Old English to-Infinitive: Status & Recategorisation

Journal of Language and Linguistics
Volume 2 Number 1 2003
ISSN 1475 - 8989

The Old English to-Infinitive:
its Status & Recategorisation

Najib Ismail Jarad
Ajman University of Science & Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract
This paper discusses the status of the Old English to-infinitive. The paper argues, on a variety of grounds, that the functional category positions C(omp), Agr(eement) or T(ense) are not eligible positions for to and suggests instead that to occupies the category P(reposition) and takes a dative phrase (DP) as its complement. The evidence that the Old English to-infinitive is a PP is provided by the fact that it occurs in coordination with ordinary PPS. Further evidence in favour of the PP-status of the to-infinitive is the fact that the head of the infinitival DP realises the dative case feature of to. The paper also argues that the Old English to-infinitive should be treated as forming an inseparable unit on a par with a PP where P cannot be separated from the complement DP. The syntactic unity is created by the overt movement of the infinitival verb from VP to Inf and then to D. As long as V+Inf-to-D movement is attested, the syntactic unity cannot be broken up by intervening elements like adverbs, objects, etc. The loss of dative case (i.e. loss of D) has two consequences on the internal structure of the Old English to-infinitive. The first consequence is that verb movement to D was lost resulting in the break-up of the syntactic unity of the to-infinitive. The second consequence concerns the appearance of the so-called split infinitive. This crucial evidence marks the drift of the to-infinitive towards TP behaviour.

0. Introduction

The standard view of clause structure in the Principles & Parameters (PP) framework assumed in Chomsky (1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2001) involves the idea that lexical projections are dominated by functional structure. The basic clause struc-ture is assumed to be that illustrated in (1):

(1) [CP...[AgrSP...[TP...[AgrOP...[VP...]]]]]

Now, if we assume that Old English (OE, henceforth) to occupies a functional category position, then from the above structural analysis at least three possibilities for positioning to arise: C(omp), Agr(eement), and T(ense). However, this paper will argue that firstly (functional) C, Agr, and T are not eligible positions for to, (and, consequently, that the structure in (1) has to be abandoned for OE to-infinitives) and secondly that to occupies the lexical category P(reposition). Under the present analysis the relevant parts of the structure of an OE infinitival clause is as follows:

(2) [PP...[DP...[InfP...[VP...]]]]

Before we justify our analysis in (2), we will provide a brief discussion of the occurrence of the to-infinitive in OE. Once we have done that, we can review our rejections of the structure in (1) by illustrating why to cannot be base-generated in C, Agr or T. The paper is organised as follows. In section 1, we present a brief illustration of the occurrence of the to-infinitive in OE. Then, in section 2, we look at the status of to in OE infinitival clauses. In section 3, we discuss the position of pre-verbal objects with OE to-infinitives. In section 4, we consider the diachronic recategorisation of the OE to-infinitive. Finally, in section 5, we summarise the paper.

1. The to-Infinitive in Old English

There are two types of infinitives in Old English used in infinitival complements: (i) the so-called plain or bare infinitive, also called uninflected infinitive, which consists of a verb stem and the suffix -(a)n as in sendan 'send', findan 'find'; and (ii) the to-infinitive, also called inflected infinitive, involving the prepositional infinitival marker to, an infinitival suffix -en/an, and the dative ending -ne affixed to the infinitival verb stem, as in to singenne 'to sing', to wyrcanne 'to perform', etc (see Callaway (1913: 2), Bock (1931), Visser (1963-73: §896), Mitchell (1985: §921), and Traugott (1992), among others). The following exposition is partly based upon our independent investigation, and is also intended as a summary of the views of various scholars.

Traditional grammarians have observed that in OE the inflected infinitive was limited in its occurrence and was basically employed to express purpose. Callaway (1913: 20-21, 60-71) observes that the inflected infinitive occurs with verbs that take a genitive, dative (e.g. alyfan 'allow', bebeodan 'command', beodan 'command', forbeodan 'forbid', etc) or prepositional object, and that the uninflected infinitive occurs with verbs that subcategorise for an accusative object. This suggests, at the very least, that infinitives depend on case in OE (see section 2.4). Also, compare the following examples, where the same verbs subcategorise for a dative DP, as in (3), and both a dative DP and an inflected infinitive, as in (4): (This means that the verb in (4) subcategorizes for two dative arguments).

(3) a. he him [dat.] alefde & forgefe, þæt he most heo gelæran

he him allowed and granted that he may them instruct

(Bede Eccles. History IV.16, 20; Miller (1898: 308))

'he gave him leave & permission to instruct them'

b. syþðan eft se Hælend geseah þone mann binnan þam temple, and him [dat.] bebead þas word

afterwards Christ saw the man within the temple and him commanded these words

(Ælfric Homilies II, 54; Pope (1968: 232))

'afterwards Christ saw the man within the temple & commanded him these words'

c. se Hælend us[dat.] bebead on þisum halgan godspelle...

Christ us commanded in this holy Gospel...

(Ælfric Homilies XIII, 37; Pope (ibid: 498))

'Christ commanded us in this holy Gospel...'

d. we sculen him [dat.] forbeodan þæt hie huru....

we shall them forbid that they indeed...

(Ælf. C.P. 210, 24; Visser (1963-73: §869))

'we shall forbid them that they indeed...'

(4) a. alyfe me [dat.] to farenne & to geseonne ðat seloste land begeondan Iordane & ða gecorenistan dune & Lebanum

allow me to go & to see that best land beyond Jordan & the goodliest mountain & Lebanon

(Ælfric Deuteronomy. III, 95; Crawford (1922: 337))

'allow me to go & to see the best land beyond Jordan & the goodliest mountain & the Lebanon'

b. þone fulan mete þe moyses forbead godes folce [dat.] to þicgenne for þære gastlican getacnunge

the foul meat which Moses forbade God's people to taste because of its spiritual signification

(Ælfric Lives of Saints XXV, 36; Skeat (1881: 68))

'the foul meat which Moses forbade God's people to taste because of its spiritual signification'

c. healdaþ ealle ðas word ðe ic eow to dæg bebeode, & beo<d>að ða eowrum bearnum [dat.] to healdenne & to donne

keep all those words that I you today command & command these your children to keep & to esteem

(Ælfric Deuteronomy XXXII, 46; Crawford (ibid: 374))

'keep those words that I command to you today & then command [them to] your children to keep & to esteem'

d. þa dyde he up his hand and sealde him leaf to siþigenne forð

then lifted he up his hand and gave them leave to journey forward

(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXXI, 384; Skeat (ibid: 244))

'then he lifted up his hand and gave them leave to journey forward'

The dative form (i.e. the inflected infinitive ending in enne/anne) was mostly distinguished from the accusative case form of the bare infinitive, which ended in -an.

(5) a. hie... heton him sendan mara fultume

they ordered to-them send great forces

(OE Chron. 8; Davis (1953: 73))

'they ordered greater forces to be sent to them'

b. gif sum dysig mann þas boc rætt oþþe rædan gehierþ

if some foolish man this book reads or read hears

(Ælfric's Preface to Genesis 43; Davis (ibid: 79))

'if some foolish man reads this book or hears it read'

In the Middle English (MidE, henceforth) period the inflectional endings gradually died out, with the result that the inflected infinitive and the uninflected infinitive became identical, as indicated in (6):

(6) OE up to 1100 1100-1300 1300-1500 1500 onwards

to writenne/anne to writen(e) to write(n) to write

writan writen write(e) write

Callaway (1913: 335), Visser (1963-73: §897), Mitchell (1985), and others note that several verbs in OE, such as onginnan 'to begin', ondrædan 'to dread', bebeodan 'to bid', bewerian 'to forbid' geliefan 'to believe', þencan 'to think' etc, are found construed either with the uninflected infinitive, or with the inflected infinitive. From these beginnings, the use of the infinitive with to in place of the bare infinitive, combined with the phonetic decay and loss of the inflections, increased rapidly during the late OE and early MidE periods, with the result that in Modern English (ModE, henceforth) the infinitive with to is the ordinary form, the bare infinitive surviving only in particular constructions where it is connected with the preceding verb, as in the complements to perception verbs (e.g. see) and causatives (e.g. make) (see Callaway (1913: 335), Visser (1963-73: §897), Fischer (1992), and Denison (1993: chapter 8 and references cited therein)).

Our concern here is not to account for the encroachment of the inflected infinitive upon the domain of the uninflected infinitive, but to provide a brief description of the inflected infinitive in OE purpose clauses. This, we hope, will provide us with an insight into the nature of to in OE purpose clauses. As a point of departure, we wish to stress the fact that to was only used before the dative form of the infinitive ending in -anne/enne. It introduced a purpose clause. This meaning of to is clearly perceivable in the prepositional phrases in (7) and in the infinitival clauses in (8):

(7) a. hie ge-sohton Brettene Brettum to fultume

they came Britain to-Britons as help

(OE Chron. Davis (ibid: 73))

'they came to Britain as a help to (to help) the Britons'

b. and hine þær of.snaþ Gode to lace...

and him there slaughtered to-God as sacrifice

(Abraham & Isaac 31; Davis (ibid: 67))

'and slaughtered him there as a sacrifice to God'

c. and wæs swelce a seolcen þræd ymbe his sweoran read, mannum to sweotolunge hu he of-slægen wæs

and was such a silk thread around his neck red to-men as sign how he slaughtered was

(King Edmund 148; Davis (ibid: 85))

'and such a silk thread was around his red neck as a sign to men how he was slaughtered'

d. seðe nele clypian crist him to fultume

who will not call Christ to-him as help

(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XIII,46; Skeat (ibid: 286))

'who will not call Christ to help him'

(8) a. gadriað ærest þone coccel, and bindaþ sceaf-mælum to forbærnenne

gather first the tare, and bind in bundles to burn

(Math,XIII,23; Davis (ibid: 62))

'first gather the tare and bind in bundles to burn'

b. hie heora here on tu todældon-oþer æt ham beon heora lond to healdanne, oðer ut faran to winnanne

they their army into two divided one at home be their land to keep, the other out go to fight

(Alfred Orosius 52; Onions (1950: 24))

'they divided their army into two divisions: one to defend the country; the other to conquer other countries'

c. an wulf wearþ asend, þurh Godes wissunge, to bewerienne þæt heafod wiþ þa oþru deor

a wolf was sent, through God's direction to guard the head against the other animals

(Ælfric King Edmund 121; Davis (ibid: 84))

'a wolf had been sent by God's direction to guard the head against other animals'

d. Ærest he cwom to Hii þæm ealonde, þonon he wæs sended Ongolþeode Godes word to bodienne & to læranne

first he came to Iona the island, thence he was sent to-English God's word to proclaim & to teach

(Bede Eccles. History IV. 24; Miller (ibid: 272))

'first he came to the isle of Iona from which he had been sent out to preach & teach God's word to the English people'

Note that fultume, lace, sweotolunge etc, are not verbs/infinitives. They are DPs contained in PPs and look more like the equivalent of ModE as + DP phrases. The point of the data from purpose clauses is to show that to could be a preposition introducing an infinitive, somewhat like in order to in ModE.

