Title: Reanalyzing person in the history of English
1Reanalyzing person in the history of English
- Elly van Gelderen
- GLAC, Austin, TX
- 15 April 2011
- ellyvangelderen_at_asu.edu
2Aims
- 1. To examine the distribution of pro-drop,
pronouns, and demonstratives in Old English. - 2. To explain this in terms of the child
interpreting input in a particular way through
Feature Economy - 3. To examine internal and external factors of
linguistic change and their interaction
3What happens from OE gt ME?
- Loss of pro-drop
- Loss of verbal agreement
- Introduction of articles
- Change in the relation between demonstrative and
ps pronoun - Introduction of new ps pronouns
4Three factors, e.g. Chomsky 2007
- (1) genetic endowment, which sets limits on the
attainable languages, thereby making language
acquisition possible - (2) external data, converted to the experience
that selects one or another language within a
narrow range - (3) principles not specific to the Faculty of
Language. Some of the third factor principles
have the flavor of the constraints that enter
into all facets of growth and evolution, ...
Among these are principles of efficient
computation"
5Internal Grammar vs Prescriptive Pressure
6Reanalysis of how
- (1) How would you like to go to the game?
- Would you like to go to the game?
- (2) Dwyer told the players how he wanted to win
- D. told the players that he wanted to win.
- (from the BNC as given by Willis 2007 434)
7And possibly in
8How/why Cognitive Economy (or UG) principles
- help the learner, e.g
- Phrase gt head (minimize structure)
- Avoid too much movement
- (1) XP
- Spec X'
- X YP
- Y
9Minimalist features
- The interpretable ones are relevant at the
Conceptual-Intentional interface. - Uninterpretable ones act as glue so to speak to
help out merge. - For instance, person and number features
(phi-features) are interpretable on nouns but
not on verbs.
10Pronouns Agreement variation in the lexicon
- English me French je
- i-phi u-phi
- (i-ps) (u-ps)
- s/he il/elle
- i-phi i-phi
- (i-deictic) (i-deictic)
11What are some of the features?
- TP
- T'
- T vP
- u-phi DP v'
- NOM She v VP
- u-Case saw i-phi u-phi
DP V - ACC bears V
- u-Case
- i-phi
- Semantic, interpretable, and uninterpretable
12The Subject Cycle
- (1) demonstrative gt third person pron gt clitic gt
agreement - (2) oblique gt emphatic gt first/second pron gt
clitic gt agreement
13As features
- emphatic/
- demonstrative gt personal gt agreement
- i-phi i-phi u-phi
- i-deixis u-Case
- ille il ilV
14Feature Economy
- Chomsky (1995 230 381) "formal features have
semantic correlates and reflect semantic
properties (accusative Case and transitivity, for
example)." -
- A language learner selects lexical items with
fewer features. - (1) Adjunct Specifier Head affix
- semantic gt iF gt uF
- (2) emphatic gt full pronoun gt head gt agreement
- i-phi i-phi u-1/2i-3 u-phi
15Back to the History of English
- Pro-drop theories/data Taraldsen (1978), Jaeggli
Safir (1989), Sigurðsson (1993), van Gelderen
(2000), Axel (2007) -
- (1) Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard Now must
praise heavenly-kingdom guard - Now we must praise the lord of the heavenly
kingdom.' - (beginning of the Northumbrian version of
Caedmons Hymn).
16Connected to V-movement as in OHG?
- (1) Sume hahet in cruci OHG
- some hang-2P to cross
- Some of them, you will crucify. (Axel 2007
293 Monsee Fragments) - No
- Pogatscher (1901) has 176 null subjects im
nebensatze.
17OE subordinates with pro-drop
- (1) þæt ic gumcystum godne funde beaga bryttan
breac þonne moste - that I manly-virtue good found ring dispenser
enjoyed as-long could - that I found a noble bestower of rings and
enjoyed it as long as I could.' (Beowulf 1486-7) - (2) swylcum gifeþe bið þæt þone hilderæs hal
gedigeð - such given be that the battle-storm unhurt
endure - May it be that he will withstand unhurt the
heat of the battle.' (Beowulf 299-300)
18There is also Topic-drop
- (20) Heah wæs þæt handlean and him hold frea
high was that reward and him kind lord - gesealde wæpna geweald wið wraðra gryre,
- gave weapens power against hostile terror
- ofercom mid þy campe cneomaga fela
- overcame with it in-fight warriors many
- (Talking about Moses), Great was the reward and
God was gracious to him (Moses) and gave him
weapons against hostile terror. He overcame many
warriors with it in battle.' (Exodus 19-21)
19Pro-drop is licensedby what?
