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Early modern English contractions and their relevance to present-day English

English contractions have their own history

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2011

Denis Gailor
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Extract

Are contractions like don't and it's typical of ‘modern’ English? To what extent were they present in early modern English? This paper endeavours to answer these questions. However, it also sets out to answer another one: early modern English had a set of contractions of its own, and the question is why they disappeared and whether they are still in any way relevant to contemporary English.

Type
Original Article
Information
English Today , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 10 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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