In this section we have simply given a brief illustration of the occurrence of the to-infinitives in purpose clauses. A crucial aspect of OE to-infinitives is that to, which is only used before the dative form of the infinitive ending in -anne/enne, introduces purpose clauses. On the basis of this evidence, we come to the conclusion that OE to is a preposition. We have seen that the purposive meaning of OE to is perceivable in both prepositional phrases and infin-itival clauses. Let us next look at the claim that OE to is the head of an infinitival Complementiser Phrase (CP).

2. The Status of TO

2.1. TO as the Head of Complementiser Phrase (CP)

Here we shall examine the claim that the infinitival marker to in OE is the head of an infinitival CP. In that respect we draw on Kayne's (1981) paper on French and Italian prepositional complementisers. Kayne (1981) proposes that French de and Italian di occupy the C-position. In a similar vein, Wilder (1988) treats German zu as originating in C. Their arguments are primarily based on (9) and (10):

(9) a. Je crois [de [PRO être intelligent]] (French)

I believe to be intelligent

b. credo [di [PRO essere intelligente]] (Italian)

I-believe to be intelligent

c. Ich glaube intelligent [zu [PRO sein]] (German)

I believe intelligent to be

d. *I believe [for [PRO to be intelligent]] (ModE)

As shown in (9a-c), PRO is allowed as a complement subject under believe-type verbs in French, Italian, and German. Under minimalist assumptions, the well-formedness of (9a-c) can be accounted for by the fact that de, di, and zu do not have any Case features to check with the embedded infinitival subject (in [Spec, CP]). In Modern English, on the other hand, believe-type verbs have a feature to check, and require an overt DP as lower subject (which raises to the higher [Spec, AgrOP]).

Raising constructions also play a central role in determining the position of the infinitival marker. The obligatory absence of de and di in (10) below follows straightforwardly from the fact that raising infinitivals are not CPs.

(10) a. *Jeani semble [CP de [ei être parti]]

'Jean seems to have left'

b. *Giannii sembra [CP di [ei essere partito]]

'Gianni seems to have left'

The ill-formedness of (10a-b) is accounted for by the well-known restriction on NP movement over an adjacent complementiser (cf. Rizzi (1990)).

Is it the case then that the C-analysis can account for OE to-infinitives? Does OE to behave like French de? We suggest not. Firstly, the C-analysis is at loggerheads with the PRO theorem, since OE to, lexically a preposi-tion, must have case features which are not suitable for PRO if to occupies the C-position (cf. Kageyama (1992)). The assumption that OE to has dative case features makes it different from French de and argues against Roberts' (1992) claim that to was a complementiser in OE and was then diachroni-cally reanalysed as the head of the infinitival TP after the loss of T-1. Secondly, the fact that OE to assigns dative case to the infinitive makes it different from French de. Thirdly, and more importantly, it should be noted that in OE to-infinitives the complement (pronominal and full nominal DPs) of the infinitival verb may precede to, as in the following examples:

(11) a. ongyt þu þis þæt ic næbbe nænigne intingan þe to geseonne ne þe to gegretanne

learn you this that I not-have no reason you to see nor you to greet

(St. Basilla 20, 5; Herzfeld (1899: 86))

'Learn thou this that I have no reason to see you or to greet you'

b. drihten God, beo þu gemedemad me to geheranne

Lord God be you deem me to hear

(St. Cyriac & St. Julitta 16; Herzfeld (ibid: 120))

'O Lord God, deem it worthy to hear me'

c. he forbead swa ðeah þæt blod to þicgenne

he forbade so though that blood to eat

(Ælfric On the Old & New Testament 289; Crawford (ibid: 27))

'he forbade them nevertheless to eat the blood'

d. hi eodon þa butu his bodunge to gehyrenne

they went then both his preaching to hear

(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXXVI,327; Skeat (ibid: 418)

'then they both went to hear his preaching'

e. we synd gearwe ealle þa þincg to gehyrenne þe se hælend þe bebead

we are ready all the things to hear which the Lord you commanded

(Ælfric's Lives of Saints X,144; Skeat (ibid: 228))

'we are ready to hear all those things which Jesus commanded to you'

In each of the above infinitivals a complement precedes to. This shows that to occupies a position lower than C unless we assume the complement is in [Spec, CP]. But this would be a kind of infinitival verb second (V2), which is unknown elsewhere. In addition, the assumption that to is in C is contradicted by the fact that OE lacks infiniti-val interrogatives like tell me where to go, and infiniti-val subject relatives like John is the man to fix the sink, which arguably contain a projection of C. The absence of these constructions in OE, therefore, undermines an analysis of to as the head of CP.

2.2. TO as the Head of Agreement Phrase (AgrP)

On the basis of the evidence provided in the previous section, let us consider next the hypothesis that OE to is the head of the infinitival AgrP. In this section we will examine Kageyama's (1992) proposal that the OE infinitival marker to is the head of the infinitival AgrP, and that to embodies the external argument of an infinitival verb. He argues that analysing OE infinitival clauses as AgrPs in this way provides an explanation for the absence of morphologically passive to-infinitives, the unavailability of subject-relation infinitival relatives, and the alleged lack of both a lexical and a PRO subject in to-infinitives. Consider the following OE infinitival clauses:

(12) a. ðas ðing sint to donne

those things are to do

(Læce. 62,21; Callaway (1913: 99))

'those things are to be done'

b. heo is to clænsienne fram leahtrum

she is to cleanse from sins

(Ælfric Homilies. 552,13; Kageyama (1992: 114))

'she is to be cleansed from sins'

c. and þas feower ana syndon to underfonne

and these four only are to receive

(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XVI, 222; Skeat (ibid: 336))

'and these four only are to be received'

d. forðon hi sendon to healdanne mid heortan onbryrdnesse

therefore they are to keep with heart remorse

(Litanies 3; Herzfeld (ibid: 74))

'therefore they have to be kept with compunction of the heart'

e. ðas ðingi sint [AgrP t'i [Agr' to donne ti]]

|______________|____________|

Each of these infinitival forms has a passive interpreta-tion, yet the verb form is active. The analysis of these constructions has generated a lot of discussions in the literature on OE, most of which centres on whether or not they really are passives. For example, Quirk & Wrenn (1957: §131) say that "a passive infinitive was usually expressed with the active form". Callaway (1913: 6) pro-poses that they are passives, while Mitchell (1985: §942) points out that they are active, but that they are used in a passive sense. More recently, Kageyama (1992) assumes that they are passives because the infinitival marker to behaves like the passive morpheme. He argues that the infinitival marker to not only absorbs the external theta role assigned by the infinitival verb but also absorbs the accusative Case that the internal argument requires, in a Baker, Johnson & Roberts (1989) framework. In (12a) the DP ðas ðing, which is the internal argument of the infinitival verb, surfaces as the nominative subject, suggesting a parallel with syntactic passives. According to Kageyama, the fact that to absorbs accusative Case is responsible for the movement of ðas ðing to the specifier of the matrix AgrP, as schematically represented in (12e).

Rather than going into the detailed argumentation that Kageyama provides, we would like to focus on the problems raised by his basic claim concerning AgrP in OE to-infinitives. We see a significant problem with his claim in that it clas-sifies Agr as a theta position, and hence an A(rgument)-position. By assuming that the infinitival marker to is an argument and by inserting it under Agr, Kageyama's analysis clearly ignores the distinction between heads and arguments because arguments are always maximal projec-tions not heads. Furthermore, if to occurs with a verb like beonne or with an unaccusative verb, then the themat-ic structure of the latter will not provide the necessary external argument for (the argument structure of) to. Note that the occurrence of to below with beonne (13) and unaccusative verbs (14) strongly argues against Kageya-ma's claim. Consider the following examples:

(13) a. god ys us [dat] her to beonne
good is us here to be
(OE Gosp. Mt 17,4; Visser (ibid: §903))
'it is good for us to be here'

b. nyste gyt þat me [dat] gebyrath to beonne on þam ðingum þe mines fæder synt?
not know yet that to-me befits to be in the conditions which my father are
(OE Gosp. Luke 2: 49; Visser (ibid: §903))
'Don't the two of you know that it befits me to be in my father's position'

c. and eac þa halgan canonas gehadodum forbeodað, ge bisceopum ge preostum, to beonne embe þeofas
and also the holy canons clerics forbid both bishops and
priests to be after thieves
(Ælfric St. Edmund 289; Mitchell & Robinson (1992: 202))
'and also the holy canons forbid (the ordained) clerics, both bishops and priests, to be concerned with thieves'

(14) a. ða wæteru... begunnon to wanigenne æfter oðer healfhund daga
the waters... began to wane after other fifty-hundred days
(Ælfric Genesis. VIII,3; Crawford (ibid: 103))
'the waters began to ebb away after another hundred and fifty days'

b. ic onginne to blaci_enne
I begin to grow pale
(Ælfr. Gr. 212,7; Callaway (ibid: 53))
'I begin to grow pale'

In these examples to would be an argument without a ?-role, yielding a violation of the ?-criterion (cf. Chomsky (1981)).

The idea that to is the head of the infinitival AgrP is implausible since to is compatible with all persons, as illustrated in (15):

(15) ic wæs asend God to þegnienne
I was sent God to serve
'I was sent to serve God'
þu wære asend God to þegnienne
you were sent God to serve
he/hit/heo wæs asend God to þegnienne
he/it/she was sent God to serve
we/ge/hie wæron asend God to þegnienne
we/you/they were sent God to serve

One might assume that since to is compatible with all persons, it patterns with phonologically null rather than overtly realised agreement morphemes.

A further potential objection to Kageyama's claim is the question as to whether the external argument to needs Case, and if it does, how it receives it. Kageyama has nothing to say about this. Instead, he advances an ad hoc proposal that the external argument to case marks the infinitival verb. Kageyama has to explain how an element like to can, at the same time, receive an external ?-role from the infini-tival verb and case mark that same verb. This fact dramatically weakens Kageyama's claim that to heads AgrP. Therefore, let us consider the possibility of to as the head of TP.

2.3. TO as the Head of Tense Phrase (TP)

Pollock (1989), Chomsky (1991, 1993, 1995), Roberts (1992), and many others argue that ModE to may be the head of TP. Extending the ideas of these authors, we can argue along the following lines:

(16) T is postulated as the eligible position for to iff the to-infinitive exhibits aspectual distinctions

ModE to-infinitive has one present tense expressed by the form of VP as in (17a), and two aspectual distinctions exemplified in (17b-c). The corresponding examples are given in (17'):

(17) a. to + V (present tense)

b. to + have + en (perfective aspect)

c. to + be + ing (imperfective/progressive aspect)

(17') a. John tries to win the race

b. only John is known to have won the race

c. John always wants to be eating

Since aspectual auxiliaries can be taken to be licensed by Tense, their presence suggests that ModE infinitives have Tense. Thus, the presence of these aspec-tual distinctions in ModE explains why T qualifies as the eligible position for the infinitival marker to. Further evidence that ModE to is in T is provided by the fact that to is in complementary distribution with modal auxiliaries and periphrastic do, which are commonly analysed as fill-ers of the T-position, i.e. to marks T [-finite], while Modal or do mark T [+finite].