- Agreement (SV order weak verbs)
- Present S 1 -e
- 2 -(e)s(t)
- 3 -(e)ð
- P -að
- Preterite S 1 -de
- 2 -des(t)
- 3 -de
- P -dun, -don, dan
20Inflection on strong verbs in e.g. Mercian Glosses
- Þu V 5 es, 1 est, 1 ast, -2 st
- V Þu 2 es, 1 s, 2 (e)st
- V 3 est (Berndt 1956 98)
- (1) Þu bindes (Matthew 16.9)
- (2) spreces Þu (Matthew 13.10)
- (3) cymest (Matthew 3.14) (Berndt 1956 98)
21No difference for third person
- Rushworths Mercian part
- SV 16 eþ, 1 eth, 2 aþ
- VS 1 aþ
- V 10 eþ, 3 aþ, 1 æþ, 1 iþ (Berndt 103)
- (1) he findeþ (Matthew 7.8)
- (2) sti3aþ he (Matthew 24.17)
- (3) onwreoþ (Matthew 16.17) (Berndt 104)
22Person split in OE Null vs Overt Subject
Pronouns
- Rushworths Matthew
- 1S 6/191 (97)
- 1P 1/44 (98)
- 2S 12/90 (88)
- 2P 20/168 (89)
- 3S 223/246 (54)
- 3P 130/141 (52)
23Lindisfarne (Northumbrian)
- 1S 9/212 (96) 9/656 (99)
- 1P 0/53 (100) 1/120 (99)
- 2S 16/103 (87) 22/308 (93)
- 2P 10/206 (95) 21/428 (95)
- 3S 445/116 (21) 1292/225 (15)
- 3P 263/108 (29) 618/154 (20)
24Pro-drop/agreement licensing in OE
- - Not V-movement as in OHG
- - There is a relation to agreement
- - Less pro-drop in first and second person and
less agreement here - - T has interpretable phi-features in OE
- - Hence, pro-drop etc
- - These are first lost with first and second ps
25Overt pronouns
- (1) þæt fram ham gefrægn Higelaces þegn, god mid
Geatum, Grendles dæda se wæs moncynnes mægenes
strengest on þæm dæge þysses lifes, æþele ond
eacen. Het him yðlidan godne gegyrwan, cwæð, he
guðcyning ofer swanrade secean wolde, mærne
þeoden, þa him wæs manna þearf. ðone siðfæt him
snotere ceorlas lythwon logon, þeah he him leof
wære. -
- Hygelacs thane heard about Grendels deeds
while in Geatland he (Hygelacs thane) was
mankinds strongest man on earth, noble and
powerful. (He) ordered himself a good boat
prepared and said that he wanted to seek the king
over the sea since he (the king) needed men.
Wise men did not stop him (Hygelacs thane)
though he was dear to them. (Beowulf 194-98)
26Traugott (1992 171)
- (2) Þa clypode an ðæra manna Zebeus gehaten and
cwæð to ðam cyninge - Then cried one of-the men Zebeus called and
said to the king -
- Eala ðu cyning þas fulan wuhta þu scoldest
awurpan of ðinum rice. - Oh you king the foul creatures you should
throw-out of your kingdom -
- ðylæs ðe hi mid heora fylðe us ealle besmiton
- in-case that they the foul creatures with
their filth us all affect -
- Hi habbað mid him awyriedne engel. mancynnes
feond. - They the foul creatures have with them
corrupt angel, mankinds enemy -
- and se hæfð andweald on ðam mannum ðe heora
scyppend forseoð. - and he the angel has power over those men that
their creator despise - and to deofolgyldum bugað
- and to idols bow.
- (DOE Segment 8 Ælfrics Catholic Homilies,
second series M. Godden 1979, p. 283. 110 115)
27Cf. Dutch
- (3) Hij had Stern gesproken en aan deze enige
woorden en zaken uitgelegd, die hij niet begreep.
Die Stern niet begreep, meen ik. - He had talked to Stern and explained to this
one some words and matters which he did not
understand. Which Stern did not understand, I
mean'. (Multatuli, Max Havelaar, chap 4, van
Gelderen 1998).
28Changes in C12, e.g. she
- (1) þæræfter toforan Candelmæssan on Windlesoran
him to wife forgyfen Aðelis syððan to cwene
gehalgod. seo wæs þæs heretogan dohtor of
Luuaine. - thereafter before Candlemas at Windsor was given
him to wife Adela and after hallowed queen. She
was the duke of Louvains daughter. (PC 1121) - (2) He brohte his wif to Engleland. dide hire
in þe castel on Canteberi. God wimman scæ wæs. oc
scæ hedde litel blisse mid him. - He brought his wife to England and put her in a
castle in Canterbury. She was a good woman but
she had little bliss with him. (PC 1140) - (3) 3ho wass Elysabæþ 3ehatenn
- She was called Elisabeth. (Ormulum 115)
29Third plural, demonstrative pronouns, and
reflexives
- (1) swa þe33 leddenn heore lif Till þatt te33
wærenn alde - and so they led their lives until they were
old. (Ormulum 125-6) - (2) For he and he had samen ben, forwit selcuth
wrath. - Because they had together been debating.
