Verbal morphology in the Old English gloss to the Durham Collectar

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-164
Author(s):  
Julia Fernández Cuesta ◽  
Christopher Langmuir
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Old English ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Lindisfarne Gospels ◽  
Syntactic Context ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Abstract This article examines the verbal morphology of the Old English interlinear gloss to the Durham Collectar, attributed by almost universal consensus to Aldred of Chester-le-Street, whose earlier gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels has recently been the object of scholarly attention (Cole 2014; Fernández Cuesta & Pons-Sanz 2016, Gameson et al. 2017). This article analyses -s/-th variation in the present indicative and imperative forms in relation to their syntactic context, in particular subject type and subject-verb adjacency, in order to assess whether the Northern Subject Rule detected by Cole (2014) in Lindisfarne was also operative in Aldred’s later gloss. By means of a quantitative analysis, we find that the first constraint does not significantly affect -s/-ð variation in the gloss and that there is insufficient context for the second. Additionally, it is argued that adjacency is a problematic variable in this text-type. We also demonstrate that there is a higher percentage of second person singular -st and -ð in the Collectar than in Lindisfarne and discuss the possible influence of standard West Saxon on the later gloss.

Subject and adjacency effects in the Old Northumbrian gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCELLE COLE
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Lindisfarne Gospels ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Third Person

The subject and adjacency effects found to condition the distribution of present verbal morphology in northern Middle English, and commonly referred to as the Northern Subject Rule (NSR), are generally regarded to be an Early Middle English development that did not condition the distribution of verbal morphology in northern varieties of Old English (Isaac 2003; Pietsch 2005; de Haas 2008; de Haas & van Kemenade 2015). Using data taken from the tenth-century interlinear gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels, this study considers variation between the present-tense markers -ð and -s in Late Old Northumbrian and discusses evidence which indicates that the subject and adjacency effects at the crux of the NSR were already operative in Old Northumbrian with different morphological material. The findings also debunk the traditional conviction that -s spread first to second-person plural contexts and only subsequently to the third-person plural and singular (Holmqvist 1922; Blakeley 1949/50; Stein 1986).

Talking about MOTION in Middle English

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Analysis Of Motion

Chapter 6 begins with an overview of the language contact situation with (Anglo-) French and Latin, resulting in large-scale borrowing in the Middle English period. The analysis of 465 Middle English verbs used to express intransitive motion shows that there are far more French/Latin loans in the path verbs than in the other motion verbs. The range of (new) manner of motion verbs testifies to the manner salience of Middle English: caused motion verbs are also found in intransitive motion meanings, as are French loans which do not have motion uses in continental French. Their motion uses in Anglo-Norman are discussed in terms of contact influence of Middle English. The analysis of motion expression in different texts yields a picture similar to the situation in Old English, with path typically expressed in satellites, and neutral as well as manner of motion verbs being most frequent, depending on text type.

Reduced forms in the nominal morphology of the Lindisfarne Gospel Gloss. A case of accusative/dative syncretism?

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (s41) ◽  
pp. 37-65
Author(s):  
Julia Fernández-Cuesta ◽  
Nieves Rodríguez-Ledesma
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Old English ◽  
Frequency Condition ◽  
Facsimile Edition ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Nominal Morphology ◽  
Reduced Forms ◽  
Syntactic Context

Abstract One of the most characteristic features of the grammar of the Lindisfarne Gospel gloss is the absence of the etymological -e inflection in the dative singular in the paradigm of the strong masculine and neuter declension (a-stems). Ross (1960: 38) already noted that endingless forms of the nominative/accusative cases were quite frequent in contexts where a dative singular in -e would be expected, to the extent that he labeled the forms in -e ‘rudimentary dative.’ The aim of this article is to assess to what extent the dative singular is still found as a separate case in the paradigms of the masculine and neuter a-stems and root nouns. To this end a quantitative/statistical analysis of nouns belonging to these classes has been carried out in contexts where the Latin lemma is either accusative or dative. We have tried to determine whether variables such as syntactic context, noun class, and frequency condition the presence or absence of the -e inflection, and whether the distribution of the inflected and uninflected forms is different in the various demarcations that have been identified in the gloss. The data have been retrieved using the Dictionary of Old English Corpus. All tokens have been checked against the facsimile edition and the digitised manuscript in order to detect possible errors.

Borrowing non-canonical inverse between Kabardian and Abaza

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-173
Author(s):  
Peter M. Arkadiev
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Close Relative ◽  
First Person ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Indirect Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
Person Hierarchy ◽  
Distant Relative

Abaza, a polysynthetic ergative Northwest Caucasian language, shares with its neighbour and distant relative Kabardian a typologically peculiar use of the deictic directional prefixes monitoring the relative ranking of the subject and indirect object on the person hierarchy. In both languages, the cislocative (‘hither’) prefixes are used if the indirect object outranks the subject on the person hierarchy, and the translocative (‘thither’) prefixes are used in combinations of first person subjects with second person singular indirect objects. This pattern, reminiscent of the more familiar inverse marking and hence called ‘quasi-inverse’, is observed with ditransitive and bivalent intransitive verbs and is almost fully redundant, since all participants are unequivocally indexed on verbs by pronominal prefixes. I argue that this isogloss, shared by West Circassian (a close relative to Kabardian) but not with Abkhaz, the sister-language of Abaza, is a result of pattern replication under intense language contact, which has led to an increase of both paradigmatic and syntagmatic complexity of Abaza verbal morphology.