Now, if we look at OE, however, we find that (16) does not hold. There are three factors which argue against treating OE to as the head of TP. The first factor concerns the fact that the OE to-infinitives do not have aspect; therefore, following (16), to can't be in T. In comparing the OE to-infinitive with its ModE and MidE counterparts, a crucial morphosyntactic difference becomes apparent. While the ModE and MidE to-infinitives exhibit aspectual dis-tinctions such as to + have + V +en for perfective as-pect, the OE infinitive does not. Actually, the perfect tenses exist in OE, but are not employed in the same way as they are in later periods of English. Whta is meant here is that the OE aspectual system is fundamentally different from that of ModE. There are two kinds of perfect tense: one formed with Have and the past participle of the verb, and the other formed with beon/wesan 'to be' or weorþan 'to become' and the past participle of the verb. The perfect tenses of transitive verbs were formed by the use of the verb Habban and the past participle (see Visser (1963-73: §§2001-3), Mitchell (1985: §§724, 725-8), Traugott (1970: 93-4) & (1992: 192), and Denison (1993: chapter 12)). Originally, sentences like he had written a letter meant something like he pos-sessed a written letter. The construction underwent a syntactic reanalysis accompanied by a change in the seman-tics of the verb Habban and the voice of the participle (cf. Denison (1993: 340), and Traugott (1970: 94)).

The perfect tenses of intransitive verbs were formed with beon/wesan or weorþan (see Visser (1963-73: §§1897-1904), Mitchell (1985: §§734-42), and Denison (1993: chapter 12)). It is important to point out is that finite forms of the perfect Have were attested in OE, but inflected infin-itival forms came later. It is also important to point out that perfect Have with a bare infinitive was possible in OE, always in collocation with a modal (see Traugott (1970), Denison (1993: chap. 12) and Mitchell (1985: §922)). We have found no examples of the perfect Have with inflected infinitive (cf. Miyabe (1954, 1956)).

A second argument against to in T derives from the fact that if to headed an infinitival TP, it would make an infinitive (in control structure) temporally different from a gerund, as it does in ModE:

(18) a. John forgot [PRO to lock the car]

b. John forgot [PRO locking the car]

Stowell (1982: 562) has observed that infinitival clauses contain a tense morpheme which has the effect of specifying that the time-frame of the infinitival clause is unrealised with respect to the tense of the matrix verb. It is this tense morpheme which makes an infinitival clause temporally different from a gerund, as illustrated in (18) above. In (18a) the tense of the infinitival complement is understood as being unrealised with respect to the tense of the matrix verb forgot, whereas in (18b) the understood tense of the gerund is contigent on the semantics of the matrix verb forgot. This is tantamount to saying that the action of locking the car in (18a) has not taken place because John forgot to do so. In (18b), on the other hand, the action of locking the car has actually taken place and John has forgotten that he has done it. We concur with Kageyama (1992:101) that such a difference does not characterise OE to-infinitives as differentiated from bare infinitive, because both types of infinitives may be employed almost interchangeably in verb complemen-tation with control structures (cf. Fischer (1996)). Consider the examples in (19) where the verbs bebeodan 'command/order' and hatan 'command/order' occur in control structures either with the inflected infinitive, as in (19a-b), or the uninflect-ed infinitive, as in (19c-d):

(19) a. hi nellað herian þone hælend mid sange swa swa se bisceop bebead þam gebroðrum to donne
they won't praise Christ with chanting as the bishop commanded the brothers to do
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXI,243; Skeat (ibid: 456))
'they will not praise Christ with chanting even as the bishop bade the brethren do'

b. Ða fiondas geheht to lufianne
the enemies commanded to love
(Mt. P. 14,18; Toller (1921: 338))

c. ða bebead se biscop ðeosne to him lædan, & in his cafortune heht him medmicle hus gewyrcan
then commanded the bishop this-one to him lead & in his enclosure ordered him small hut erected
(Bede Eccles. History V,II,20; Miller (ibid: 388))
'then the bishop directed this man to be brought to him, and ordered a small hut to be erected for him within the enclosure'

d. tætectte se biscop hine heht steafa naman cweoðan
further the bishop him ordered letters' names say
(Bede Eccles.History V.2,30; Miller (ibid: 388))
'the bishop further ordered him to say the names of the letters'

What these examples show is that the presence of to makes no temporal difference. Each of these examples has the unrealised tense reading, which is typical of control structures (according to Stowell (ibid)). This suggests that T is present in all cases, but to is not in T at all.

Let us now turn to a third argument against the analysis of to as the head of TP. This argument concerns the nomi-nal status of the OE to-infinitives. Since -ne is the only morphological realisation of the inherent case assigned by to, it seems reasonable to take -ne as an indicator of the nominal status of the infinitival verb (cf. Lightfoot (1979)). This leads us to make the following crucial assumption: the dative ending -ne is a morphological head which projects a phrase of its own. This dative phrase bears the features of a DP. We adopt Stowell's (1981) proposal that clauses and DPs are [+N, -V]. In Stowell's analysis, C(omp) bears a tense operator and this tense operator requires a full proposition. The infinitival and that-clauses will then be distinguished in that the former have no specification for the [+PAST] feature. Gerundial clauses are like infinitival clauses in that both do not have a [+PAST] feature. They will be like DPs in not having a specification for [+TENSE]. If this is correct, then the lack of any tense or aspectual distinctions in nominals presents a strong case against analysing OE to as Tense because there is no temporal specification. Further and more importantly, since functional categories aren't usually thought to assign inherent Case, it seems implausible to analyse OE to as Tense. So only P remains a possible candidate.

2.4. TO as the Head of Prepositional Phrase (PP)

In sections 2.1., 2.2., and 2.3. we established that OE to is neither C(omp) nor Agr, nor T(ense). The remain-ing possibility is that to is a preposition (cf Fischer (1996)). This line of reasoning, which we will pursue below, argues that to heads its own prepositional phrase (PP) and takes a dative phrase (DP) as its complement. Primary evidence for this lies in the characteristic dative inflection on the head of the DP. The preposition to has its own inherent case feature morphologically realised on D as the dative in-flection. The difference between OE and MidE to-infini-tives is explained as a difference in the nature and syntactic status of the infinitival marker to in these two periods. Our analysis has advantages over those of Lightfoot (1979), Roberts (1992), and Kageyama (1992) in that it covers a wider range of OE facts. On the other hand, our analysis is not without problems but we will argue below that criticism of the PP-analysis can be more easily overcome than the problems created by the other analyses.

The differences between OE and MidE/ModE are ex-plained by our assumption that the OE inflected infini-tives are dominated by a PP. This assumption is supported by the fact that the OE inflected infinitives occur in coordination with ordinary PPs, as in (20):

(20) a. ut eode to his gebede oððe to leornianne mid his geferum
out went to his prayer or to study with his comrades
(Bede Eccles. History III.5,7; Miller (ibid: 162))
'[he] went out to his prayers or to study with his comrades'

b. wa ðan ðe strang bið to swiðlicum drencum and to gemencgenne ða micclan druncennysse
woe to-that-one that strong is to excessive drinkings and to
mingle much intoxication
(Ælfric Homilies II, 322,15; Visser (ibid: §897))

c. efne þes sunderhalga...hæfde opene eagan to forhæfednysse, to ælmesdædum to ðancigenne God...
even this Pharisee had opened eyes to abstinence to
almsdeeds to thank God
(Ælfric Cath. Hom.ii,430.33; Mitchell (1985: §965))

These examples argue in favour of a PP analysis of the to-infinitive. We have found no examples of a PP coordinated with a (for) to-infinitive in MidE. The absence of this possibility shows that the to-infinitive has lost its prepositional property. It is worth recalling Callaway's (1913: 20-21, 60-71) remarks that the inflected infinitive tends to appear with verbs that take a preposi-tional object or an object in the dative or genitive, and that the uninflected infinitive tends to appear with verbs that subcategorise for an accusative object. This tendency underlines the close relation between infinitives and case in OE. Similarly, the regular occurrence of the to-infin-itive compared with the rare occurrence of the bare infin-itive with adjectives ( dative case-assigners) and nouns (genitive case-assigners) further signifies the relation between to-infinitives and case (see Callaway (1913: 181), Mitchell (1985: §§925-929), and Visser (1963-73: §§926, 938)). On the basis of this evidence, we would like to claim that both bare and to-infinitives are nominal.

Traditional grammarians have observed that there is a close relation between infinitives and nouns. There are languages, for instance, Dutch, Standard Arabic, Brazil-ian Portuguese, etc, where infinitives can combine with articles, adjectival modifiers, etc. The following examples from Dutch (taken from Fischer & van der Leek (1981: 344)), Standard Arabic, and Brazilian Portuguese (thanks to Heloisa Salles (p.c.) for (21e & f)) illustrate:

(21) a. het huilen staat me nader dan het lachen (Dutch)
the cry-INF stands me closer than the laugh-INF
'I'm nearer to crying than to laughing'

b. een keer hard schreeuwen doet een mens goed (Dutch)
one time hard shout-INF does a man good
'to shout out loud now and then does a man good'

c. D- Darb- u li-l-walad-i (Standard Arabic)
the beating-Nom of-the-boy-Gen
'the beating of the boy'

d. D- Darb- u ?al aniif- u li-l- walad-i (Standard Arabic)
the beating-Nom the violent-Nom of-the-boy-Gen
'the violent beating of the boy'

e. o bater no garoto (Brazilian Portuguese)
the beating in-the boy
'The beating of the boy'

f. o violento bater no garoto (Brazilian Portuguese)
the violent beating in-the boy
'the violent beating of the boy'

Building on the traditional observation, we argue that OE to-infinitival clauses behave like nominals with respect to feature checking. More specifically, the fact that the head of the dative DP shows morphological realisation of dative case, suggests that the head has a case feature, call it the DAT-feature, which is subject to feature checking. We argue that the head of the infinitival DP covertly adjoins to the head of PP to check its DAT-feature.This is consistent with our claim that to is a preposition heading its own PP and taking a DP as its complement. We argue that the infinitival verb has an infinitival feature, call it the Inf-feature. We also argue that the infinitival verb, i.e. V+Inf has a nominal feature, call it the D-feature, which is subject to feature checking. The question that arises here is how the infinitival verb checks its D-feature. Assuming that the infinitival DP is dominated by a PP, there is one possible way for the head of the DP to check its feature: the infinitival head moves to a position where it can check its D-feature. Since feature-checking takes place in a highly local domain, the infinitival head must move overtly to Inf to check its Inf-feature and then the complex [Inf V+Inf] moves to D to check its D-feature and the feature con-tained in D. We assume that the D-feature attracts the verb or more precisely V+Inf to move to D. So in an example like (22a), whose simplified structure is given in (23), the infinitival verb moves out of its base position in VP to Inf to check its infinitival feature forming the complex [V+Inf], which moves on to D where Inf's D-feature is checked.