(Cursor Mundi, Cotton 16161) - (3) mon forgit his selfes ... he sceal hine
selfne geðencean - man forgets his-GEN self-GEN ... he must him-ACC
self-ACC remember - man forgets himself ... he must remember
himself.' (Alfred, Pastoral Care, 34.7)
30What happens?
- Externally a strengthening of the third person
features in the pronoun and a shift in the
relationship with the demonstrative. - This reinforcement through external pronouns, she
and they, brought about a reanalysis of the
features of the pronoun as deictic. - In addition
31The demonstrative
- (1) hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon
- how those nobles courage did
- 'how the nobles performed heroic acts' (Beowulf
3) - (2) se wæs Wine haten se wæs in Gallia rice
gehalgod. - he was wine called and he was in Gaul consecrated
32From Demonstrative to article
- (1) gife to þa munecas of þe mynstre
- give to the monks of the abbey (Peterborough
Chron 1150) - (2) gaddresst swa þe clene corn All fra þe
chaff togeddre - and gather-2S so the clean wheat all from the
chaff together - and so you gather the clear wheat from the
chaff. (Ormulum 1484-5, Holt edition) - (3) the (Wood 2003 69)
33Features of DP
- (1) a. That the dog loves their the toys.
- b. I saw that.
- c. I saw the.
- (2) DP DP
- that D D NP
- i-loc D NP the 3S
- i-ps 3S u-phi
34Reduction of the article and renewal
- (3) Morret's brother came out of Scoteland for
th'acceptacion of the peax - (The Diary of Edward VI, 1550s)
- (4) Oh they used to be ever so funny houses you
know and in them days They used to have big
windows, but they used to a all be them there
little tiny ones like that. (BNC - FYD 72)
35OE pronouns and demonstratives
- He, heo, hit, hi - se, seo, etc.
- non-deictic deictic
- reflexive relative clause
36So 1200 a reanalysis
- (1) gaddresst swa þe clene corn
- and so you gather the clear wheat. (Ormulum
1484-5, Holt edition) - (2) 3ho wass Elysabæþ 3ehatenn
- She was called Elisabeth. (Ormulum 115)
- (3) swa þe33 leddenn heore lif Till þatt te33
wærenn alde - and so they led their lives until they were
old. (Ormulum 125-6) - (4) þin forrme win iss swiþe god, þin lattre win
iss bettre. - Your earlier wine is very good, your later wine
is better. (Ormulum 15409)
37Internal External
- se --gt the seo --gt she
- that --gt that hi --gt they
- him/her --gt him/herself
- (3ps no longer only topic switch)
- a. se gt the
- i-loc/i-phi u-T/u-ps
- b. he/hi is replaced by he
- heo/ha is replaced by she (possibly via seo)
- hi/hie is replaced by they
- i-phi i-phi/i-loc
38- Demonstrative
- i-phi
- i-loc
-
-
- article pronoun
- u-phi i-phi
- u-T
39Conclusions
- The pronoun system undergoes a major shift around
1200 - Pro-drop is lost
- Demonstrative gt Articles
- Personal pronouns are strengthened externally
- The former/latter are introduced
40ctd
- Internal change
- Semantic gt Interpretable gt Uninterpretable
- External change
- Renewal of the semantic features
41Some References
- Berndt, Rolf 1956. Form unde Funktion des verbums
im nordlichen Spataltenglischen. Halle Niemeyer. - Chomsky, Noam 2007. Approaching UG from below, in
Uli Sauerland et al. (eds), Interfaces
Recursion Language, 1-29. Berlin Mouton de
Gruyter. - Gelderen, Elly van 2004. Grammaticalization as
Economy. Amsterdam John Benjamins. - Gelderen, Elly van 2011. The Linguistic Cycle.
Oxford University Press. - Givón, Talmy 1971. Historical syntax and
synchronic morphology. Chicago Linguistic Society
Proceedings 7 394-415. - Hodge, Carleton 1970. The Linguistic Cycle.
Linguistic Sciences . - Traugott, Elizabeth 1992. Syntax. In Richard Hogg
(ed.), The Cambridge History of the English
Language I Old English, 168-289. Cambridge
Cambridge University Press. - Wood, Johanna 2003. Definiteness and Number
Determiner Phrase and Number Phrase in the
History of English. ASU PhD.