“BE vs. HAVE in the perfect of mutative intransitive verbs: A study on the Middle English translation of Paris and Vienne”

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This is another paper of our project on Middle English Paris and Vienne. On the basis of Leeu’s printing of the same text, we have discussed the competition between the be-perfect and the have-perfect of mutative intransitive verbs, examining various conditions influencing the choice between them. While we tested a number of linguistic environments so far adduced in previous studies on the be/have-perfect, we have also included the factor of translation from French. This is something that has not been discussed much in the literature. Most studies on the be-perfect investigate texts in the Late Modern English period, when the shift to the have-perfect was noticeable. However, the shift had started in much earlier periods in the history of English, and this paper show that Middle English is worth discussing as it gives a broader view on the development of perfect forms in English.