1367260110.5528Understanding Syntax

8Understanding syntaxrecent changes. The examples of Middle English in (15) are from the prologue toChaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale, written in the fourteenth century:(15) a. I sey nat this by wyves that been wyse‘I do not say this for wives that are wise.’b. But Crist ... bat nat every wight he sholde go selle al that he hadde‘But Christ did not bid every one to go (and) sell all that he had.’The major change here is in the negation of verbs such as say and bid (Chaucer’s bat ismodern bade). In Chaucer’s English, any verb can be negated by putting not directlyafter it: I sey nat; Crist bat nat. In modern English, we don’t negate verbs directly inthis way: *I say not this, *Christ bade not aren’t possible. Instead, we use a form of dowhich doesn’t add any meaning of its own, but is there purely to support not, as in:I do not / don’t say this. Chaucer’s English doesn’t have this ‘do‐support’ rule, as it issometimes known.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Before reading further, think of at least five words other than forms of do that can bedirectly negated by a following not in modern English: find words that fit into the gapin a sentence such as: I ___ not/n’t leave.Apart from its role in negation, do‐support has another major role in modernEnglish. Try to think of some examples of this.