Lexical and grammatical characteristics of tag-questions from artworks of 1770-1830s

Merkuryeva Natalia Yuryevna

The article deals with the variety of tag-questions focusing on the period of 1770-1830s. The examples are selected from the works of well-known authors of the period – W. Scott, A. Tennyson, A. Radcliffe, Ch. Lamb and others. Constructions with tags are systematized and considered by analogy with the previously described similar constructions from the texts of the Age of Enlightenment. The discussion consists of lexical content of the tags, the arrangement of words in them, the place of tags in the anchors, the peculiarities of graphical design of the sentences.

Keywords:syntax of the English language, historical syntax of the English language, tag-questions, language change.