Talk:Do-support/Origin

Uses of do in Old English include:

lexical. a full lexical verb, often replacing another verb: "Let us do [= put] him in this old well"
substitutional. a substitution for another verb elsewhere in a clause: "...he killed many more in death than he did before [when he was alive]"{{cite book

| last = Fischer

| first = Olga

| editor-last = Blake

| editor-first = Norman

| title = The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume II: 1066–1476

| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=UlD3ksfXl5IC&pg=PA269&lpg=PA269&dq=Elleg%C3%A5rd+1953&source=bl&ots=ajvylPPhhW&sig=MQH51fQ8n6Q3vLquim_NXBreakw&hl=en&ei=ROqhTsXOGsmqiQK27_nvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1992

| publisher = Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

| location = Cambridge, United Kingdom

| isbn = 0-521-26475-8

| page = 268

| chapter = Chapter 4: Syntax

| ref =

| lastauthoramp = &

}}

causative. "And trees he does [= causes] to bloom suddenly and again to wither quickly"

These uses continued into Middle English; however, the use of auxiliary and modal verbs was expanding greatly at the same time.{{cite book

| last = Fischer

| first = Olga

| editor-last = Blake

| editor-first = Norman

| title = The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume II: 1066–1476

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1992

| publisher = Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

| location = Cambridge, United Kingdom

| isbn = 0-521-26475-8

| page = 267

| chapter = Chapter 4: Syntax

| ref =

| lastauthoramp = &

}} In this environment, the use of do as an auxiliary verb in periphrastic constructions, in addition to its existing uses in Old English, arose in response to a gap in the developing auxiliary system.

In fact, it is generally accepted that this periphrastic use of do, the basis of do-support, evolved from one of these uses inherited from Old English.{{cite book

| last = Fischer

| first = Olga

| editor-last = Blake

| editor-first = Norman

| title = The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume II: 1066–1476

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1992

| publisher = Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

| location = Cambridge, United Kingdom

| isbn = 0-521-26475-8

| page = 269

| chapter = Chapter 4: Syntax

| ref =

| lastauthoramp = &

}} While linguists have at times mooted theories positing each use (lexical, substitutional, or causative) as the origin of do-support,{{cite book

| last = Fischer

| first = Olga

| editor-last = Blake

| editor-first = Norman

| title = The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume II: 1066–1476

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1992

| publisher = Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

| location = Cambridge, United Kingdom

| isbn = 0-521-26475-8

| pages = 269–271

| chapter = Chapter 4: Syntax

| ref =

| lastauthoramp = &

}} causative do now has widespread support as the progenitor.{{cite book

| last = Fischer

| first = Olga

| editor-last = Blake

| editor-first = Norman

| title = The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume II: 1066–1476

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1992

| publisher = Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

| location = Cambridge, United Kingdom

| isbn = 0-521-26475-8

| page = 271

| chapter = Chapter 4: Syntax

| ref =

| lastauthoramp = &

}}{{cite book

| last = Kroch

| first = Anthony

| editor1-last = Fasold

| editor1-first = Ralph

| editor2-last = Schiffrin

| editor2-first = Deborah

| title = Language Change and Variation

| url = ftp://babel.ling.upenn.edu/papers/faculty/tony_kroch/papers/function-grammar-do.pdf

| accessdate = 25 October 2011

| year = 1989

| publisher = John Benjamins Publishing

| location = Amsterdam/Philadelphia

| isbn = 978-90-272-3546-6

| page = 138

| chapter = Function and Grammar in the History of English: Periphrastic DO

| ref =

| lastauthoramp =

}}