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Various
accounts of OV order in Middle English have been proposed, in particular the approach of Kroch and Taylor (2000) in which
quantified (included negated) and ordinary objects receive different analyses, on the assumption of a constant rate of leftward
scrambling of quantified objects. The present study revisits Middle English OV, eliminating heavy NPs which may bias outcomes
towards VO. 13th century and 15th century prose and verse data are analysed for OV or VO order. It is shown that on this basis
of frequency of OV with all types of object (negated, other quantified, and ordinary) is almost identical in EME. However,
negated objects dissociate markedly from other types in later Middle English. It is proposed that the assumption of a constant
rate of leftward scrambling of negated objects in Middle English be abandoned in favour of the NegP reanalysis approach in
van der Wurff (1999) and Ingham (2000, 2003), which in turn may require a revision of the Kroch and Taylor model.
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