The Auxiliary Do in Eighteenth-century English: A Sociohistorical-linguistic Approach

according Addison adverbial analysed appears authors auxiliary average Boswell Burke Chapter characteristic claim clause common compared concerned considerably construction contain Defoe demonstrated direct speech discussed do-less negative sentences do-less questions doubt eighteenth century emphatic encountered English epistolary prose essays evidence examples exception explained fact Fielding figures four frequency of occurrence genre Gibbon Goldsmith grammarians grammars Group illustrate included indicate informative prose instances intransitive inversion Johnson Lady Mary language less negative sentences less questions letters likewise listed means medium mentioned notes object occur pattern of usage period periphrastic construction periphrastic questions play positive possible preference present present-day produced pronominal subject proportion reason recorded regarded relative frequency respectively Richardson second half seems sentences and questions Smollett spoken Steele style Swift Table texts transitive unemphatic usage variables verb Visser Walpole writing written