(22) a. we synd gearwe nu to gewinnenne þæt land
we are ready now to conquer that land
(Ælfric Numbers XIV,40; Crawford (ibid: 320))
'we are ready now to conquer that land'

b. ond symle mid his mode wæs flegende þa heofonlecan to lufienne & to biddenne& to secenne
and ever with his mind was hastened the heaven to love, & to desire & to seek
(Bede Eccles. History II,6,7, 32; Miller (ibid: 116))
'and ever in his mind he was in haste to love, to desire and seek the things of heaven'

In fact, there is quite a lot of evidence which suggests that the infinitival verb moves to D. The evidence comes from coordinated structures. In a set of coordinated infinitives, the second infinitive very commonly matches the initial one in its marker (i.e. to is repeated in both conjuncts) and very rarely exhibits reduced marking (i.e. to is not repeated in the second conjunct). The tendency towards reduced marking increases considerably in MidE (see Kenyon (1909: 159-60), Quirk & Svartvik (1970: 402-3) and Fischer (1996)). Consider the following examples where the infinitive in the second con-junct is identical to that of the first. In other words, the second to-infinitive is coordinated to the first, and both are governed by the matrix predicate, as the bracketing illustrates:

(24) a. gescead is ðære sawle forgifen [[to gewyssienne] and [ to styrenne]] hire agen lif and ealle hire dæda
reason is the soul given to direct and to govern its own life and all its deeds
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints I,108; Skeat (ibid: 16))
'reason is given to the soul to direct and govern its own life and all its deeds'

b. hwæðer is [[to lufigenne] oððe hwan lac [to offrigenne]]
which is to love or whom sacrifice to offer
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XIV,38; Skeat (ibid: 310))
'which is to be loved, or to whom is sacrifice to be offered'

c. he hæfde þa gleawnesse Godes bebodu [[to healdanne] and [to læranne]]
he had the wisdom God's ordinances to keep and to teach
(Bede Eccles. History III.17,10; Miller (ibid: 206))
'he had the wisdom to keep and to teach God's ordinances'

d. heo onfeng mynster [[to timbrenne] and [to endebyrdienne]]
she undertooke monastery to build and to put in order
(Bede Eccles. History IV,5; Miller (ibid: 334))
'she undertook to construct & arrange a monastery'

e. þæt him leofre wære wið hiene [[to feohtanne] þonne gafol [to gieldanne]]
that to-them pleasant were against him to fight than ransom to pay
(Alfred Orosius 13; Onions (ibid: 23))
'they would rather fight against him than pay ransom'

The examples in (24) conform with the requirement that only phrasal constituents can be coordinated. Crucial in (24) is the fact that the appearance of the dative ending on the infinitival verb in both conjuncts is triggered by the presence of to immediately before the infinitival verb.

Crucially, the V+Inf-to-D movement results in the fact that to and the infinitival verb forms an inseparable (morphological and) syntactic unit on a par with a PP where P cannot be separated from the complement DP. As long as V+Inf-to-D movement is at-tested, the (morphological and) syntactic unity of the OE to-infinitive cannot be broken up by intervening elements like adverbs, objects, etc. The loss of V+Inf movement to D has several consequences on the internal structure of the OE to-infinitive. We will come back to this crucial point in more detail in section 4.2.1.

Now we return to the question as to whether or not to is a preposition. The fact that it was impossible for prepositions to precede the to-infinitive in OE provides yet another argument in favour of our claim that to was a preposition. This goes along with Stowell's (1981: 146) Case Resistance Principle (CRP), which states that catego-ries with Case-assigning features can't appear in Case-marked positions. The CRP predicts that Case cannot be assigned to a category bearing the categorial feature [-V, -N], since this too is a Case-assigning category. In OE we see that this prediction is borne out. In fact, there is a good piece of evidence which suggests that PP must not be assigned Case. Specifically, PP may never appear in a Case-marked position such as the object position of a preposition which obligatorily assigns Case. It is impor-tant to bring into focus the remarks made by Callaway (1913: 78) and Visser (1963-73: 1031). Callaway points out that he has found no clear example of an infinitive used as the complement of a preposition. Visser says that in OE the to-infinitive does not seem to occur after prepo-sitions. As we will see in section 4, the rise of prepositions before the (for)to-infinitive from 1200 onwards can be ascribed to (i) the loss of the dative case feature of to, (ii) the demise of the dative ending -ne, and (iii) the fact that preposi-tions started to subcategorise for sentential complements.

The idea that the OE to-infinitive is headed by a P explains why the to-infinitive as subject was rare in OE. This fact is accounted for by the general ban on PPs in subject position. The fact that the subject to-infinitive becomes more frequent in the MidE period shows that to lost its prepositional property and started to function merely as an infinitival marker, as in (25):

(25) a. for þan euel to donne nis non strencþe, ac is unmihte
because evil to do is-not strength, but is impotence
(c1200 V & V. 129/4; Holthausen (1921: 129))
'because to do evil is no strength, but is impotence'

b. his sedes to sowen, his medes to mowen, his plowes to drive...this is the cnihtes lage
his seeds to sow, his meadows to mow, his plows to drive...this is the knight's duty
(c1200 Proverb Ælfred 89; Visser (ibid: §901))
'to sow his seeds, to mow his meadows, to drive his plows, this is the knight's duty'

Callaway (1913: 7), Kenyon (1909: 112ff), Mitchell (1985: §§1537-9), Mustanoja (1960: 522), and Visser (1963-73: §898) found no clear case of an inflected to-infinitive used as the subject of a verb in OE; the examples in (25) therefore show an innovation in the function of the inflected to-infinitive in early MidE. This in turn means that the inflected to-infinitive itself lost its nominal status. Lightfoot (1979) assumes that the inflected to-infinitives were nominals in OE, but underwent categorial change and became VPs in MidE. We differ from Lightfoot in that we take the infinitival verb as the only element which bears nominal features, as opposed to his claim, that the to-infinitive is nominal. We see the change from the PP status to the TP status as gradual and not simultaneous with other surface changes as is assumed by Lightfoot (1979: 194).

Concerning the morphological and categorial make-up of the inflected to-infinitive, we would like to propose that it is a combination of two features: nominal and verbal. It is nominal in that it realises the D-feature of to. On the other hand, it is verbal in that it has some accusative case features to check with a DP complement in the rele-vant configuration. This dual function of the infinitive leads us to categorise it as being [+D, +V]. We suspect that the form of the infinitive changed its categorial feature from [+D, +V] to [-D, +V]. As the process of morphological attrition went on, the infinitival verb lost some of its nominal nature and assumed more and more the character of a verb.

3. The Position of Pre-verbal DP Complements

At this point we would like to consider the position of DP complements in OE to-infinitives. In particular, we will focus on the relation between underlying order and surface order of DP complement+to-infinitive in OE. Following the assumptions of the Minimalist Program, which takes the only underlying order made available by UG to be that of head-complement, we argue that in OE to-infinitive the order is uniformly to-infinitive-object DP. However, surface DP-to-infinitive order is also found. The two orders are illustrated by the following examples:

(26) a. þu cyst þæt ðu gecure þa tintregu to ðrowigenne
you best that you chose the tortures to suffer
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints VIII, 72; Skeat (ibid: 200))
'you say that you have chosen to suffer the tortures'

b. þær wæron binnan þære byrig seofan gebroðra cristena...þam alyfde se casere heora cristendom to healdenne
there were within the city seven brothers Christian..whom allowed the emperor their Christianity to keep
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints IV, 227; Skeat (ibid: 102))
'there were within the city seven Christian brothers whom the emperor
permitted to keep their Christianity'

(27) a. swa ic eom forgifen fram þam ælmihtigan gode ...eow to geþingienne
so I am given by the Almighty God.....you to intercede
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints X, 138; Skeat (ibid: 218))
'so I am alloted by Almighty God to intercede for you'

b. and ealle Drihtnes apostolas beoþ sende þe to bebyrgenne
and all Lord's apostles be sent you to bury
(Blickling Homilies XIII; Morris (1879: 137))
'and all the Lord's apostles shall be sent to bury you'

(28) a. ðis heo cwæð mid wope and gewilnode to ðrowigenne for cristes naman þa cwealmbæran wita
this she said with weeping and desired to suffer for Christ's name the deadly tortures
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints VIII, 22; Skeat (ibid: 196))
'this she said with weeping, and desired to suffer the deadly tortures for Christ's name'

b. ongan þa to secgenne þone soþan geleafan
began then to teach the true faith
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints X, 154; Skeat (ibid: 228))
'then he began to teach the true faith'

These examples show that (pro)nominal objects in OE to-infinitives may either precede or follow the infinitive. Given the assumptions of the theoretical model adopted in this thesis, we can attribute the surface variation between [DP+to-inf] and [to-inf+DP] to variable strength of the D-features in to, or more precisely in the complex head [p to+V]. If they are strong, they must be eliminated before SPELL-OUT, resulting in overt movement of the object DP to the Spec position of PP, as in (26) and (27). The movement of the object DP to [Spec,PP] is represented in (29):

(29) [PP Spec [P' to [DP Spec [D' D [Inf Spec [Inf ' Inf [VP Spec[V ' V Obj]]]]]]]]

If the D-features of the complex head are weak, movement is delayed till LF, so that the object appears in VP at SPELL-OUT, as in (28).

It should be noted that the distribution of DP complements in OE to-infinitives contrasts with the distribution of DP complements in typical PPs. The contrast lies in the fact that in OE PPs the DP complement of the preposition cannot appear before the preposition unless it is pronominal. The following examples illustrate:

(30) a. þæt hi us þingion to þam ælmihtigan god swa swa we on worulde heora wundra cyðað
that they for-us intercede with the Almighty God as we on earth their miracles reveal
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints preface, 72; Skeat (ibid: 6))
'that they may intercede for us with Almighty God even as we on earth make known their miracles'

b. þa cwæð se hælend to ðam halgan mædene
then said the Saviour to the holy maiden
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints II, 406; Skeat (ibid: 48))
'then said the Saviour to the holy maiden'

(31) a. Æfter þysum wordum heo totær hyre gewædu and cwæð him to þu eart min fæder
after these words she tore her robes and said him to you are my father
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints II, 235; Skeat (ibid: 38))
'after these words she tare apart her robes and said to him: you are my father'

b. he hæfde geaxod... and sende ða ardlice þis ærendgewrit him to
he had enquired and sent then speedily this letter him to
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXIV 87; Skeat (ibid: 58))
'he had enquired...and sent thereupon speedily to him this letter'

We would like to suggest that in the DP P order in (31), the object moves overtly to [Spec,PP] for feature-checking; LF movement yields the surface P DP order in (30). As far as the contrast between (26) and (30) is concerned, the question that arises is: why is it possible for a nominal complement of a to-infinitive (and not possible for a nominal complement of a typical PP) to appear immediately before the preposition? Given our PP-analysis of the OE to-infinitive, the DP complement of the preposition to is the infinitive itself and the actual DP complement is the complement of the complement of to. Given that, we can conclude that it is not the complement of the preposition to that is fronted in (28), but it is the complement of the complement that is fronted.

In summary, we have established that the OE infinitival marker to is a preposition which heads its own PP and subcategorises for a dative marked DP. The evidence that the OE to-infinitive is prepositional is provided by the fact that it occurs in coordination with PPs. Further evidence in favour of the prepositional status of the infinitive is the fact that it does not appear in subject position. The appearance of the to-infinitive in subject position in early MidE shows that to lost its prepositional property and, consequently, was reanalysed as an infinitival marker. This in itself sug-gests that the infinitive lost (some of) its nominal property. We have argued that the dative DP needs to check its case feature. We have suggested that V, which has both an Inf-feature and a D-feature, must have its fea-tures checked with Inf and D, respectively. The D-feature is associated with to, a particular preposition. We have also suggested that the head of the dative DP must have its DAT-feature checked with the preposition to. Feature-checking takes place at PF via the right adjunction of the complex head [D V+Inf] to to. We have proposed that when the DP complement of the infinitival verb appears immediately before to, it occupies the specifier position of the infinitival PP. We have seen that this contrasts with Old English typical PPs where the DP complement of the preposition cannot appear before the preposition unless it is pronominal. We have accounted for this contrast by suggesting that since the infinitival DP is the complement of the preposition to, it cannot appear immediately before to. Therefore, it is not the infinitival DP that is fronted but the complement of the infinitival DP that is fronted.

