Grammar Changes 1500-1700

• Archaic present tense third person verb inflection

  Falleth, hath, quoth, groweth
• Archaic present tense second person verb inflection 


  Knowest
• Archaic past participle

  Goten ('obtained acquired', now rare except in adjective 'ill-gotten')
• Relative pronoun


  'which' and 'that' used for people, 'which' in initial position
• Archaic past tense form

  risse (rose)
• Archaic use of first person determiner for pronoun

  my thought (i thought)
• Archaic possessive singular determiner


  (hir neighbours, hir confession) and pronoun (despite of hir), plural determiner as in contemporary English (their neighbour)
• Archaic use of prepositions

  so odious vnto all their neighbours ('to'), despited of her ('by'), escape of danger ('by')
• Archaic use of prepositional phrase rather than noun


  no definitiue sentence of death 'death sentence'
• contracted prepositional phrase


  a Clock - o'clock - of the clock
• Many subordinate clauses (identify specific clause type)

  one sort... as are said (RelCl) to bee (NFCl) ... are women (MCl) which be (RelCl)... in whose drousie minds the diuell hath goten (RelCl)
• Long compound-complex sentences with many relative clauses

  which is sowed... & is called, where it groweth, by which meanes...
• Negatives (negator/ negative particle)

  loues not (inversion - no dummy operator), cannot staie (no inversion with modal auxiliaries), neither know they
• Interrogatives


  did hee beleeue... (dummy operator), shall they.... change (inversion of modal auxiliary and lexical verb)
• Adverbial modifier often precedes verb modified

  'well' amended, 'so sodainly' change, 'presently' distribute
• Compound words not amalgmated

  a part, it selfe
• Adverbial modifier often precedes verb modifier

  are notably preserued, are oftentimes afflicted, are mauelously delighted
• Archaic comment clause


  Methinks (e.g., it seems to me)
• Archaic expressions

  to great Satisfaction, (never in England before). to write to you by a coachmen (not to send the letter)
• Unmarked plural


  seven yeare
• Archaic use of dummy auxiliary/ operator (periphrastic) 'do'


  did forsweare (past tense), doe remain (present tense)
• Impersonal constructions


  was brought to passe, it came to passe
• Inverted syntax


  I knew not (I did not know) inversion of verb and negator
• Frequent use of passive (formality)


  was made, might (be) created, was brought, was ...shewed, (was) proclaimed