Active-middle alignment and the aoristic drift
In the classification of Romance along a northern–southern continuum the languages which exhibit patterns of active-middle alignment (notably, the HABERE ~ ESSE alternation in the perfect) are also known to have undergone the aoristic drift. This article starts from Smith’s (2016) observation that the north-western oïl varieties have maintained the preterite, while also alternating the two auxiliaries, whereas the north-eastern oïl varieties have lost the HABERE ~ ESSE alternation and undergone the aoristic drift. It is argued that the developments which have occurred in the north-western varieties are not theoretically challenging or unique within the Romània. With respect to the generalization of habere in the north-eastern areas and, less conspicuously, throughout Gallo-Romance, it is claimed that this development was engendered by the rise of a dependent-marking system which follows undifferentiated nominative alignment. It is concluded that the modern Romània exhibits a stronghold of active-middle alignment in a group of central languages, which are essentially head marking.