SYNTACTICAL CHANGES IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Abstract

This paper examines the major syntactic changes that took place during the Middle English period (c. 1100–1500), a phase characterized by extensive restructuring of the grammatical system under the influence of contact with Old Norse and Norman French, as well as internal developments. The study focuses on the gradual erosion of the Old English inflectional morphology and the consequent rise of fixed constituent order as a primary syntactic organizer. Attention is paid to the stabilization of the Subject–Verb–Object pattern, the decline of verb-second phenomena, the reorganization of the pronominal system, and the emergent use of functional elements such as prepositions and auxiliary verbs. The paper also highlights the expansion of periphrastic constructions and the increasing reliance on syntactic means, rather than morphology, for encoding grammatical relations. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the typological shift from a synthetic to an analytic language type and demonstrate how morphosyntactic simplification and socio-historical factors jointly shaped Middle English syntax.