Alternations emerge and disappear: the network of dispossession constructions in the history of English

Abstract This paper focuses on two main issues regarding syntactic alternations and their development over time. On the one hand, it discusses the diachronic implications of alternations as involving multiple (rather than binary) choices. On the other hand, it shows that while studies are typically interested in the emergence of alternation relationships, there are also cases of diachronic loss of such. This is illustrated by zooming in on the history of a particular set of ditransitive verbs, viz. dispossession verbs such as steal or rob, and their connection to the well-known English dative alternation. Based on a quantitative analysis of different dispossession-constructions in corpora of Middle, Early Modern and Late Modern English, I demonstrate that the network of dispossession constructions has changed considerably over time — from a complex interaction between three overlapping patterns to a clear differentiation of two non-alternating constructions.