Patterns of 1st and 3rd person marking in Oïl-Galloromance

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110
Author(s):  
Benjamin Massot
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Clitics ◽  
Person Marking

Summary This article is a contribution to the long-standing discussion of subject marking in Romance. Its originality lies in its systematically considering data from Oïl-Galloromance dialects, i.e. non-pro-drop varieties, which had been ignored because they were thought to pattern like French. On the contrary, a detailed survey of the means of 1sg and 3sg.m. Marking in these dialects reveals that the obligatoriness of the subject clitics in all grammatical persons does not guarantee the absence of ambiguous marks, since cases of syncretism between these two persons were found, besides cases of marking even more redundant than in French. I then conclude that it is yet another refutation of the now generally abandoned wisdom according to which the subject pronouns exactly compensate the loss of verb endings. Moreover, the results make the pro-drop parameter and parametric theory hard to maintain, as has been observed from other microvariational studies. I also argue against a functionalist interpretation of the correlation between the different means of subject marking based on the assumption of avoidance and repair strategies underlying language change/dialectal fragmentation. My own analysis then relies on the assumption of a strong and stable typological property of accusative languages like Romance, called here the principle of recovery of the subject. The surface microvariation within (Oïl)-(Gallo)romance is simply seen as the result of non-deterministic properties of language change/dialectal fragmentation.

Grammaticalization and inflectionalization in Iranian

2018 ◽  
pp. 57-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Haig
Keyword(s):  
Rich Source ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Case Marker ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Object Indexing ◽  
Person Marking

The oldest attested Iranian languages underwent erosion and loss (or at least simplification) of much of their inherited inflectional morphology. These processes, echoing similar developments elsewhere in Indo-European, affected the categories of gender, case, aspect, person, and modality. The modern languages have since restored the old categories to varying degrees, providing a rich source for observing the mechanisms of grammaticalization. This chapter focuses on the innovation of inflectional person marking, based on erstwhile clitic pronouns. While person indexing for subjects may adhere to the predicted pathway for the grammaticalization of agreement, yielding obligatory verb-bound agreement markers in some languages, the grammaticalization of object indexing does not progress beyond the stage of clitic pronouns, despite the same etymological origin as the subject pronouns, and an even longer time-depth. The chapter also discusses the grammaticalization of a new accusative case marker in Persian, and of an innovated progressive aspect.

Der deutsche Dativ genealogisch und diachron

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-111
Author(s):  
Michail L. Kotin
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Dative Case ◽  
Common Base ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The German dative case from genealogic and diachronic perspective. A language-change study about the third case. The dative case belongs to the so-called syncretistic cases, i. e., it encodes multiple functions inherited from the Indo-European cases locative, instrumental, ablative and dative. The paper aims to show the emergence of diverse case functions formally encoded by the dative case from a common base which is assumed to have the locative semantics. The decisive point was, according to the hypothesis, the development of the directional function towards the object or away from it. The addressee dative arose as a result of a specific reanalysis of movement semantics. The so-called dative of subject emerged from reanalysis of the subject-related experiencer function.

scholarly journals Optimality Analysis of Vowel Harmony in ÀÍKA

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ibikunle Abiodun Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Morphological Effect ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Demonstrative Pronouns ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Object Pronouns

This paper gives an Optimality Theory (Henceforth OT) account of advanced tongue root (ATR) vowel harmony in ÀÍKAan Edoid language that consists of four speech forms spoken in Akoko-Edo area in Nigeria. The ATR harmony manifests within as well as across morpheme boundaries. The ATR harmony across morphemes affects the subject pronouns, prefixes as well as demonstrative pronouns because they are underspecified for ATR value while object pronouns are underlyingly specified. It is further noted that ATR has a morphological effect on the items it affects as it triggers phonological allomorphy in them. In addition to right-to-left spreading analysis in the literature (Abiodun 1999, Ibikunle 2014, and 2016), this research further reveals that there are pieces of evidence for left-to-right spreading of harmonic value. More importantly, this analysis shows that OT is viable and problem-solving efficient compared with the Non-Linear or traditional generative account on Vowel Harmony system of the language.  

scholarly journals Subject NP doubling, matching, and minority French

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Nadasdi
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Clitics

