<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><italic>As you like it</italic> stands out from the rest of Shakespeare's plays as a comedy of conspicuously unusual dramaturgy. Critics have vindicated its idiosyncratic form claiming that <italic>As you like it's</italic> uneventful plot is due to the pastoral character of the play. Along with such typically pastoral elements as song contests or lover's woes they have listed its setting as an example of an idyllic <italic>locus amoenus</italic>. This article examines the actual character of the Forest of Arden and turns readers' attention towards the equivocal image of the place.</abstract>

<italic>Locus amoenus</italic> or <italic>locus horridus</italic>: The Forest of Arden as a setting in <italic>As you like it</italic>

<italic>A new literary history of America.</italic> Greil Marcus - Werner Sollors (eds.)

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The main goal of this paper is to account for the recategorisation of the Old English <italic>to</italic>-infinitive and the consequent rise of <italic>for</italic> before the Middle English <italic>to</italic>-infinitive. We argue that the loss of D feature has two consequences. The first consequence is that V?<italic>to</italic>-D movement was lost resulting in the break-up of the (morphological and) syntactic unity of the <italic>to</italic>-infinitive. The second consequence, a consequence of the first consequence, concerns the appearance of the so-called split infinitive, i.e. the development of a preverbal adverb, negation and object position. This crucial evidence marks the drift of the infinitive towards VP behaviour. Given that D was lost in early Middle English (i.e. 1150-1200) and the split infinitive appeared in the 13th century, the paper concludes that the change from a PP to a TP status was gradual and not simultaneous with other changes.</abstract>

The breakup of Old English <italic>to</italic>-infinitive: Causes and consequences

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In the paper, we posit the centrality of the speaker in language. In so doing, we refer to the fact that language users may select particular linguistic expressions to encode their understanding of a given situation. This observation alludes to the concept of subjectivity in linguistics, and evokes the notion of modality, concerned, broadly speaking, with the speaker's attitude to the proposition. In English, linguistic devices used to signal the varying degrees of the speaker's commitment towards the proposition include modal verbs. Historically, they can be claimed to have developed from less to more subjective meanings, as in the case of the modal verb <italic>must</italic>. Its epistemic meaning is believed to have evolved from its deontic sense in the Middle English (ME) period. While some authors argue that, at this stage of its development, epistemic <italic>must</italic> was less, rather than more subjective, we test a different supposition. In our view, epistemic <italic>must</italic> occurring in generalized necessity statements might acquire a more subjective reading. Specifically, it seems possible to argue that, by personalizing generalized truths, the speaker tinges them with more subjective overtones. We exemplify the claim using the occurrences of ME *<italic>moten</italic> ‘must’ in <italic>Canterbury Tales</italic>.</abstract>

<italic>Moten in Canterbury Tales:</italic> The speaker's expression of the self

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This work touches upon Martin Amis's diagnosis of the Western world and its cultural foundations which seem to have been threatened, as maintained by the author, by a specific form of "de-Enlightenment" (2008). Amis, a repository of Western intellectual ethos, steps to the fore to defend reason. In view of the world's unrests, he fosters a thorough investigation of public beliefs, either of a religious or political nature, highlighting how deeply individual freedom has been censored and imperiled by various fundamentalisms. In his highly controversial, often blasphemous, collection of essays and short stories titled The second plane Amis renounces in an uncompromising way religious militancy, intellectual insularity, and political dogmatism. Politically incorrect and willfully offensive, the novelist appears unsparing in his criticism of Islamic integrity and right-wing ‘theological’ intransigence. My intention, thus, is to discuss Amis's overall standpoint referring both to the short story "The last days of Muhammad Atta" and a number of his articles written between 2002-2007.</abstract>

Living in the face of menacing ‘unreason’ - Martin Amis's <italic>The second plane</italic> as a response to ideological fundamentalisms

