Roots of V-to-C Movement in Romance

The paper investigates the syntactic structure of wh-clauses in late Latin. The results show that, in sentences with a wh-phrase as direct object, the interrogative operator reaches FocP in the left periphery, with the finite verb raising to the Foc head. This spec-head relation accounts for why subjects and dislocated XPs (like topics or focus elements) can not be intervening constituents between the object wh-phrase and the verb. For wh-clauses in which the interrogative operator is an adjunct, the hypothesis is that the wh-phrase occupies [Spec,IntP]. Here, the verb does not move to the CP-field, thus explaining the possibility of intervening subjects and interpolated XPs between the adjunct wh-element and the verb. These results show that the verb second (V2) property of V-to-C movement, as seen in several old Romance languages, can be derived from late Latin, and not exclusively from a supposed influence of Germanic languages, as is assumed in the literature.

Transitivity of Try and V Construction in British and American English

Try and V construction is prevalent in British and American English. This construction is found in both spoken and written English, although with different frequencies. The verb in this construction only appears in in the base form. The lack of research on this verb formation leaves many aspects unexplored, one of which is the transitivity of the verb. Therefore, this study is intended to find out the number of arguments informed by this construction by matching the number of arguments to the verb try and the verb following it after the conjunction and. Two verbs were used to test this match, i.e., give and bring, which are three-place predicate verbs, and other two two-place predicate verbs, i.e., see and answer, were used to validate the finding. British National Corpus (BNC) and Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) were used to collect the data. The findings show that the number of arguments matched the verb following the conjunction and. Therefore, it can be concluded the number of arguments in try and V construction is not unique to this construction, but it is similar to the try to V, where V is the non-finite verb which selects the number of arguments. This result suggests that try and V construction needs to be included in English grammar textbooks in order that non-native speakers can use and understand this rare grammatical rule in appropriate contexts.

A new look at word classes in Cognitive Grammar

Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar aims to offer a conceptual characterization of word classes. Pivotal to this endeavor is the distinction between a “thing” and a “relation” as well as the claim that relations can be scanned either sequentially or summarily. The difference between the two scanning modes is essential to separate, for example, enter as a finite verb from the dynamic preposition into. In this paper, the debate on the status and relevance of the two scanning modes is revisited and the very notion of relation is subjected to close scrutiny, thus revealing its potentially problematic nature. A new way of looking at word classes based on the notions of evolving vs. non-evolving categorization sequences, extrinsicality vs. intrinsicality, and anchorability is developed, which constitutes a radical departure from Cognitive Grammar despite being compatible with its fundamental assumptions.

Topiks im Deutschen und Italienischen

The aim of this paper is i) to investigate the distribution of different topic types in the highest portion (found above valutative adverbs such as glücklicherweise and leider, Cinque 1999) of the German Mittelfeld, i. e. the clause portion found between the finite and non-finite verb forms (Satzklammer), and ii) to compare it with the distribution of topics within the Italian left periphery, i. e. the area found above the finite verb where operators, focalised and topicalised constructions are hosted (Rizzi 1997; Benincà 1988, 2001). Based on a corpus of written and oral German data collected through the DeReKO and the FOLK Databases, we show that in German i) in both written and oral examples a single topic belonging to all topic classes can appear in the highest portion of the Mittelfeld (as proposed by Frascarelli/Hinterhölzl 2007), ii) and that multiple topics are restricted to written texts and appear with the fixed order “Aboutness Topic > Familiar Topic; Aboutness Topic > Contrast Topic”. We compare the distribution of topics above valutative adverbs in German with the distribution of topics in the Italian left periphery. We show that the two languages share the fact that multiple topics are possible, with the difference that i) three topics can appear in the Italian left periphery in the order Aboutness Topic > Contrast Topic > Familiar Topic whereas only sequences of two topics are attested in German; ii) the sentence-initial position functions as an “extra” position for topics in German but not in Italian due to the V2 nature of the former language; iii) the presence of multiple topics in the left periphery is restricted to oral or informal texts in Italian and it is a typical trait of colloquial/informal language, whereas the availability of multiple topics in the German Mittefeld is restricted to written/formal texts and can thus be seen as a written/formal trait.

“The Trout Breaks the Ice” by Mikhail Kuzmin: Verse and Grammar

The author explores various compositional levels of the Russian modernist author Mikhail Kuzmin’s long poem “The Trout Breaks the Ice”. The levels are: (1) the grammatical tenses vs. the astronomical time (non-finite verb forms (imperative) are also assumed to indicate time); (2) the meters of this polymetric poem; (3) realistic vs. symbolic and (4) static vs. dynamic narrative modes. The analysis is done by the chapter, and the data are summarized in five tables. It turned out that certain features regularly co-occur, thus supporting the complex composition of the poem. In particular, the present tense and time regularly mark the realistic and static chapters written in various meters, whereas the past tense and time are specific to the realistic and dynamic chapters written in iambic pentameter. The article sheds new light on the compositional structure of Kuzmin’s poem and the general principles of poetic composition.

