Edited by Hubert Cuyckens, Hendrik De Smet, Liesbet Heyvaert and Charlotte Maekelberghe
[Studies in Language Companion Series 198] 2018
► pp. 259–282
This study examines how the Old English preterite-present verb dugan ‘to avail’ developed into a modal auxiliary of ability (‘can’) in Middle English. Two factors in the Old English period play a role in this auxiliation process: (i) the influence of the modal precursor magan (meaning ‘to be strong’ as a lexical verb and ‘can’ as a modal) (> Modern English may) and (ii) the textual characteristics of medical texts. Dugan shares with magan a number of morphological and semantic properties. Furthermore, in medical texts, Old English dugan is attested as a lexical verb with the to-infinitive; magan as well is attested as a lexical verb and as a modal followed by the bare infinitive. It is argued that dugan starts combining with the bare infinitive because of the analogy with magan after the medical manuscripts were passed on to the Middle English period.