4. The Recategorisation of the Old English To-infinitive

One rather striking difference between Old English and Middle English concerns the use of the word for in infini-tival constructions, indicated in (34) and (35), respectively:

(32) a. heo freo lefnesse sealdon deofolgyld to bigongenne þam folcum
they free permission gave idols to worship the people
(Bede Eccles. History II.5,6; Miller (ibid: 112))
'they gave free permission to the people to worship idols'

b. hwæs wilnast þu fram me to hæbbenne oþþe to witenne
what desire you from me to have or to know
(Ælfric Lives of Saints XXIII,223; Skeat (ibid: 14))
'What do you wish to have from me or to know?'

c. he dyde monig heofonlic wundor, þa sendon ealle swide lange to areccanne
he did many heavenly wonders which are all very long to
relate
(St. Simeon 11; Herzfeld (ibid: 130))
'he performed many divine miracles, which are all too long to relate'

d. ða cwað Moyses: ðis is se hlaf ðe Drihten eow seald to etenne
then said Moses: this is the loaf that Lord you gave to eat
(Ælfric Exodus XVI,15; Crawford (ibid: 253))
'then Moses said: this is the bread that the Lord gave you to eat'

(33) a. ne cam ic noht te giuen gew for-bisne of mire agene wille to donne, ac i cam for to donne mines fader wille
neg came I not to give you example of my own will to do, but I came to do my father's will
(1200 Vices & virtues 10, Holthausen (ibid: 15))
'I came not to give you an example of doing my own will, but I came in order to do my Father's will'

b. to onelich men & wymmen & to alle oþer þat desiren for to seruen god
to only men & women & to all other who desire to serve god
(c1230 Ancrene Riwle M.6,11; Zettersten (1976: 2))
'to men & women & to others who wish to serve God'

c. he hopeth for to lyve longe and for to purchacen muche riches for his delit
he hopes to live long and to purchase much riches for his
delight
(c1386 Chaucer Cant.T X.1065; Benson (1987: 327))
'he hopes to live long and to acquire much wealth for his own delight'

d. we ben bounde forto serve hym bi oure resoun & wil
we are bound to serve Him with our reason & will
(c1443 Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun 9b; Greet (1927: 24))
'we are bound to serve Him with our reason & will'

While such infinitival constructions are never introduced by for in OE (32), they very frequently are in MidE (33). Indeed, in the course of the MidE period we see that infinitival constructions are increasingly introduced by for. The central question investigated in this section is the recategorisation of the OE to-infinitives as TPs and the diachronic source of for in MidE to-infinitival constructions. Firstly, we discuss the traditional proposal which holds that the fading away of the dative ending facilitated the rise of for. Secondly, it will be argued that the disintegration of the OE case system has its repercussions on the internal structure of the to-infinitival complements. That is, the internal structure of the to-infinitive underwent a radical change such that verb movement to D was lost because D was lost. As we will see, this resulted in the disintegration of the syntactic unity of the to-infinitive.

4.1. Explanations for the Rise of for in Middle English To-Infinitive

The nature and the origin of for has been the subject of much speculation in traditional studies. In the majori-ty of these studies, most attention seems to have been paid to the semantics of for to versus to, and relatively little to the syntax of for to versus to. Let us now look at the proposals that attempt to explain the rise of for before the MidE to-infinitives, starting with the traditional view which claims that the demise of the dative ending made it possible for for to rise.

4.1.1. The Demise of the Dative Ending -NE

The first explanation which has been put forward for the rise of for attributes its appearance to the demise of the dative ending -ne. Recall that OE inflected infinitival constructions are introduced by to, a word which governs the dative case. Consequently, the infinitive also has the dative ending -ne. Infinitival constructions, therefore, are marked by three elements: to + infinitival ending -en/an + the dative ending -ne. When after 1100 the dative ending started to die out, the infinitive becomes marked by to and the infinitival suffix -en. The disappearance of the dative ending -ne is ascribed in part to phonological erosion and in part to standard processes of morphological levelling which tend to apply to paradigms of inflectional morphology. According to some linguists (Lightfoot (1979: 190)) this would have effected the appearance of a new infinitival marker: for. In order to test this assumption, let us consider the following examples from late Old English:

(34) a. se kyng hit dide [[for to hauene sibbe of se eorl of Angeow] & [for help to hauene togænes his nue Willelm]] the king it did to have peace from that earl of Anjou & for help to have against his nephew William
(1127 Chron, I,373,30; Visser (ibid: §949))
'the king did it in order to have peace from the Earl of Anjou and to have aid against his nephew William'

b. al ðe almisse þe mon deð sunderlipe for to quemene ure drihten
all the alms which man does specially to please our Lord
(OE Homilies I; Morris (1877: 137))
'all the alms which a man does specially to please our Lord'

There is probably a connection between the disappearance of the dative ending -ne and the appearance of for, since few infinitival constructions functioning as adverbial clauses of purpose have both for and the dative ending -ne.

4.1.2. The Disintegration of the Syntactic Unity of the Old English To-Infinitive

As we mentioned in section 2.4, since D has a strong feature, the infinitival verb must move there to check its D-fea-ture and the feature contained in D. The difference be-tween OE and MidE reduces to a difference in movement: in OE, but not in MidE, the infinitival verb can move to D. The parameter responsible for this difference between OE and MidE is the strength of the D parameter: D is strong in OE, but not in MidE. One consequence of this is that V+Inf-to-D movement is not possible in MidE since there is no trigger for that movement.

We argue that the disintegration of the OE case system has its repercussions on the internal structure of the to-infinitival complements. That is, the internal structure of the to-infinitive underwent a radical change such that the demise of -ne resulted in the demise of D, and this led to the disintegration of the syntactic unity of the to-infinitive. As we saw in 2.4, this point is important because, unlike MidE and ModE, the to-infinitive in OE is a single (morphologi-cal and) syntactic unit.

An important piece of evidence for the change in the internal structure of the to-infinitive in OE (i.e. the loss of Inf-to-D movement) comes from the fact that the to-infinitive in MidE can be separated by an adverb, object, etc (see Visser (1963-73: §§ 977-982), van der Gaaf (1933), and Jarad (1997)). This is not surprising since syntactic elements can't intervene between P-DP but can between T and Inf (see the MidE structure in (37) below). Now com-pare the OE examples in (35) with the MidE ones in (36):

(35) a. gif ge rohton hit to gehyrenne
if you cared it to hear
(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXI,122; Skeat (ibid: 440))

b. *gif ge rohton to hit gehyrenne

c. *gif ge rohton to[ VP e ]

d. *gif ge rohton hit to not gehyrenne

e. *gif ge rohton hit to Adv gehyrenne

(36) a. he sal þe send Angels for to þe defend
he shall you send angels to you defend
(c13...Curs. Mundi 12965; Visser (ibid: §978))
'he shall send you angels (in order) to defend you'

b. but wyle ye alle foure do a þyng þat Y prey yow to [VP e]
but will you all four do a thing that I beg you to
(c1303 R. of Brunne Handlyng Synne 8024; Sullens (1983: 202))
'but will all four of you do a thing that I pray you to (do)?'

c. it is good forto not ete fleisch & forto not drynk wyn
it is good to not eat flesh and to not drink wine
(c1380 Wyclif Rom. 14,21; Visser (ibid: §979))
'it is good not to eat flesh and not to drink wine'

d. ffor þe proof of þis natural eende is ynoug to my present purpos, which is forto þerby fynde out and proue þat god is
for the proof of this natural end is enough to my present purpose which is to thereby find out and prove who God is
(c1443 Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun 21b; Greet (ibid: 55))
'because the proof of this natural end is enough to my present purpose which is thereby to find out and prove who God is'

The examples in (35b-e) are unattested in OE. We can probably assume that they are ungrammatical.The examples in (36) clearly show that the syntactic unity of the to-infinitive is broken up by elements like ad-verbs and objects. The syntactic unity of the to-infinitive is also broken up by the stranding of to, i.e. to is left on its own after the VP within the infinitival clause has been deleted, as illustrated in (36b). In fact, since there is no D any more, the relationship between to and the rest becomes looser, so that other elements can intervene. We assume that the break-up which took place in the internal structure of the to-infinitive paved the way for the rise of for. The crucial question which poses itself is: how did this break-up come about? We assume that the demise of the dative case and the consequent loss of verb move-ment made to and Inf end up further away from each other than they had been in OE. Given the significant occur-rence of for before the to-infinitives in early MidE (i.e. 1150-1200), we take this period to be the date of the loss of dative case, and the consequent loss of V+Inf-to-D movement. This loss was the main factor in the disin-tegration of the syntactic unity of the internal structure of OE to-infinitives, and the consequent appear-ance of for before the infinitival marker to and adverbs before the infinitival verb. We also take this period to be the date of the Diachronic Reanalysis of the to-infinitive, as indicated in (37):

(37) OE PP =========> MidE TP
¤ \ ¤ \
¤ \ ¤ \
P DP T InfP
| ¤ \ | ¤ \
| ¤ \ | ¤ \
to D InfP to InfP
| ¤ \ ¤ \
| ¤ \ ¤ \
|___Inf VP Inf VP
| | | |
| V | V
|_______ | |______|

Following Roberts (1992) we distinguish three aspects of language change: Steps, Diachronic Reanalysis (DR) and Parametric Change. According to Roberts (1992) the notion of Step can be thought of as the diachronic relations between E-languages (cf. Chomsky (1986)). The appearance of a new construction as an alternative to an already existing one is the first step towards diachronic change. The reanalysis of one of two coexisting constructions is an example of Diachronic Reanalysis. Two crucial questions arise in connection with this: (i) how does the new construction come about? And (ii) how does the new construction replace the old one? We concur with Roberts (ibid: 159) that DRs "create the conditions for parametric varia-tion by removing the structural evidence [and the morpho-logical evidence--emphasis added] for a given parametric setting". For example, we argue that the OE to-infinitive exhibited PP properties, but underwent a DR and became a TP in MidE. The change from the PP status to the TP status- a gradual change-took place in two steps: (i) the gradual fading away of the dative case morphologically realised on the infinitive as -ne, and (ii) the emergence of the so-called split infinitive. The change in (i), which is morphological, might have removed some evidence that infinitives were nominal PPs. It may be that only (ii) is the syntactic change. DRs are taken to be relations between the E-language of one gener-ation and the I-language of a subsequent generation. On this view, the acquirer, on observing his/her parents' E-language utterances in which the infinitival verb does not exhibit any morphological realisation of the dative case reanalyses it as a TP. In other words, the acquirer sets a parameter of UG at a value that is appropriate to and in consonance with his/her trigger experience. Parametric changes indicate a change in the value of a parameter. Parametric changes are diachronic relations among I-languages. Parametric changes may eliminate structures which were already obsolescent, but they also cause perfectly viable structures to undergo DR. Steps, according to Roberts, can and frequently do make certain constructions rarer, but they do not eliminate them totally, in the sense that the grammatical system still permits them. DRs can radically reduce the frequency of certain constructions, but cannot eliminate the constructions in question totally. This is an example of optional rather than radical reanalysis (cf. Fischer & van der Leek (1981)). DRs typically result in the innovation of new constructions alongside older ones.

