CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
A. Background

“All languages undergo change; language change reflects modifications to the grammar, the system of categories, and the rules underlying language use”. Such change may reflect part of the grammar, ranging from the rules for sentence formation (syntax) to pronunciation of individual sounds (phonetics). Why it can effect in those parts? Because every language has rules of syntax, and to the linguists the essential rules are descriptive. They are the rules which underpin the life of the language and which are extremely slow to change.
Like wise in English, “English has undergone dramatic changes throughout the three major periods of its history, namely: Old English (roughly from 450 to 1100), Middle English (from 1100 to 1500), and Present Day English or called as Modern English (from 1500 to the present). Of course, from that dynamically changes there are differences of formation sentence or preposition structures among Old English, Middle English, and Present Day English. Then, in this chapter it will be discussed clearly.



B. Theory Base

Syntax is from Greek a word meaning “arrangement or order”. In definition “syntax is the grammatical arrangement of word in a sentence”. It concern both word order and arrangement in the relationship between words. Examples the following statement follow normal English word order:
The dog sat on the mat.
S V C

Betty read a magazine.
S V O

From three periods are mentioned early, there is difference between old English and modern English (present day English), “the differences between OE and ME/PDE have been brought about series of regular and semantic change. The development of a fixed ‘subject-verb-object’ word order in English has affected more than just a few verbs”.
Differences in word order are rapidly apparent. In the old English “verb” appears after both the subject and the direct object in the first sentence but before them in the second one. Then in the Middle English, all verbs appear before rather than after the direct object. We can write it into formula:

The fisherman caught the fish Modern English
Subject Verb Direct Object

The fish caught the fisherman Old English
Direct Object Verb Subject


CHAPTER TWO
DISCUSSION
NAME : ZAIMUN ASNAWI SABIQ
Std. N : 0735407
CLASS : C

Old English is quite different from modern English or present day English. “One of primary differences between old English and present day English is the language’s transformation from a highly synthetic language to one is essentially analytic in character” in analytic language relies on word order and function word to signal grammatical functions and relationships. And as a consequence of this change between old English and present day English, if we change the words in a sentence like this.
Compare it!
The skipper threw a coconut at Gilligan.
DO V IO S
We change the meaning
Gilligan threw the skipper at a coconut.
S V DO IO
From above sentence, we can look that those sentences as possible sentence in English, but they have different position or different formation structure.

CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION and SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

Based on the discussion about “historical background of syntax”, we can conclude as follow:
English has undergone dramatic change throughout three major of its history, as follows:
Old English (from 450-1100)
Middle English (from 1100-1500)
Modern English (from 1500 to the present)
From three periods, there is different between old English and modern English, in “S – V - DO” word order. And it has affected more than just a few verbs.
In the old English “verb” appears after both the subject and the direct object in the first sentence but before them in the second one. Then in the Middle English, all verbs appear before direct object and after subject.

B. Suggestion

From this paper we suggest that explanation of this chapter is very needed for students at university, in order mastering and understanding historical syntax chat in English sentence well. Therefore, studying it earlier as potential is to consider for any purpose in grammatical learning.

REFERENCES

Dwijatmoko, Bb. 2002. English Syntax.Yoyakarta: Sanata Dharma University Press.
University Of Muhammadiyah. Introduction of History of English Language. Metro.
Roza, Ahmad. An Introduction to Linguistics. Metro.