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Volume 24, Issue 2
  • ISSN 1566-5852
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Abstract

Abstract

The Early Modern Dutch writer D. V. Coornhert (1522–1590) was an influential figure in the key religious and linguistic developments of his times. Bringing together these two facets and combining both a linguistic (pragmatics/discourse studies and semantics) and a literary studies (rhetoric) approach, this intra-author variation study examines Coornhert’s use of -doubling constructions (e.g., ) alongside simple perfects (e.g., ). At the macro-level, we show that -doubling was restricted to Coornhert’s argumentative and predominantly moral – theological prose. At the micro-level, we then firstly link Coornhert’s -doubling to the well-studied double perfect of modern German which has been proposed to signal the absence of current relevance and have emphasis functions. Secondly, connecting these observations with the pragmatics of verb – tense variation, this article proposes that -doubling parallels the historical present in functioning as a stance marker/evaluative device in Coornhert’s moral – theological prose.

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2023-09-11
2025-04-18

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The pragmatic and rhetorical function of perfect doubling in the work of D. V. Coornhert
Journal of Historical Pragmatics 24, 245 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.20007.van
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): D. V. Coornhert; double perfects; Early Modern Dutch; have-doubling; intra-author variation; stance marker/evaluative device

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