Abstract
An aspect of Shakespeare’s language which strikes modern readers immediately is the apparent liberty which he takes with word order. Some examples have been noted already in discussing the nominal group. One example was not considered in that chapter, namely the frequency with which the modifier is placed before the determiner. This change can cause ambiguity and may lead to difficulties in interpreting the type of sentence involved, which is why it has been left until now for consideration. Examples where the determiner and modifier change position are common enough, such as ‘Gentle my Lord’ (WT II i 98). It may readily be appreciated that this word order allows the modifier to be interpreted as having a different function in the sentence. When Ferdinand says:
Let me Hue here euer,
So rare a wondred Father, and a wise
Makes this place Paradise. (Temp. IV i 122–4)
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Notes
V. Salmon, ‘Early Seventeenth-Century Punctuation as a Guide to Sentence-Structure’, in her The Study of Language in 17th-Century England (Amsterdam: Benjamin, 1979) pp. 47–60. The standard book is P. Simpson, Shakespearian Punctuation (Oxford: Clarendon, 1911).
V. Salmon, ‘Early Seventeenth-Century Punctuation as a Guide to Sentence-Structure’, in her The Study of Language in 17th-Century England (Amsterdam: Benjamin, 1979) pp. 47–60. The standard book is P. Simpson, Shakespearian Punctuation (Oxford: Clarendon, 1911).
See for example Dolores M. Burton, Shakespeare’s Grammatical Style (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1973); V. Salmon, ‘Sentence Structures in Colloquial Shakespearian English’, Transactions of the Philological Society (1965) 105–40; and Kay Wikberg, Yes-No Questions and Answers in Shakespeare’s Plays. A Study in Text Linguistics (Åbo: Åbo Akademi, 1975).
See for example Dolores M. Burton, Shakespeare’s Grammatical Style (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1973); V. Salmon, ‘Sentence Structures in Colloquial Shakespearian English’, Transactions of the Philological Society (1965) 105–40; and Kay Wikberg, Yes-No Questions and Answers in Shakespeare’s Plays. A Study in Text Linguistics (Åbo: Åbo Akademi, 1975).
See for example Dolores M. Burton, Shakespeare’s Grammatical Style (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1973); V. Salmon, ‘Sentence Structures in Colloquial Shakespearian English’, Transactions of the Philological Society (1965) 105–40; and Kay Wikberg, Yes-No Questions and Answers in Shakespeare’s Plays. A Study in Text Linguistics (Åbo: Åbo Akademi, 1975).
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© 1983 N. F. Blake
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Blake, N.F. (1983). Word Order and Sentence Types. In: Shakespeare’s Language. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17051-7_8
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