The Evolution of Pragmatic Markers in English Pathways of Change

202 Forms of Say

Despite the existence of some indeterminate examples, I  cannot locate
unambiguous concessive examples until the early twentieth century:

(11) a. The change does not appear to be popular ... That said , there is little to
criticize in the performance last night (1923 Times 14 Aug 5/ 2 [OED])
b. This said , the breed is at once a rational one, and possesses all the traits of
his English cousin, (1925 Bruette, The complete dog book [COHA])
Table 7.2 contains a summary of the appearance of the forms. Given the rar-
ity of the forms, it is diffi cult to acquire unassailable evidence for their dating.
However, what seems clear is that the “reduced” forms that/ this said predate
the fuller forms that/ this being said/ having been said , with the having been
said form being a very late formation. Concessive meaning also seems to have
arisen only in Present- day English or very end of Late Modern English, though
the construction may well have had a concessive overlay of meaning quite
early, especially when used in non- narrative contexts.

7.2.3.4 Presence of With. The fi rst (optional) element in the struc-
ture postulated by Lawler is the preposition with. Synchronically, we fi nd
that only 63 examples of that/ this said in COCA have with , or 4.9 percent
(63/1707), and in the BYU- BNC 2 percent (3/150; see Table 7.1 ). With that/
this being said , the results are similar, with no examples found in the BYU-
BNC, and 32 examples in COCA, or 9.1 percent ( 32/350). One example
of with all this having been said is found in COCA (1/47 or 2.1 percent).
Diachronically, the evidence for with is even weaker. No examples with
with occur in EEBO, despite the presence of 573 examples of [period] this
said [comma], and 10 examples of [period] that said [comma]; CEN or
CLMET3.0 contain no examples.

of 1582. But compare the King James Bible translation as an adverbial clause: And when he had

thus spoken. See also the extended discussion on Language Log of the Latin and Greek forms.

Table 7.2 Dating of the “that said” construction in historical corpora

This said That said

This

being

said

That

being

said

That/ this

having

been said

Temporal
(sequential)
meaning

early 16th

century

early 17th

century

early 16th

century

17th century –

Concessive
meaning

1925 1923 late 19th

century

early 20th

century

mid/ late 20th

centur y