Semantic Shifts Within Infinitive Constructions in English

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to trace the semantic evolution of predicates governing the infinitive. The article is aimed at proving that the lexical units governing the infinitive display a semantic shift from more concrete lexical meaning to more abstract modal meaning. The research is conducted on the basis of the theory of context. It is proved that the infinitive is an element of syntactic context reinforcing the modal seme in the meaning of the governing predicate. As the modal seme within the meaning of the predicate is reinforced regularly and the lexical seme only occasionally, the lexical seme is weakened and gradually disappears, the predicate acquiring purely modal meaning. Lexemes having no modal meaning outside the infinitive phrase acquire it when governing the infinitive, which imposes modality upon the governing predicate. The general semantic shift for this type of construction is from concrete lexical to abstract modal, and the modal seme being stronger in these contextual conditions.