The MidE structure implies simplification of structure and elimination of one movement, i.e. Inf-to-D movement. Roberts (1992) and Clark & Roberts (1993) argue that these are the hallmarks of syntactic change. The MidE structure also shows that the positions between T and Inf are now available to adverbs, negation, and possibly scrambled objects. Further and more importantly, the absence of D in the MidE structure implies that the to-infinitive lost its PP status, i.e. the loss of D triggered the loss of the nominal property of the OE to-infinitive. The change from the PP status to the TP status took place in two steps: (i) the gradual fading away of the dative ending which began in late OE up to 1100, and (ii) the emergence of split infinitive in the 13th century and the increased frequency of adverbs used as VP-modifiers. The change in (i), which is a morphological change, removed some crucial evidence that infinitives were nominals in PPs. It may be that only (ii) represents the syntactic change. The change in (i) fed the parametric change between OE and MidE by removing the morphological evi-dence for nominal infinitives. It is this possibility of feedback that perpetuates syntactic change. In this respect, children acquiring MidE to-infini-tives would have had to set the relevant parameter (i.e. the parameter determining the categorial nature of to-infinitives whether nominal or clausal) of their I(nternal)-language differently from the setting underlying their trigger experience, i.e. their parents' E(xternal)-language. We assume that acquirers of MidE to-infinitives chose to adopt that setting because it is consistent with their trigger experience, i.e. with the simplest structural representation they can process. A syntactic structure with more steps is supposed to be a harder structure to process than a structure with fewer steps (cf. Roberts (1992) and Clark & Roberts (1993)). The question then arises as to what they did exactly. Presuma-bly, there was no evidence that infinitives involved [DP D InfP], so they simplified this to [InfP] and reanalysed to as an infinitival marker.

To summarise this section: we argued that the loss of D led to the breakup of the internal structure of the to-infini-tive. Another aspect of the change is the recategorisation of to from P to T. We will deal with this point below.

4.1.3. The Recategorisation of the Old English To-Infinitive

The DR of the OE to-infinitive given in (37) above captures the traditional assumption that to was reduced from a preposition expressing motion, purpose, direction, etc. to a semantically empty form functioning as a mere sign of the infinitive. Recall that in OE to was only used before a dative form of the infinitive ending in enne/anne. It denoted a relation of purpose, as in (38):

(38) a. gif drihten...sylð me hlaf to etenne & reaf to werigenne
if Christ....gives me bread to eat & clothes to wear
(Ælfric Genesis XXVIII,20; Crawford (ibid: 157))
'if Christ gives bread to eat and clothes to wear'

b. gif þu wilt me befæstan cnapan to lærenne
if you wish me entrust servants to teach
(Ælfric Lives of Saints XXXVI,76; Skeat (ibid: 44))
'if you wish to entrust me to teach servants'

When the purposive force of to was weakened, some other device was needed to express the notion of purpose. This may have given rise to the use of for before the to-infin-itive. The Oxford English Dictionary's (OED) earliest example of this is dated 1175. Shearin (1903), (cited in Kenyon (1909)) points out that there are only two cases of for to and infinitive which he has found in OE.

(39) a. and ich bidde eou alle ðæt ge bien hym on fultume at þys cristendome Godes yerichtten for [[to setten] and [to driuen]]
and I ask you all that you be to-him in help at this Christiandom God's dues to deposit and to pursue
(Cod. Dipl. IV,306,3; Visser (ibid: §949))

b. se kyng hit dide [[for to hauene sibbe of se eorl of Angeow] & [for help to hauene togænes his nue Willelm]]
the king it did to have peace from that earl of Anjou & for help to have against his nephew William
(1127 Chron, I,373,30; Visser (ibid: §949))
'the king did it in order to have peace from the Earl of Anjou and to have aid against his nephew William'

We assume that purpose clauses are always introduced by preposi-tions, and so we take it that for in (39) must be a preposition. For is a purposive preposition in (39a), since it is fol-lowed by conjoined to-infinitives. For is not a complementizer because it can't be followed by conjoined to-infinitives. The for-to clauses in (39) have the following structure:

(40) PP
¤ \
¤ \
P CP
| ¤ \
for ¤ \
C TP
¤ \
¤ \
T InfP
| ¤ \
to ¤ \
Inf VP

It should be noted that the complement of for in (40) is a CP rather than a TP because (i) clausal complements have to be CPs, and (ii) TPs cannot be complements of lexical items; they are always complements of functional heads.

In considering the emergence of for in infinitival con-structions, Visser (1963-73: §949) writes: "The use of for to instead of to before the infinitive of purpose may have arisen from either the fact that the directive force of to was too much toned down, or to a trend to reinforce the directive force of the preposition to. The early introduc-tion of for to makes the second conjecture more probable. for to is widely used alongside of to during the whole mediaeval period".The development seems to have taken place as follows: for was first used in purpose-type infinitival complements only, then from the end of the 12th century there was no longer any difference of meaning between to and for to, and for to and to were used inter-changeably. That is, the two forms were, at that point, in free variation. An interesting clue comes from the fact that in the 12th century, for without to is found before infinitives as the sign of purpose, as the following examples illustrate:

(41) a. Corineus was to wode ivare for hunti deor wilde
Corineus was to woods gone to hunt animals wild
(c1250 Lazamon's Brut 1422; Visser (ibid: §976))
'Corineus had gone to the woods in order to hunt wild animals'

b. ðe king mornede swiðe for habbe hire to wifue
the king worried greatly to have her to wife
(c1250 Lazamon's Brut B14369; Visser (ibid: §976))
'the king worried greatly to have her as a wife'

These examples provide ample evidence that for could function as a purpose marker (on a par with OE to).

We pointed out in 2.4. that the rise of prepositions before the to-infinitive from 1200 onwards can be keyed to (i) the loss of the dative case feature of to, (ii) the demise of the dative ending -ne, and (iii) the fact that prepositions started to subcategorise for nonfinite sentential complements. (i) and (ii) are presumably connected and were the trigger for the DR in (37). Perhaps (iii) was also the trigger for the DR in (37), if we say that to vacated the P-slot, and made room for other prepositions. After the DR the complement was no longer a DP but InfP, i.e. a kind of clause. This follows from the Case Resistance Principle. In OE for+to-infinitive is ruled out because both for and to assign case. Once to stops being a case-assigner, for and other prepositions can take it as their complement.Consider the following examples:

(42) a. rædiy till to wissenn himm and lærenn
ready till to instruct him and advise
(1200 Orm. 16998; Visser (ibid: §976))

b. þah se feor & se forð ha mahen beon istopen in sotliche to luuien þet nanes weis ne schulen ha stewen hare heorten
but so far & so forth they may be advanced in foolishly to love that no way no shall they subdue their hearts
(1230 Seintet Margarete 25; Millett & Browne (1990: 68))
'but they may be so advanced in foolish love that they cannot by any means subdue their hearts'

c. bliss of herte þat comþ of god to louie
bliss of heart that comes of God to love
(1340 Ayenbite 93; Visser (ibid: §976))
'bliss of heart that comes from the love of God'

d. this false juge gooth now faste about to hasten his delit al that he may
this false judge goes now fast about to hasten his delit all that he may
(c1386 Chaucer Cant. T. VI, 158; Benson (ibid: 192))
'this treacherous judge went about without delay to gratify his lust'

The absence of the dative ending on the infinitival verb in the above examples clearly shows that to is no longer interpreted as a dative case assigner. We suspect that the absence of such evidence suggests that to lost its prepositional property and consequently was reanalysed as a mere infinitival marker. The decline of to's ability to assign dative case might have helped other prepositions to subcategorise for to-infinitival clauses.

The important conclusion that must be drawn from the analysis of OE to-infinitive presented in section two, together with the analysis of for-to-infinitive presented in section four is along the lines of (43):

(43) Old English: to is a purpose P (followed by a Dat DP); for is a locative/temporal/purpose P (followed by DP), so for to is ruled out.

Early MidE: to is T (followed by InfP); for is a purpose P (followed by CP), so for to is fine

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, we summarise the main points with which this article has been concerned. We have argued on the basis of evidence from OE that the infinitival marker to, which introduces the inflected infinitive, is neither C(omp) nor T(ense) nor Agr(eement). Instead it is a preposition which heads its own PP and takes a dative marked DP as its complement. This in itself suggests that OE to-infinitives exhibit nominal properties. One of the properties is that the infinitive has a D-feature. We have argued that the OE to-infinitive should be treated as forming an inseparable syntactic unit, and that this unity is created by the overt movement of the infinitival verb from VP to Inf and then to D. We have shown that the V-to-Inf-to-D movement is driven by the strong dative case feature of the preposition to.

The main goal of section 4 was to account for the recategorisation of the OE to-infinitive and the rise of for before the MidE to-infinitives. We have argued that the loss of D has two consequences. The first consequence is that V+Inf-to-D movement was lost resulting in the break-up of the (morphological and) syntactic unity of the to-infinitive. The second consequence, a consequence of the first consequence, concerns the appearance of the so-called split infinitive, i.e. the development of a preverbal adverb, negation and object position. This crucial evidence marks the drift of the infinitive towards VP behaviour. Given that D was lost in early MidE (i.e. 1150-1200) and the split infinitive appeared in the 13th century, we have conclud-ed that the change from a PP to a TP status was gradual and not simultaneous with other changes, as discussed in Lightfoot (1979). We have seen that the purposive meaning of to was weakened in late OE, and, consequently, for was introduced to emphasise the idea of purpose.

About the Author

Dr Jarad teaches in the Faculty of Foreign Languages & Translation, Ajman University of Science & Technology
Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Email:

(3)	a.	he him [dat.] alefde & forgefe, þæt he most heo gelæran
		he him allowed and granted that he may them instruct
		(Bede Eccles. History IV.16, 20; Miller (1898: 308))
		'he gave him leave & permission to instruct them'

	b.	syþðan eft se Hælend geseah þone mann binnan þam temple, and him [dat.] bebead þas word
		afterwards Christ saw the man within the temple and him commanded these words
		(Ælfric Homilies II, 54; Pope (1968: 232))
		'afterwards Christ saw the man within the temple & commanded him these words'

	c.	se Hælend us[dat.] bebead on þisum halgan godspelle...
		Christ us commanded in this holy Gospel...
		(Ælfric Homilies XIII, 37; Pope (ibid: 498))
		'Christ commanded us in this holy Gospel...'

	d.	we sculen him [dat.] forbeodan þæt hie huru....
		we shall them forbid that they indeed...
		(Ælf. C.P. 210, 24; Visser (1963-73: §869))
		'we shall forbid them that they indeed...'

