Husar N. Structure and Functions of Absolute Participial Construction in Middle English.

The dissertation deals with the analysis of absolute participial construction in Middle English. The absolute participial construction is distinguished from the appositive participial construction as the latter has no distinct subject of its own, but agrees with the subject of the main clause. Absolute participial constructions do not depend on the members of finite clause, since their function is settled in relation to the finite verb. In the development of the absolute participial construction in Middle English two periods may be singled out. In the first one, which extends from 1150 to 1350, the analysed constructions are very rare. Their structure and functions are analogues to the Old English absolute participial construction. During the second period, which extends from 1350 to 1500, absolute participial constructions become more complicated and include adverbials of place, time, manner, finite clauses or other absolute constructions. Later, the participle and the noun lost their inflections, and the inflected pronoun reverted to its subject form, thus in the Middle English nominative absolute constructions got prevalent.