‘Expletive pro and Misagreement in Late Middle English
Date
2009ISBN
978-0-19-956054-7Publisher
Oxford University PressPlace of publication
OxfordEdition
1Source
Historical Syntax and Linguistic TheoryPages
311-328Google Scholar check
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Show full item recordAbstract
This chapter deals with a grammatical phenomenon in Late Middle English here identified as Postfinite Misagreement, in which a finite singular auxiliary form co‐occurs with a plural subject in post‐finite position. It is proposed that an expletive subject played a role in agreement which it has not retained in standard present‐day English.