An emerging scripta explains variation in the negative particles pas and mie in Old French

Abstract This study uses corpus data and analytical statistics to analyze the negative reinforcer particles pas and mie in medieval French. This paper first undertakes a survey of the chronological and geographical distribution of the particles pas and mie, and then a variation analysis of the use of these two negative reinforcer particles to better understand the use of reinforced French negation between 1100 and 1505. The historical findings, namely the loss of written mie, compared with the modern dialectal negation (spoken mie maintained in the dialects of the northeastern francophone regions) suggest that the disappearance of written mie corresponds with a shift in written norms during the fourteenth century rather than a change in the spoken language. Specifically, the observed written change in negative reinforcer particles is hypothesized as attributable to the fourteenth century expansion of a supra-regional scripta originating in Paris.