5.4 Conclusion

On the whole, the example study showed that the correlation of aspect and inflections of burn is not merely a phenomenon of present-day English but existed in earlier centuries as well. Yet, it has at least since the 16th century never been an influence which dictated a mutually exclusive choice between the two variants. On the contrary, it appears to have always been a rather vague reference point for choosing either one or the other form, hence too weak to defy the overall trend. Furthermore, Quirk’s argument of the aspectual distinction between –t and -ed being extrapolated from the past participle could be supported diachronically, because the irregular form seems to have always been connected more closely to the past participle rather than to the preterite. However, considering the distribution of the regular and irregular form with regards to the tenses, which does not seem to change over time, the idea that burnt emerged from the past participle and spread into the preterite seems not really convincing.

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