Question

Analyse the following Shakespearean sentences, and observe the differences between Early Modern English and Modern English – that is, how you would say these sentences today. What can we say in precise, grammatical terms about the syntactic changes that have occurred? 
Thou marvell’st at my words                     Macbeth, Macbeth, III.ii
Macbeth doth come.                                  Third Witch, Macbeth, I.iii
Wilt thou use thy wit?                                Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing, V.i
Do you fear it?                                             Cassius, Julius Caesar, I.ii
Knows he not thy voice?                             First Lord, All’s Well That Ends Well, IV.i
Didst thou not say he comes?                     Baptista, Taming of the Shrew, III.ii
Can’st not rule her?                                      Leontes, Winter’s Tale, II.iii
What sayst thou?                                          Olivia, Twelfth Night, III.iv
What dost thou say?                                     Othello, Othello, III.iii
Whom overcame he?                                    Boyet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, IV.i
 

• A. The agreement forms of Early Modern English included a different form for 2nd person singular subjects.
• B. In wh- and yes-no questions the main verb can raise to Head, CP [Complementizer Phrase].
• C. Pronominal forms are unchanged from Early Modern into Modern English.
• D. Auxiliary verbs could raise to T [Tense] in Early Modern English but not main verbs.

Hint:

Early Modern English permitted main verb movement in questions, a property lost in Modern English.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A, B

Step 1: Agreement morphology in Early Modern English.
Early Modern English retained distinct second-person singular pronouns ({thou, thy}) along with verb agreement markers such as {-st} (e.g., {marvell’st, sayst, didst}). This distinction has been lost in Modern English, making option (A) correct.
Step 2: Verb movement in questions.
Several examples show inversion involving the main verb itself, as in {“Knows he not thy voice?”} and {“Whom overcame he?”}. This indicates that in Early Modern English, main verbs could raise to the C position in wh- and yes-no questions, a possibility largely absent in Modern English. Hence, option (B) is correct.
Step 3: Elimination of option (C).
Pronouns have clearly changed from Early Modern English ({thou, thee, thy}) to Modern English ({you, your}), so pronominal forms are not unchanged.
Step 4: Elimination of option (D).
Early Modern English allowed both auxiliaries and main verbs to raise, whereas Modern English restricts such movement primarily to auxiliaries. Therefore, option (D) is inaccurate.
Step 5: Conclusion.
The correct grammatical generalisations capturing the syntactic changes are given in options (A) and (B).