The Northumbrian Old English glosses

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Elly van Gelderen
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
Early Use ◽  
Third Person

Abstract The articles in this volume contribute to our understanding of Northumbrian Old English of the 10th century, of the nature of external influence, and of the authorship of the glosses. This introduction provides a background to these three areas. Most of the introduction and contributions examine the Lindisfarne Glosses with some discussion of the Rushworth and Durham Glosses. Section 2 shows that the Lindisfarne glossator often adds a (first and second person) pronoun where the Latin has none but allows third person null subjects. Therefore, although the Latin original has obvious influence, Old English grammar comes through. Section 3 reviews the loss of third person -th verbal inflection in favor of -s, especially in Matthew. This reduction may be relevant to the role of external (Scandinavian and British Celtic) influence and is also interesting when the language of the Lindisfarne and Durham Glosses is compared. In Section 4, the use of overt pronouns, relatives, and demonstratives shows an early use of th-pronouns, casting doubt on a Norse origin of they. Section 5 looks at negation mainly from a northern versus southern perspective and Section 6 sums up. Section 7 previews the other contributions and their major themes, namely possible external (Latin, Norse, or British Celtic) influence, the linguistic differences among glossators, the spacing of ‘prefixes’ as evidence for grammaticalization, and the role of doublets.

scholarly journals Pragmatics of Crisis-Motivated Humour in Computer Mediated Platforms in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayodele James Akinola
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Ethnography Of Communication ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Humour, an established means of releasing stress and tension has attracted scholarly attention over the years. In the Nigerian discourse context, studies on Crisis-Motivated Humour (CMH) via CMC platforms are scanty. This paper investigates humour shared through the social media which reflects the socioeconomic/political challenges in Nigeria in order to identify CMH as a form of humour through which real-life experiences of other people can be understood. Ethnography of Communication and Pragmatic act theory serve as the theoretical framework. Ten anonymous humorous compositions were randomly selected from WhatsApp and Facebook. CMH is a creative composition of jokes which reflects the Nigerians’ experiences, perceptions, imaginations and assumptions. They are purposefully composed by Nigerians, in order to downplay the effects of the crisis and bring temporary reliefs to the audience. These jokes elicit amusement, high-level wits and satirise the crisis situation(s). CMH are composed mainly in English with a blend of pidgin and a reflection of some Nigerianism. They are replete with verifiable, but exaggerated facts deployed through varying practs. Use of the first person singular pronoun ‘I’ and second person singular/plural ‘you’ with the use of simple present tense of verb among other grammatical elements, are a norm. All these make some of the jokes believable and also establish CMH as a unique genre of humour with an unlimited audience. CMH are often preserve-able and re-usable and thus serve as a relevant medium through which political leaders can assess the plights of the populace and access first-hand information on the ‘real’ impacts of the crisis.

scholarly journals The evolution of subject-verb agreement in Eastern Tukanoan

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Costa Chacon ◽  
Lev Michael
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
The Family ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Agreement Morphology ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Diachronic Development

Abstract This article describes the evolution of past/perfective subject-verb agreement morphology in the Tukanoan family, reconstructing relevant aspects of Proto-Tukanoan verbal morphology and delineating the subsequent diachronic development of verbal subject agreement morphology in the Eastern branch of the family. We argue that suffixes that cumulatively expone past/perfective and person, number, and gender (png) subject agreement resulted from the fusion of post-verbal demonstratives/pronouns expressing png information with suffixes expressing past/perfective tam information. We propose that different png agreement categories developed at successive stages in the diversification of the family, with third person masculine singular subject agreement emerging before other png categories, followed by animate plural agreement, then finally by the development of third person feminine agreement. The result in Eastern Tukanoan was a cross-linguistically unusual agreement system that contrasts four agreement categories: (i) first and second person singular and third person inanimate (singular and plural); (ii) third person animate masculine singular; (iii) third person animate feminine singular; and (iv) third animate plural.

scholarly journals Transitional syntax: postverbal pronouns and particles in Old English

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLEM KOOPMAN
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Old English ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
The Right

Based on the occasional presence of personal pronoun objects and particles to the right of the nonfinite verb, Pintzuk (1999) argues that we must allow VO phrase structure in Old English as well as OV phrase structure. This article shows that personal pronoun objects and particles follow the nonfinite verb often enough to indeed assume VO as a genuine option. During the Old English period there is a significant increase in absolute as well as relative frequency. A quantitative analysis reveals that the relevant cases are found particularly often in coordinate contexts (pronouns) and ACI constructions (particles).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document