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper describes the electronic editing of the Middle English material housed in the Hunterian Collection at Glasgow University Library (GUL), a joint project undertaken by the universities of Málaga, Glasgow, Oviedo, Murcia and Jaén which pursues the compilation of an electronic corpus of mediaeval <italic>Fachprosa</italic> in the vernacular (http://hunter.filosofia.uma.es/manuscripts). The paper therefore addresses the concept of electronic editing as applied to <italic>The corpus of Late Middle English scientific prose</italic> with the following objectives: (a) to describe the editorial principles and the theoretical implications adopted; and (b) to present the digital layout and the tool implemented for data retrieval. A diplomatic approach is then proposed wherein the editorial intervention is kept to a minimum. Accordingly, features such as lineation, punctuation and emendations are every now and then accurately reproduced as by the scribe's hand whilst abbreviations are yet expanded in italics. GUL MS Hunter 497, holding a 15th-century English version of Aemilius Macer's <italic>De viribus herbarum</italic>, will be used as a sample demonstration (Calle-Martín - Miranda-García, forthcoming).</abstract>

From the manuscript to the screen: Implementing electronic editions of mediaeval handwritten material

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Our article addresses the issue of the relationship between epistemic modality and evidentiality. Earlier works such as Lazard (2001) claim that English does not hold grammatical markers for the source of knowledge in contrast to other languages, e.g. Quechua, that seem to do so. Dendale and Tasmowski (2001), however, think that grammatical evidentials are possible in English, and Aikhenvald (2004) admits that modal verbs in English are a borderline case. In our article, we seek to explore the use of <italic>may</italic> and <italic>might</italic> in a corpus of medical abstracts to demonstrate (i) their value as grammatical evidential markers, and (ii) their value as epistemic markers that show the author's attitude to the proposition manifested. In doing so, we follow Cornillie (2009), who defines these two concepts as independent categories. The results of our analyses indicate that these modals may be used as grammatical markers of evidentiality, regardless of other semantic and pragmatic meanings.</abstract>

The value of <italic>may</italic> as an evidential and epistemic marker in English medical abstracts

<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper examines pronunciation errors made by Polish learners of English. The focus is on the phonology of glides in Polish and English. The purpose of the presented evaluation of errors is to demonstrate that phonological interference finds its source in the phonological rules of the native language having no correspondents in the target language or in the differences in the treatment of diphthongs by both languages.</abstract>

Error-based evidence for interference from Polish gliding rules on English Pronunciation

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Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

 Studia Anglica Posnaniensia: An international Review of English Studies, was established in 1968 by the eminent Polish anglicist Jacek Fisiak and has been published continuously ever since by Adam Mickiewicz University Poznañ (Faculty of English). It is devoted to publishing high-quality research in English linguistics, literatures in English, and broadly understood culture of anglophone countries. It carries original studies in all the above areas, both devoted solely to English and those of a comparative natures, as well as book reviews and thematic issues. New contributions appear continuously throughout the year on the online-first basis, while the yearbook is closed and printed in late December. The primary mode of publication is on-line, with printed copies reserved in principle for the authors alone. The journal welcomes contributions on all aspects on English studies as defined above, theoretical as well as applied. The language of the journal is English. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia is a Gold Open Access journal and as such it does not have any article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges. Rejection Rate   65%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

Volume 46 (2011): Issue 3 (June 2011)

Locus amoenus or locus horridus: The Forest of Arden as a setting in As you like it

A new literary history of America. Greil Marcus - Werner Sollors (eds.)

The breakup of Old English to-infinitive: Causes and consequences

Moten in Canterbury Tales: The speaker's expression of the self

Living in the face of menacing ‘unreason’ - Martin Amis's The second plane as a response to ideological fundamentalisms

From the manuscript to the screen: Implementing electronic editions of mediaeval handwritten material

The value of may as an evidential and epistemic marker in English medical abstracts

Error-based evidence for interference from Polish gliding rules on English Pronunciation

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