(4)	a.	alyfe me [dat.] to farenne & to geseonne ðat seloste land begeondan Iordane & ða gecorenistan dune & Lebanum
		allow me to go & to see that best land beyond Jordan & the goodliest mountain & Lebanon
		(Ælfric Deuteronomy. III, 95; Crawford (1922: 337))
		'allow me to go & to see the best land beyond Jordan & the goodliest mountain & the Lebanon'

	b.	þone fulan mete þe moyses forbead godes folce [dat.] to þicgenne for þære gastlican getacnunge
		the foul meat which Moses forbade God's people to taste because of its spiritual signification
		(Ælfric Lives of Saints XXV, 36; Skeat (1881: 68))
		'the foul meat which Moses forbade God's people to taste because of its spiritual signification'

	c.	healdaþ ealle ðas word ðe ic eow to dæg bebeode, & beo<d>að ða eowrum bearnum [dat.] to healdenne & to donne
		keep all those words that I you today command & command these your children to keep & to esteem
		(Ælfric Deuteronomy XXXII, 46; Crawford (ibid: 374))
		'keep those words that I command to you today & then command [them to] your children to keep & to esteem'

	d.	þa dyde he up his hand and sealde him leaf to siþigenne forð
		then lifted he up his hand and gave them leave to journey forward
		(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXXI, 384; Skeat (ibid: 244))
		'then he lifted up his hand and gave them leave to journey forward'

(5)	a.	hie... heton him sendan mara fultume
		they ordered to-them send great forces
		(OE Chron. 8; Davis (1953: 73))
		'they ordered greater forces to be sent to them'

	b.	gif sum dysig mann þas boc rætt oþþe rædan gehierþ
		if some foolish man this book reads or read hears
		(Ælfric's Preface to Genesis 43; Davis (ibid: 79))
		'if some foolish man reads this book or hears it read'

(6)	OE up to 1100	1100-1300	1300-1500	1500 onwards
	to writenne/anne	to writen(e)	to write(n)	to write
	writan	writen	write(e)	write

(7)	a.	hie ge-sohton Brettene Brettum to fultume
		they came Britain to-Britons as help
		(OE Chron. Davis (ibid: 73))
		'they came to Britain as a help to (to help) the Britons'

	b.	and hine þær of.snaþ Gode to lace...
		and him there slaughtered to-God as sacrifice
		(Abraham & Isaac 31; Davis (ibid: 67))
		'and slaughtered him there as a sacrifice to God'

	c.	and wæs swelce a seolcen þræd ymbe his sweoran read, mannum to sweotolunge hu he of-slægen wæs
		and was such a silk thread around his neck red to-men as sign how he slaughtered was
		(King Edmund 148; Davis (ibid: 85))
		'and such a silk thread was around his red neck as a sign to men how he was slaughtered'

	d.	seðe nele clypian crist him to fultume
		who will not call Christ to-him as help
		(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XIII,46; Skeat (ibid: 286))
		'who will not call Christ to help him'

(8)	a.	gadriað ærest þone coccel, and bindaþ sceaf-mælum to forbærnenne
		gather first the tare, and bind in bundles to burn
		(Math,XIII,23; Davis (ibid: 62))
		'first gather the tare and bind in bundles to burn'

	b.	hie heora here on tu todældon-oþer æt ham beon heora lond to healdanne, oðer ut faran to winnanne
		they their army into two divided one at home be their land to keep, the other out go to fight
		(Alfred Orosius 52; Onions (1950: 24))
		'they divided their army into two divisions: one to defend the country; the other to conquer other countries'

	c.	an wulf wearþ asend, þurh Godes wissunge, to bewerienne þæt heafod wiþ þa oþru deor
		a wolf was sent, through God's direction to guard the head against the other animals
		(Ælfric King Edmund 121; Davis (ibid: 84))
		'a wolf had been sent by God's direction to guard the head against other animals'

	d.	Ærest he cwom to Hii þæm ealonde, þonon he wæs sended Ongolþeode Godes word to bodienne & to læranne
		first he came to Iona the island, thence he was sent to-English God's word to proclaim & to teach
		(Bede Eccles. History IV. 24; Miller (ibid: 272))
		'first he came to the isle of Iona from which he had been sent out to preach & teach God's word to the English people'

(9)	a.	Je crois [de [PRO être intelligent]] (French)
		I believe to be intelligent

	b.	credo [di [PRO essere intelligente]] (Italian)
		I-believe to be intelligent

	c.	Ich glaube intelligent [zu [PRO sein]] (German)
		I believe intelligent to be

	d.	*I believe [for [PRO to be intelligent]] (ModE)

(10)	a.	*Jeani semble [CP de [ei être parti]]
		'Jean seems to have left'

	b.	*Giannii sembra [CP di [ei essere partito]]
		'Gianni seems to have left'

(11)	a.	ongyt þu þis þæt ic næbbe nænigne intingan þe to geseonne ne þe to gegretanne
		learn you this that I not-have no reason you to see nor you to greet
		(St. Basilla 20, 5; Herzfeld (1899: 86))
		'Learn thou this that I have no reason to see you or to greet you'

	b.	drihten God, beo þu gemedemad me to geheranne
		Lord God be you deem me to hear
		(St. Cyriac & St. Julitta 16; Herzfeld (ibid: 120))
		'O Lord God, deem it worthy to hear me'

	c.	he forbead swa ðeah þæt blod to þicgenne
		he forbade so though that blood to eat
		(Ælfric On the Old & New Testament 289; Crawford (ibid: 27))
		'he forbade them nevertheless to eat the blood'

	d.	hi eodon þa butu his bodunge to gehyrenne
		they went then both his preaching to hear
		(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXXVI,327; Skeat (ibid: 418)
		'then they both went to hear his preaching'

	e.	we synd gearwe ealle þa þincg to gehyrenne þe se hælend þe bebead
		we are ready all the things to hear which the Lord you commanded
		(Ælfric's Lives of Saints X,144; Skeat (ibid: 228))
		'we are ready to hear all those things which Jesus commanded to you'

(12)	a.	ðas ðing sint to donne
		those things are to do
		(Læce. 62,21; Callaway (1913: 99))
		'those things are to be done'

	b.	heo is to clænsienne fram leahtrum
		she is to cleanse from sins
		(Ælfric Homilies. 552,13; Kageyama (1992: 114))
		'she is to be cleansed from sins'

	c.	and þas feower ana syndon to underfonne
		and these four only are to receive
		(Ælfric's Lives of Saints XVI, 222; Skeat (ibid: 336))
		'and these four only are to be received'

	d.	forðon hi sendon to healdanne mid heortan onbryrdnesse
		therefore they are to keep with heart remorse
		(Litanies 3; Herzfeld (ibid: 74))
		'therefore they have to be kept with compunction of the heart'

	e.	ðas ðingi sint [AgrP t'i [Agr' to donne ti]]
		\|______________\|____________\|

(13)	a.	god ys us [dat] her to beonne good is us here to be (OE Gosp. Mt 17,4; Visser (ibid: §903)) 'it is good for us to be here'

	b.	nyste gyt þat me [dat] gebyrath to beonne on þam ðingum þe mines fæder synt? not know yet that to-me befits to be in the conditions which my father are (OE Gosp. Luke 2: 49; Visser (ibid: §903)) 'Don't the two of you know that it befits me to be in my father's position'

	c.	and eac þa halgan canonas gehadodum forbeodað, ge bisceopum ge preostum, to beonne embe þeofas and also the holy canons clerics forbid both bishops and priests to be after thieves (Ælfric St. Edmund 289; Mitchell & Robinson (1992: 202)) 'and also the holy canons forbid (the ordained) clerics, both bishops and priests, to be concerned with thieves'

(14)	a.	ða wæteru... begunnon to wanigenne æfter oðer healfhund daga the waters... began to wane after other fifty-hundred days (Ælfric Genesis. VIII,3; Crawford (ibid: 103)) 'the waters began to ebb away after another hundred and fifty days'

	b.	ic onginne to blaci_enne I begin to grow pale (Ælfr. Gr. 212,7; Callaway (ibid: 53)) 'I begin to grow pale'

(17)	a.	to + V (present tense)
	b.	to + have + en (perfective aspect)
	c.	to + be + ing (imperfective/progressive aspect)

(17')	a.	John tries to win the race
	b.	only John is known to have won the race
	c.	John always wants to be eating

(18)	a.	John forgot [PRO to lock the car]
	b.	John forgot [PRO locking the car]

(19)	a.	hi nellað herian þone hælend mid sange swa swa se bisceop bebead þam gebroðrum to donne they won't praise Christ with chanting as the bishop commanded the brothers to do (Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXI,243; Skeat (ibid: 456)) 'they will not praise Christ with chanting even as the bishop bade the brethren do'

	b.	Ða fiondas geheht to lufianne the enemies commanded to love (Mt. P. 14,18; Toller (1921: 338))

	c.	ða bebead se biscop ðeosne to him lædan, & in his cafortune heht him medmicle hus gewyrcan then commanded the bishop this-one to him lead & in his enclosure ordered him small hut erected (Bede Eccles. History V,II,20; Miller (ibid: 388)) 'then the bishop directed this man to be brought to him, and ordered a small hut to be erected for him within the enclosure'

	d.	tætectte se biscop hine heht steafa naman cweoðan further the bishop him ordered letters' names say (Bede Eccles.History V.2,30; Miller (ibid: 388)) 'the bishop further ordered him to say the names of the letters'

(20)	a.	ut eode to his gebede oððe to leornianne mid his geferum out went to his prayer or to study with his comrades (Bede Eccles. History III.5,7; Miller (ibid: 162)) '[he] went out to his prayers or to study with his comrades'

	b.	wa ðan ðe strang bið to swiðlicum drencum and to gemencgenne ða micclan druncennysse woe to-that-one that strong is to excessive drinkings and to mingle much intoxication (Ælfric Homilies II, 322,15; Visser (ibid: §897))

	c.	efne þes sunderhalga...hæfde opene eagan to forhæfednysse, to ælmesdædum to ðancigenne God... even this Pharisee had opened eyes to abstinence to almsdeeds to thank God (Ælfric Cath. Hom.ii,430.33; Mitchell (1985: §965))

(21)	a.	het huilen staat me nader dan het lachen (Dutch) the cry-INF stands me closer than the laugh-INF 'I'm nearer to crying than to laughing'

	b.	een keer hard schreeuwen doet een mens goed (Dutch) one time hard shout-INF does a man good 'to shout out loud now and then does a man good'

	c.	D- Darb- u li-l-walad-i (Standard Arabic) the beating-Nom of-the-boy-Gen 'the beating of the boy'

	d.	D- Darb- u ?al aniif- u li-l- walad-i (Standard Arabic) the beating-Nom the violent-Nom of-the-boy-Gen 'the violent beating of the boy'

	e.	o bater no garoto (Brazilian Portuguese) the beating in-the boy 'The beating of the boy'

	f.	o violento bater no garoto (Brazilian Portuguese) the violent beating in-the boy 'the violent beating of the boy'

(22)	a.	we synd gearwe nu to gewinnenne þæt land we are ready now to conquer that land (Ælfric Numbers XIV,40; Crawford (ibid: 320)) 'we are ready now to conquer that land'

	b.	ond symle mid his mode wæs flegende þa heofonlecan to lufienne & to biddenne& to secenne and ever with his mind was hastened the heaven to love, & to desire & to seek (Bede Eccles. History II,6,7, 32; Miller (ibid: 116)) 'and ever in his mind he was in haste to love, to desire and seek the things of heaven'

