Micro-change and macro-change in diachronic syntax ed. by Éric Mathieu, Robert Truswell

Language ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-383
Author(s):  
Chris H. Reintges
Keyword(s):  
Diachronic Syntax

Verb-initial declaratives in Old High German and in later German

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Petrova
Keyword(s):  
Main Part ◽  
Old High German ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Diachronic Syntax ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
History Of ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This chapter investigates the syntactic properties and the pragmatic behaviour of verb-initial declarative clauses in the history of German. The focus is on OHG because in this period, verb-initial declaratives represent a frequent, well-known alternative to canonical verb-second main clauses. It is argued that verb-initial declaratives are native in origin, and that they are derivable under a special interpretation of the verb-second rule. The main part of the chapter deals with the pragmatic properties of verb-initial declaratives in OHG, summarizing the various attempts at explaining the distribution of these orders and showing that further research is needed to arrive at a more adequate understanding of their function in the discourse. The chapter closes up with the discussion of the later development of verb-initial declaratives in German, sketching the controversial treatments of this question in the literature on German diachronic syntax.

Syntactic Features and the Limits of Syntactic Change

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Theoretical Issue ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Diachronic Syntax ◽  
Syntactic Variation ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Syntactic Change ◽  
T Domain

This volume brings together the latest diachronic research on syntactic features and their role in restricting syntactic change. The chapters address a central theoretical issue in diachronic syntax: whether syntactic variation can always be attributed to differences in the features of items in the lexicon, as the Borer-Chomsky conjecture proposes. In answering this question, all the chapters develop analyses of syntactic change couched within a formalist framework in which rich hierarchical structures and abstract features of various kinds play an important role. The first three parts of the volume explore the different domains of the clause, namely the C-domain, the T-domain and the ν‎P/VP-domain respectively, while chapters in the final part are concerned with establishing methodology in diachronic syntax and modelling linguistic correspondences. The contributors draw on extensive data from a large number of languages and dialects, including several that have received little attention in the literature on diachronic syntax, such as Romeyka, a Greek variety spoken in Turkey, and Middle Low German, previously spoken in northern Germany. Other languages are explored from a fresh theoretical perspective, including Hungarian, Icelandic, and Austronesian languages. The volume sheds light not only on specific syntactic changes from a cross-linguistic perspective but also on broader issues in language change and linguistic theory.

scholarly journals Special issue on Aspects of OV and VO order in the history of English

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANN TAYLOR ◽  
WIM VAN DER WURFF
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Diachronic Syntax ◽  
University Of Leiden ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
English Syntax ◽  
The University ◽  
Recent Monograph ◽  
Detailed Picture

Whether judged by the amount of intrinsic interest, the number of knock-on effects, or the sheer volume of scholarly work devoted to it, it seems safe to say that one of the major issues in English historical syntax is the shift from object–verb (OV) to verb–object (VO) order. Over the last three decades in particular, a large body of literature has grown up that has resulted in an increasingly detailed picture of this change. No doubt in part because the recent introduction of electronic corpora has provided a boost to data-oriented work, the popularity of this change shows no imminent signs of abating. Evidence for the continuing popularity of this topic was demonstrated at two conferences held at the University of Leiden Centre for Linguistics in 2003 (the second Holland–York Symposium on the History of English Syntax in April 2003, and the Conference on Comparative Diachronic Syntax in August 2003). Although neither of the meetings had the shift from OV to VO in English as a special theme, the conference programmes together included no fewer than eight papers on the topic. Seven of these can be found in this special issue, which aims to illuminate selected aspects of the alternation between OV and VO order in the history of English; the collection of articles is rounded off by a review of a recent monograph on the subject.

Left is right, right is not

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
One-Soon Her ◽  
Hui-Chin Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Diachronic Syntax ◽  
Branching Structures ◽  
Classifier Languages ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Right

Abstract This paper argues for the left-branching constituency of the Chinese classifier phrase and demonstrates that the right-branching approach assumed by the majority of current syntactic works is not viable. The rejection of the right-branching approach entails the rejection of the “split” approach, where both left- and right-branching structures are required. In this debate, we offer a vital fresh perspective from the syntax and mathematics of complex numerals. We examine the right-branching argumentation in A. Li (2014), which, crucially, extends Ionin & Matushansky’s (2006) non-constituent account of complex numerals, e.g. two hundred, in non-classifier languages like English to Chinese and must rely on ellipsis and a silent element YIDIAR ‘a bit’. Yet, complex numerals in Chinese, e.g. liang bai ‘200’, are in fact constituents (He 2015), and the alleged YIDIAR ‘a bit’ does affect the semantics of the noun phrase and is thus by definition illicit (Her & Tsai 2014; 2015). Other evidence comes from Chinese synchronic and diachronic syntax as well as the typology of classifier word orders. While the overall argumentation centers on Chinese, it has significant cross-linguistic implications.

Diachronic Syntax: Models and Mechanisms (review)

Language ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-791
Author(s):  
Elly van Gelderen
Keyword(s):  
Diachronic Syntax
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