Typological Reorientation in the History of English

doi:10.1017/9781009205702.016

13 - Typological Reorientation in the History of English

from Part II - Contact and External Influences

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2025

Marion Elenbaas

Edited by

Laura Wright and

Raymond Hickey

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Laura Wright: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Raymond Hickey: Affiliation:
University of Limerick

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Summary

Old English differs from Present-Day English in two main respects. The first is that Old English has relatively rich inflectional morphology, most of which is no longer present in Present-Day English. The second is that Old English word order is relatively free compared to that of Present-Day English, particularly when it comes to the position of finite verbs. These differences are the result of a number of changes that can be observed in the recorded history of English and that are commonly understood as representing a typological shift towards a more analytic type. The key changes include the loss of inflection, the shift from OV to VO and the development towards a fixed position of the lexical verb, which have also resulted in a divergence from the continental West Germanic languages.

Keywords

Inflection OV/VO word order Verb Second finite verb movement auxiliaries dialectal variation language contact information structure

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Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of the English Language
Context, Contact and Development
, pp. 356 - 384

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009205702.016 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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