(24)	a.	gescead is ðære sawle forgifen [[to gewyssienne] and [ to styrenne]] hire agen lif and ealle hire dæda reason is the soul given to direct and to govern its own life and all its deeds (Ælfric's Lives of Saints I,108; Skeat (ibid: 16)) 'reason is given to the soul to direct and govern its own life and all its deeds'

	b.	hwæðer is [[to lufigenne] oððe hwan lac [to offrigenne]] which is to love or whom sacrifice to offer (Ælfric's Lives of Saints XIV,38; Skeat (ibid: 310)) 'which is to be loved, or to whom is sacrifice to be offered'

	c.	he hæfde þa gleawnesse Godes bebodu [[to healdanne] and [to læranne]] he had the wisdom God's ordinances to keep and to teach (Bede Eccles. History III.17,10; Miller (ibid: 206)) 'he had the wisdom to keep and to teach God's ordinances'

	d.	heo onfeng mynster [[to timbrenne] and [to endebyrdienne]] she undertooke monastery to build and to put in order (Bede Eccles. History IV,5; Miller (ibid: 334)) 'she undertook to construct & arrange a monastery'

	e.	þæt him leofre wære wið hiene [[to feohtanne] þonne gafol [to gieldanne]] that to-them pleasant were against him to fight than ransom to pay (Alfred Orosius 13; Onions (ibid: 23)) 'they would rather fight against him than pay ransom'

(25)	a.	for þan euel to donne nis non strencþe, ac is unmihte because evil to do is-not strength, but is impotence (c1200 V & V. 129/4; Holthausen (1921: 129)) 'because to do evil is no strength, but is impotence'

	b.	his sedes to sowen, his medes to mowen, his plowes to drive...this is the cnihtes lage his seeds to sow, his meadows to mow, his plows to drive...this is the knight's duty (c1200 Proverb Ælfred 89; Visser (ibid: §901)) 'to sow his seeds, to mow his meadows, to drive his plows, this is the knight's duty'

(26)	a.	þu cyst þæt ðu gecure þa tintregu to ðrowigenne you best that you chose the tortures to suffer (Ælfric's Lives of Saints VIII, 72; Skeat (ibid: 200)) 'you say that you have chosen to suffer the tortures'

	b.	þær wæron binnan þære byrig seofan gebroðra cristena...þam alyfde se casere heora cristendom to healdenne there were within the city seven brothers Christian..whom allowed the emperor their Christianity to keep (Ælfric's Lives of Saints IV, 227; Skeat (ibid: 102)) 'there were within the city seven Christian brothers whom the emperor permitted to keep their Christianity'

(27)	a.	swa ic eom forgifen fram þam ælmihtigan gode ...eow to geþingienne so I am given by the Almighty God.....you to intercede (Ælfric's Lives of Saints X, 138; Skeat (ibid: 218)) 'so I am alloted by Almighty God to intercede for you'

	b.	and ealle Drihtnes apostolas beoþ sende þe to bebyrgenne and all Lord's apostles be sent you to bury (Blickling Homilies XIII; Morris (1879: 137)) 'and all the Lord's apostles shall be sent to bury you'

(28)	a.	ðis heo cwæð mid wope and gewilnode to ðrowigenne for cristes naman þa cwealmbæran wita this she said with weeping and desired to suffer for Christ's name the deadly tortures (Ælfric's Lives of Saints VIII, 22; Skeat (ibid: 196)) 'this she said with weeping, and desired to suffer the deadly tortures for Christ's name'

	b.	ongan þa to secgenne þone soþan geleafan began then to teach the true faith (Ælfric's Lives of Saints X, 154; Skeat (ibid: 228)) 'then he began to teach the true faith'

(30)	a.	þæt hi us þingion to þam ælmihtigan god swa swa we on worulde heora wundra cyðað that they for-us intercede with the Almighty God as we on earth their miracles reveal (Ælfric's Lives of Saints preface, 72; Skeat (ibid: 6)) 'that they may intercede for us with Almighty God even as we on earth make known their miracles'

	b.	þa cwæð se hælend to ðam halgan mædene then said the Saviour to the holy maiden (Ælfric's Lives of Saints II, 406; Skeat (ibid: 48)) 'then said the Saviour to the holy maiden'

(31)	a.	Æfter þysum wordum heo totær hyre gewædu and cwæð him to þu eart min fæder after these words she tore her robes and said him to you are my father (Ælfric's Lives of Saints II, 235; Skeat (ibid: 38)) 'after these words she tare apart her robes and said to him: you are my father'

	b.	he hæfde geaxod... and sende ða ardlice þis ærendgewrit him to he had enquired and sent then speedily this letter him to (Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXIV 87; Skeat (ibid: 58)) 'he had enquired...and sent thereupon speedily to him this letter'

(32)	a.	heo freo lefnesse sealdon deofolgyld to bigongenne þam folcum they free permission gave idols to worship the people (Bede Eccles. History II.5,6; Miller (ibid: 112)) 'they gave free permission to the people to worship idols'

	b.	hwæs wilnast þu fram me to hæbbenne oþþe to witenne what desire you from me to have or to know (Ælfric Lives of Saints XXIII,223; Skeat (ibid: 14)) 'What do you wish to have from me or to know?'

	c.	he dyde monig heofonlic wundor, þa sendon ealle swide lange to areccanne he did many heavenly wonders which are all very long to relate (St. Simeon 11; Herzfeld (ibid: 130)) 'he performed many divine miracles, which are all too long to relate'

	d.	ða cwað Moyses: ðis is se hlaf ðe Drihten eow seald to etenne then said Moses: this is the loaf that Lord you gave to eat (Ælfric Exodus XVI,15; Crawford (ibid: 253)) 'then Moses said: this is the bread that the Lord gave you to eat'

(33)	a.	ne cam ic noht te giuen gew for-bisne of mire agene wille to donne, ac i cam for to donne mines fader wille neg came I not to give you example of my own will to do, but I came to do my father's will (1200 Vices & virtues 10, Holthausen (ibid: 15)) 'I came not to give you an example of doing my own will, but I came in order to do my Father's will'

	b.	to onelich men & wymmen & to alle oþer þat desiren for to seruen god to only men & women & to all other who desire to serve god (c1230 Ancrene Riwle M.6,11; Zettersten (1976: 2)) 'to men & women & to others who wish to serve God'

	c.	he hopeth for to lyve longe and for to purchacen muche riches for his delit he hopes to live long and to purchase much riches for his delight (c1386 Chaucer Cant.T X.1065; Benson (1987: 327)) 'he hopes to live long and to acquire much wealth for his own delight'

	d.	we ben bounde forto serve hym bi oure resoun & wil we are bound to serve Him with our reason & will (c1443 Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun 9b; Greet (1927: 24)) 'we are bound to serve Him with our reason & will'

(34)	a.	se kyng hit dide [[for to hauene sibbe of se eorl of Angeow] & [for help to hauene togænes his nue Willelm]] the king it did to have peace from that earl of Anjou & for help to have against his nephew William (1127 Chron, I,373,30; Visser (ibid: §949)) 'the king did it in order to have peace from the Earl of Anjou and to have aid against his nephew William'

	b.	al ðe almisse þe mon deð sunderlipe for to quemene ure drihten all the alms which man does specially to please our Lord (OE Homilies I; Morris (1877: 137)) 'all the alms which a man does specially to please our Lord'

(35)	a.	gif ge rohton hit to gehyrenne if you cared it to hear (Ælfric's Lives of Saints XXI,122; Skeat (ibid: 440))
	b.	*gif ge rohton to hit gehyrenne
	c.	*gif ge rohton to[ VP e ]
	d.	*gif ge rohton hit to not gehyrenne
	e.	*gif ge rohton hit to Adv gehyrenne

(36)	a.	he sal þe send Angels for to þe defend he shall you send angels to you defend (c13...Curs. Mundi 12965; Visser (ibid: §978)) 'he shall send you angels (in order) to defend you'

	b.	but wyle ye alle foure do a þyng þat Y prey yow to [VP e] but will you all four do a thing that I beg you to (c1303 R. of Brunne Handlyng Synne 8024; Sullens (1983: 202)) 'but will all four of you do a thing that I pray you to (do)?'

	c.	it is good forto not ete fleisch & forto not drynk wyn it is good to not eat flesh and to not drink wine (c1380 Wyclif Rom. 14,21; Visser (ibid: §979)) 'it is good not to eat flesh and not to drink wine'

	d.	ffor þe proof of þis natural eende is ynoug to my present purpos, which is forto þerby fynde out and proue þat god is for the proof of this natural end is enough to my present purpose which is to thereby find out and prove who God is (c1443 Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun 21b; Greet (ibid: 55)) 'because the proof of this natural end is enough to my present purpose which is thereby to find out and prove who God is'

(38)	a.	gif drihten...sylð me hlaf to etenne & reaf to werigenne if Christ....gives me bread to eat & clothes to wear (Ælfric Genesis XXVIII,20; Crawford (ibid: 157)) 'if Christ gives bread to eat and clothes to wear'

	b.	gif þu wilt me befæstan cnapan to lærenne if you wish me entrust servants to teach (Ælfric Lives of Saints XXXVI,76; Skeat (ibid: 44)) 'if you wish to entrust me to teach servants'

(39)	a.	and ich bidde eou alle ðæt ge bien hym on fultume at þys cristendome Godes yerichtten for [[to setten] and [to driuen]] and I ask you all that you be to-him in help at this Christiandom God's dues to deposit and to pursue (Cod. Dipl. IV,306,3; Visser (ibid: §949))

	b.	se kyng hit dide [[for to hauene sibbe of se eorl of Angeow] & [for help to hauene togænes his nue Willelm]] the king it did to have peace from that earl of Anjou & for help to have against his nephew William (1127 Chron, I,373,30; Visser (ibid: §949)) 'the king did it in order to have peace from the Earl of Anjou and to have aid against his nephew William'

(41)	a.	Corineus was to wode ivare for hunti deor wilde Corineus was to woods gone to hunt animals wild (c1250 Lazamon's Brut 1422; Visser (ibid: §976)) 'Corineus had gone to the woods in order to hunt wild animals'

	b.	ðe king mornede swiðe for habbe hire to wifue the king worried greatly to have her to wife (c1250 Lazamon's Brut B14369; Visser (ibid: §976)) 'the king worried greatly to have her as a wife'

(42)	a.	rædiy till to wissenn himm and lærenn ready till to instruct him and advise (1200 Orm. 16998; Visser (ibid: §976))

	b.	þah se feor & se forð ha mahen beon istopen in sotliche to luuien þet nanes weis ne schulen ha stewen hare heorten but so far & so forth they may be advanced in foolishly to love that no way no shall they subdue their hearts (1230 Seintet Margarete 25; Millett & Browne (1990: 68)) 'but they may be so advanced in foolish love that they cannot by any means subdue their hearts'

	c.	bliss of herte þat comþ of god to louie bliss of heart that comes of God to love (1340 Ayenbite 93; Visser (ibid: §976)) 'bliss of heart that comes from the love of God'

	d.	this false juge gooth now faste about to hasten his delit al that he may this false judge goes now fast about to hasten his delit all that he may (c1386 Chaucer Cant. T. VI, 158; Benson (ibid: 192)) 'this treacherous judge went about without delay to gratify his lust'

(43)	Old English: to is a purpose P (followed by a Dat DP); for is a locative/temporal/purpose P (followed by DP), so for to is ruled out.
	Early MidE: to is T (followed by InfP); for is a purpose P (followed by CP), so for to is fine