A FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF THE VERB "TO BE" AND GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF VERBS IN EARLY MODERN ENGLISH

The development of the English language's grammatical system was significantly influenced by the Early Modern English era. During this time, the language's morphological structure became noticeably simpler, with fewer inflectional endings and a greater emphasis on syntactic methods. The standardization of the English language was additionally significantly helped by an upsurge of the literary language, the introduction of printing presses, and the extensive distribution of scientific and religious writings. This study's primary goal is to analyse the grammatical and functional properties of verbs in Early Modern English, with a focus on the use of the verb "to be" and its function in passive formations. Throughout the study, the employment of verb forms is analysed using examples from religious literature, and the morphological and syntactic characteristics of Early Modern English are investigated using a historical-linguistic method. In this sense, the study aims to clarify how the verb system evolved during English's historical evolution and to ascertain how the Early Modern era contributed to the creation of Modern English.