Historical Study of English Syntax with the Tagged corpora

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We examined how the verbal prefix constructions in OE were shifted to the phrasal verb constructions in ME, focusing on the position between a particle and a verb. We used the concordancer, KWIC Concordance for Windows corresponding to PPCME and the Brooklyn Corpus. The transition of Particle-Verb order pattern from OE to ME was as follows.OE2 (850-950) main clause 21% subordinate clause 72%OE2 (850-950) OE3(950-1050) OE4(1050-1150) main clause 41% subordinate clause 68%ME1(1150-1250) main clause 16% subordinate clause 23%ME2(1125-1350) main clause 3% subordinate clause 8%ME3(1350-1420) main clause 4% subordinate clause 1%ME4(1420-15000) main clause 1% subordinate clause 2%We can see much more P Patterns in a subordinate clause than in a main clause in OE, ME 1 and ME 2. We can indicate the transition of PV patterns from OE to ME, thanks to the two tagged corpora with the same corpus design.However, we have the different result from Hiltunen's previous research. Compared with it, the above data shows the very lower frequency of PV patterns, 21% in a main clause in OE 2.