The Welsh of Jesus and Job: Verb-second in Middle Welsh

Middle Welsh is a VSO language with the verb before the subject in all kinds of finite clause. However, positive declarative main clauses normally show verb-second order with a constituent of some kind before the finite verb. There are questions about the nature of this restriction. There are also questions about subject-initial sentences, which show surprising agreement properties, whether the subject is a topic or a focused constituent. All these questions can be given plausible answers within HPSG.

Another way to look at counterfactuals

Counterfactuals such as If the world did not exist, we would not notice it have been a challenge for philosophers and linguists since antiquity. There is no generally accepted semantic analysis. The prevalent view, developed in varying forms by Robert Stalnaker, David Lewis, and others, enriches the idea of strict implication by the idea of a “minimal revision” of the actual world. Objections mainly address problems of maximal similarity between worlds. In this paper, I will raise several problems of a different nature and draw attention to several phenomena that are relevant for counterfactuality but rarely discussed in that context. An alternative analysis that is very close to the linguistic facts is proposed. A core notion is the “situation talked about”: it makes little sense to discuss whether an assertion is true or false unless it is clear which situation is talked about. In counterfactuals, this situation is marked as not belonging to the actual world. Typically, this is done in the form of the finite verb in the main clause. The if-clause is optional and has only a supportive role: it provides information about the world to which the situation talked about belongs. Counterfactuals only speak about some nonactual world, of which we only know what results from the protasis. In order to judge them as true or false, an additional assumption is required: they are warranted according to the same criteria that warrant the corresponding indicative assertion. Overall similarity between worlds is irrelevant.

Generational differences in the placement of clitic se in New York City Spanish

Aims and objectives: This study analyzes the proclitic and enclitic positions of Spanish clitic se (e.g., ella se quería ir / ella quería irse ‘she wanted to go’) across two generations of Spanish speakers in New York City. In an effort to contribute to ongoing research aimed at better understanding Spanish in the US, the following questions are addressed. In syntactic environments that permit variation, does placement of Spanish se differ between the two generations? From the internal variables identified for this study (nonfinite verb type, finite verb, tense of finite verb, grammatical person, use of se, grammatical mood of finite verb, negation), which ones have a statistically significant effect on placement? From the external variables identified for this study (national origin, region, areal origins, sex, age, years in US, socioeconomic class, education, English skill, Spanish skill, general Spanish use), which ones have a statistically significant effect on placement? Design and data: This study is carried out within a variationist-sociolinguistic framework and the sample consists of 50 participants, 25 from the first generation (G1) and 25 from the second (G2). Analysis: Bivariate chi-square tests are performed in order to determine what internal and external variables constrain placement of the dependent variable (clitic se placement). Findings: Generation has a statistically significant effect on placement ( p = .016), wherein proclisis is more frequent amongst the G2 participants. These results corroborate previous research showing an overall preference for proclisis in both monolingual and bilingual/heritage speakers. Further, chi-square tests pinpoint five conditioning effects for G1 (nonfinite verb type, use of se, finite verb, years in US, and English skill), but only two for G2 (use of se and English skill). Originality and implications: The present study is the first to discover strong correlations between the proclitic position and the numerous internal and external variables quantitatively assessed. Future research is thus warranted.

A cluster of changes: Norwegian word order

Among the syntactic changes that can be observed in the transition from Old Norwegian to Modern Norwegian are the following word order changes: loss of OV order, object shift from a VP containing a verb (non-finite verb or any verb in a subordinate clause), preverbal preposition, and topicalization of a bare head. The fact that these changes all seemto occurat the same timeis not accidental. Old Norwegian was arguably a VO language, like Modern Norwegian, but unlike Modern Norwegian, OV order was also possible.It can be shown that it is possible to derive sentences with object shift with a verb in VP, sentences with preverbal prepositions, and with topicalized heads only from an OV structure. Therefore, when the OV order was no longer available, the other three structures could no longer be derived.

Verb Second in Old Venetian

This study aims to add to a rich scholarship on the presence of a verb second constraint in old (Italo-)Romance that has been argued to cause V-to-C raising of both the finite verb and one or more constituents, provided we understand this constraint to be lax in these varieties (cf. Ledgeway 2007, 2008). In particular, it analyses a late 14th century old Venetian text, corroborating the existence of this constraint within the variety. Within this study, it will be shown that the syntax of 14th century Venetian is one in which we find the gradual loss of the V2 constraint. This will be shown through a range of phenomena present within the text, such as a loss of Informational Focus fronting, the weakening of subject pronouns, and the loss of scrambling to vP. All in all, this study aims to shed light on the syntax of 14th century Venetian specifically, adding to a growing scholarship on what the incipient loss of the V2 constraint looks like within respective old Romance varieties.