Hi all,
Ramesh is right about Tolkien's prose, which is indeed pompous and artificially
archaic. However, "volitional will/would", though no longer very productive
(with many uses fast becoming fossilised), should by no means be considered
extinct:
- Will you / Would you kindly refrain from chewing your gum during class?
- If you will / would kindly ... , I ...
Marc
Selon Ramesh Krishnamurthy <R.Krishnamurthy@aston.ac.uk>:
> Dear Cécile
> Tolkien is evidently attempting to create a distinct style for his
> character Faramir.
> But surely this by itself does not necessarily mean the construction
> is/was "used in British English".
> All it means it was "used by Tolkien".
> Anthony Burgess invented the word 'rhotacismus' in a novel (Earthly
> Powers, I think) and proudly reported its inclusion in the OED in his
> subsequent newspaper review of OED. This does not mean that
> 'rhotacismus' is/was "used in British English".
> Many creative writers may invent/adopt styles and usages that are not
> necessarily the norm in their real-life speech communities.
> Best
> Ramesh
>
> Cécile Yousfi wrote:
>
> > Good evening everyone,
> >
> > Apparently, IF + WOULD is also used in British English. I've just come
> > across the following sentence in Tolkien's _The Lord of the Rings_
> > (Book 6 Chapter 5: /The Steward and the King/). Here, one of the
> > characters (Faramir) is talking to another one (Eowyn, the lady he's
> > in love with) : "And here you will find me, walking and waiting, and
> > also looking east. It would ease my care, if you would speak to me, or
> > walk at whiles with me."
> >
> > Obviously here WOULD is both volitional and hypothetical, the
> > proposition meaning "if you ever agreed to speak with me". I don't
> > know if IF + WOULD can be accepted in formal academic writing, but
> > Tolkien put it in the mouth of one of his heroes, a prince-like
> > character. I hope this example can help you in your research, Parveen.
> >
> > Cécile Yousfi, Docteur en Linguistique Anglaise
> > Paris IV-Sorbonne
>
>
>
>
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