Must down: On Non-Occurring Verbs of Motion in Modern English | Zendy

Göran Kjellmer | Zendy

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Must down: On Non-Occurring Verbs of Motion in Modern English

Author(s) -

Göran Kjellmer

Publication year - 2002

Publication title -

nordic journal of english studies

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.18

H-Index - 8

eISSN - 1654-6970

pISSN - 1502-7694

DOI - 10.35360/njes.121

Subject(s) - linguistics , english language , english studies , field (mathematics) , motion (physics) , order (exchange) , sociology , history , political science , philosophy , computer science , business , mathematics , finance , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics

It is a memorable line in a fine poem. One of the things that make it memorable is the use of must down, a phrase with a somewhat quaint ring to it in modern ears. In present-day English we may expect to find a main verb between the modal and the adverb: "must go down". The non-use of the verb of motion in such a construction is considered "archaic", 1 "virtual ly dead", 2 "obsolete or archaic", 3 "ungebrauchlich" 4 , or at best having "an archaic or dialectal flavour" 5 in modern English. So, does Masefield depart from the norm for modern English in this poem? 6

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