the constructions which have a direct semantic link between active and passive voice
but also for semi- passives and pseudo passives (following terminology suggested by Quirk et
22

al. 1985).Therefore, it was concluded that even these peripheral types of passive constructions
were present during ME.
Finally, it seems that the Modern English period saw the final stages of the
grammaticalization process of passive constructions; namely, that of coalescence and
condensation. However, it seems that the passive constructions were beginning to be
grammaticalized as periphrastic expressions in ME. The status and nature of original BE- verbs
would perhaps warrant more investigation in order to even further substantiate the
grammaticalization claim.

23

APPENDIX
< KEY: number of example from this paper, number of the letter as marked in the used
edition>
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
(m)
(n)
(o)
(p)
(q)
(r)
(s)
(t)
(u)
(v)
(w)
(x)
(y)
(z)
(aa)

7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
20,
21,
22,
23,
24,
25,
26,
27,
29,
32,
33,
34,
35,
36,
37,
38,
39,

120
190
169
79
126
127
46
208
130
176
142
91
172
127
119
152
126
190
173
94
120
142
91
172
127
119
152

24

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Aitchison, Jean, Language Change: Progress or Decay? , CUP, Cambridge, 1991
Baugh, Albert C., Cable, Thomas, A History of the English Language, Routledge & Kegan
Paul Ltd, London, 1983
Brook, G. L., A History of the English Language, Andre Deutsch, London, 1958
Bybee, Joan, Mechanisms of Change in Grammaticalization: The Role of Frequency in
Joseph and Janda, The Handbook of Historical Linguistics, Blackwell, Oxford, 2003
Campbell, Lyle, Historical Linguistics: an Introduction, the MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 2004
Fisher, Olga, Syntax in The Cambridge History of the English Language Volume II, CUP,
Cambridge, 2003
Heine, Bernd, Grammaticalization, in Joseph and Janda, The Handbook of Historical
Linguistics, Blackwell, Oxford, 2003
Huddleston et al., The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, CUP, Cambridge,
2002
McMahon, April M. S., Understanding Language Change, CUP, Cambridge, 1994

Millward, C.M., A Biography of the English Language, Holton, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., 1996
Quirk et al., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Longman Group
Limited, Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow, 1986
Schendl, Herbert, Historical Liguistics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001
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Traugott, Closs Elizabeth, Syntax in The Cambridge History of the English Language
Volume I, CUP, Cambridge, 2003
Traugott, Closs Elizabeth, Constructions in Grammaticalization in Joseph and Janda, The
Handbook of Historical Linguistics, Blackwell, Oxford, 2003

Internet Sources:
Bacchielli, Rolando. "An Essential Bibliographical Guide to the Synchronic
and Diachronic Study of Verb-Particle Combinations ("phrasal verbs")
in English." 19 January 2001.
< http://www.unibg.it/anglistica/slin/pvbib_diachr.htm>.
Estival, Dominique Solange "The Passive in English: A Case of Syntactic Change"
(January 1, 1986). Dissertations available from ProQuest. Paper AAI8703202.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8703202

26

27

NOTES

All citation of Denison were provided using the electronic form of the work from an Internet source:
Denison, David, The Cambridge History of the English Language, CUP, Cambridge, 1998, pages 148-151; 154-155 available at:
http://books.google.com/books?
id=NxHuNOvwt7wC&pg=PA1&dq=the+cambridge+history+of+the+english+language+volume+3&ei=heKDSumKPIrWyATwL2PDg#v=onepage&q=&f=false