, 43: 195 – 217. January 2007.
@article{wlodarczyk_more_2007,
title = {'{More} strenger and mightier': {Some} remarks on double comparison in {Middle} {English}},
volume = {43},
issn = {0081-6272},
shorttitle = {'{More} {Strenger} and {Mightier}'},
url = {http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:ilcs-us&rft_id=xri:ilcs:rec:abell:R04095688},
abstract = {The marginal participation of double comparison, like more nicer, in adjective gradation in historical and contemporary English has been corroborated by numerical evidence (Kyto and Romaine 1997, 2000; Gonzalez-Diaz 2004, 2006a). The studies in question, however, failed to address some data limitations and their distorting impact on the picture of real language use. Although this omission may seem less striking regarding the historical sources, it nevertheless calls for an immediate remedy. Also, the alleged marginal participation of the construction in adjective gradation, as well as its grounds, require thorough verification. What cannot be ignored, is the fact that a clear contradiction exists between the disappearance of double comparison from standard English and its popularity and persistence in colloquial speech and manifold nonstandard varieties of English and other genetically related languages. In other words, even though in the analysed data, the appearance of double comparison in English appears to be as abrupt as is its demise, its ubiquity outside the standard varieties points to a continuous development not reflected in the surviving record or the analysed contemporary corpora. With a view to this, this paper aims at an analysis based on data (so far excluded from investigations) representing the period of the highest incidence of the construction, i.e. Middle English. Also, bearing in mind the limitations of historical record, apart from synchronically or diachronically-oriented explanations, the study proposes resorting to some externally-oriented explanations (cf. Good, forthcoming). Adapted from the source document},
language = {English},
urldate = {2016-06-10},
journal = {Studia Anglica Posnaniensia},
author = {Wlodarczyk, Matylda},
month = jan,
year = {2007},
keywords = {Comparison, Double comparatives, English language (Middle), English language Middle, Historical Text Analysis, Language Change, Language History, Language Usage, Middle English, Redundancy, Syntactic Structures, Syntax, adjective comparison, adverb comparison, article, morphology, pleonasm},
pages = {195 -- 217},
}
The marginal participation of double comparison, like more nicer, in adjective gradation in historical and contemporary English has been corroborated by numerical evidence (Kyto and Romaine 1997, 2000; Gonzalez-Diaz 2004, 2006a). The studies in question, however, failed to address some data limitations and their distorting impact on the picture of real language use. Although this omission may seem less striking regarding the historical sources, it nevertheless calls for an immediate remedy. Also, the alleged marginal participation of the construction in adjective gradation, as well as its grounds, require thorough verification. What cannot be ignored, is the fact that a clear contradiction exists between the disappearance of double comparison from standard English and its popularity and persistence in colloquial speech and manifold nonstandard varieties of English and other genetically related languages. In other words, even though in the analysed data, the appearance of double comparison in English appears to be as abrupt as is its demise, its ubiquity outside the standard varieties points to a continuous development not reflected in the surviving record or the analysed contemporary corpora. With a view to this, this paper aims at an analysis based on data (so far excluded from investigations) representing the period of the highest incidence of the construction, i.e. Middle English. Also, bearing in mind the limitations of historical record, apart from synchronically or diachronically-oriented explanations, the study proposes resorting to some externally-oriented explanations (cf. Good, forthcoming). Adapted from the source document