I like not it. andI do not like it. shows that in the former case the particle not inserted between the predicate-verb and the object makes it obscure whether the particle refers to the verb or to the object and the construction may have double interpretation: I do not like it and I like not it (but something else). In oral speech this differentiation is realized by intonation, whereas in written speech this semantic differentiation turns to be impossible. Therefore more distinct means were needed to show this semantic difference which was achieved by means of the analytical form excluding ambiguity. Therefore the older construction was supplanted by the new one: I do not like it. In this construction the particle not is inserted into the predicate itself which shows that it refers to the verb. Owing to the development of the analytical construction with do the older construction without do acquired a new meaning: I like not it but something else. In which the negative particle not refers undoubtedly to the object. The same advantages that favoured the development of analytical forms are to be observed in interrogative constructions. Compare: Mid.E. Like you it? and Do you like it? The first construction was to some extent ambiguous. The fact is that in English the verb and the noun in many cases were homonymous in form due to the loss of unstressed inflections and due to the breaking down of the Old English system of declension. As a result of these historical changes the first construction was especially ambiguous in cases when both the subject and the object were nouns: Likes the King the Queen? Besides, in the constructions of the type Like you it? the predicate-verb and its object appeared to be disconnected syntactically. This was not very convenient as in New E. a rigid and fixed word order was established, it having grammatical value. In the second construction Do you like it? the ambiguity is excluded as the auxiliary verb do makes the construction more distinct clearly pointing out the interrogative character of the sentence. On the other hand, the analytical verbal form made it possible to preserve to some extent the habitual common word order characteristic of the English sentence (subject – predicate - object). Plans for seminars in the History of the English language
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