Was the “Construction Infinitive without Subject” ever productive?
There's an answer about the grammatical quirk of make do, that gives an assertion about "make + [verb]" constructions
... identifies "make do" as falling into a category he calls "Incomplete Infinitival Nexus-Objects."
In ModE the construction infinitive without S[ubject] is found chiefly in the common phrase *make believe [see there]
This strikes me as unusual and perhaps archaic. Few examples exist. Was this still productive in the 19th century, whence the oldest available evidence of to make do is dated, or earlier?
Further examples of the construction would be appreciated. I'm not aware of another way to validate the implied assertion.
grammatical-structure historical-change
add a comment |
There's an answer about the grammatical quirk of make do, that gives an assertion about "make + [verb]" constructions
... identifies "make do" as falling into a category he calls "Incomplete Infinitival Nexus-Objects."
In ModE the construction infinitive without S[ubject] is found chiefly in the common phrase *make believe [see there]
This strikes me as unusual and perhaps archaic. Few examples exist. Was this still productive in the 19th century, whence the oldest available evidence of to make do is dated, or earlier?
Further examples of the construction would be appreciated. I'm not aware of another way to validate the implied assertion.
grammatical-structure historical-change
What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago
add a comment |
There's an answer about the grammatical quirk of make do, that gives an assertion about "make + [verb]" constructions
... identifies "make do" as falling into a category he calls "Incomplete Infinitival Nexus-Objects."
In ModE the construction infinitive without S[ubject] is found chiefly in the common phrase *make believe [see there]
This strikes me as unusual and perhaps archaic. Few examples exist. Was this still productive in the 19th century, whence the oldest available evidence of to make do is dated, or earlier?
Further examples of the construction would be appreciated. I'm not aware of another way to validate the implied assertion.
grammatical-structure historical-change
There's an answer about the grammatical quirk of make do, that gives an assertion about "make + [verb]" constructions
... identifies "make do" as falling into a category he calls "Incomplete Infinitival Nexus-Objects."
In ModE the construction infinitive without S[ubject] is found chiefly in the common phrase *make believe [see there]
This strikes me as unusual and perhaps archaic. Few examples exist. Was this still productive in the 19th century, whence the oldest available evidence of to make do is dated, or earlier?
Further examples of the construction would be appreciated. I'm not aware of another way to validate the implied assertion.
grammatical-structure historical-change
grammatical-structure historical-change
asked yesterday
vectoryvectory
2058
2058
What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago
add a comment |
What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago
What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago
What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago
add a comment |
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What exactly is it that strikes you as archaic? The subjectless construction? Or the construction with a subject? Or the phrase make believe? There’s no obvious antecedent to this in the quote.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
23 hours ago