A DIACHRONIC LINGUISTIC STUDY ON THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH SYNTAX STRUCTURES

Abstract

This study presents a diachronic linguistic analysis of the historical evolution and development of English syntax structures, tracing syntactic changes from Old English (ca. 450 AD) to Present-Day English. The research aims to (1) examine how core syntactic patterns, particularly word order, clause structure, and auxiliary usage, have transformed across major historical periods, and (2) identify the linguistic and extralinguistic factors responsible for these developments. Using a qualitative, corpus-based methodology, the study analyzes data from authoritative historical corpora including the Helsinki Corpus, PPCME2, and COHA. The findings reveal a clear transition from a morphologically rich and flexible syntactic system in Old English to a highly analytic, word-order-dependent structure in Modern English. Key developments include the emergence of fixed Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order, grammaticalization of auxiliary verbs, and standardization of complex clause structures. These syntactic changes result from internal linguistic mechanisms, such as grammaticalization and the loss of inflection, and external sociohistorical influences including the Norman Conquest, the rise of literacy, and language contact. The study contributes to historical linguistics by offering an integrated, period-by-period overview of English syntactic evolution and highlights the value of corpus analysis in understanding long-term language change.