ABSTRACTOur study presents a variationist analysis of subject doubling in the French of Ontario, Canada. Two principal variants are distinguished: a non-doubled variant and a doubled variant containing a clitic agreement marker. In our analyses, both linguistic and social factors are taken into account and analyzed usinggoldvarb2. It is proposed that subject clitics are marked for default features, and that the doubled variant is favored when the clitic's default features match those of the subject NP; lack of matching favors the non-doubled variant. Discussion of linguistic factors for the present study, therefore, is limited to those factors which can be explained in terms matching. The principal social factor studied is restricted language use (cf. Mougeon & Beniak, 1991). Our results show that the greater the restriction, the fewer doubled subjects one finds.

French complement clitic sequences: a template approach

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Watson
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Clitics

AbstractIn this article I shall propose an explanation of the ordering and co-occurrence constraints operating within complement clitic sequences in French, which I shall present as template-formed syntactic constituents. I shall argue that these result from the interaction of two features – [+Accusative] and [+Individua-tion] (in the sense of Blanche-Benveniste (1978) and Blanche-Benveniste et al (1987)) – in conjunction with certain phonological constraints. Furthermore, I shall argue that, once explained, the complement clitic sequence can be seen to constitute an efficient referential system, well adapted to the role of 'kernel sentence’ which, together with the subject clitics and the verb, it performs in Modern French.

Mechanisms of language change in a functional system

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Nesselhauf
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Many ◽  
Late Modern

In this paper, the semantic developments of the major future time expressions in Late Modern English are traced in detail, with the aim of uncovering mechanisms of language change in a complex functional system. The results of the study reveal that to express a pure prediction, the major shift that has taken place in the Late Modern period is from a comparatively frequent use of shall to a comparatively frequent use of ’ll; that to express a prediction based on the intention of the subject, BE going to and the present progressive have replaced will and shall to a certain degree; and that to express a prediction based on a previous arrangement, earlier uses of the simple present have been replaced to a considerable degree by the progressive with future time reference. In addition, the construction WANT to is identified as what may be called an emerging future marker, which has started to be used for predictions based on the subject’s intention. Finally, the possible contribution of certain stylistic and socio-cultural changes to the many recent changes in the system of English future time expressions is also considered, such as the complexification of society, (pseudo-)democratization, and a tendency of many text types towards a more personal style.

scholarly journals Hun hebben de taal verkwanseld en hun hadden gelijk — over het gebruik van hun als onderwerp in het hedendaagse Nederlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (5 Zeszyt specjalny) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Kamila Tomaka
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Striking Change ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Critical Overview

A striking change has recently occurred in the Dutch language, namely, that we are increasingly confronted with a sharp expansion of the use of hun in the subject position. The use of hun instead of ze or zij as the subject of the sentence is considered ungrammatical and a form of language degradation. This contribution discusses the origin of this phenomenon, its characteristics and possible explanations for its use. It also presents a critical overview of statements given by authoritative bodies, such as the Dutch Language Union, about the use of hun. The issue of hun in the practice of NT2 education is also discussed, and the question is asked whether this language change has a negative impact on Dutch. Is it acceptable? Where is the limit for tolerance?

scholarly journals Optimality Analysis of Vowel Harmony in ÀÍKA

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Morphological Effect ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Demonstrative Pronouns ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Object Pronouns

This paper gives an Optimality Theory (Henceforth OT) account of advanced tongue root (ATR) vowel harmony in ÀÍKA[1], an Edoid[2] language that consists of four speech forms spoken in Akoko-Edo area in Nigeria. The ATR harmony manifests within as well as across morpheme boundaries. The ATR harmony across morphemes affects the subject pronouns, prefixes as well as demonstrative pronouns because they are underspecified for ATR value while object pronouns are underlyingly specified. It is further noted that ATR has a morphological effect on the items it affects as it triggers phonological allomorphy in them. In addition to right-to-left spreading analysis in the literature (Abiodun 1999, Ibikunle 2014, and 2016), this research further reveals that there are pieces of evidence for left-to-right spreading of harmonic value. More importantly, this analysis shows that OT is viable and problem-solving efficient compared with the Non-Linear or traditional generative account on Vowel Harmony system of the language.

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