Historical Syntax in Cross-Linguistic Perspective: Extension

This paper suggests a novel syntactic treatment of adverbial clauses. The point of departure is the observation – in German and Slavic languages – that there exists an asymmetry in the complexity of subordinating elements in complement and adverbial clauses: While the former feature simplex complementizers, i.e. heads, the latter to a large extent feature complex prepositional phrases in addition to the adverbial CP. Sense can be made of this observation if adverbial clauses exhibit a structure {PP, CP} in the specifier-less framework of Chomsky (2013). The labeling algorithm suggested in that work delivers no result, i.e. structure remains exocentric in line with the spirit of suggestions regarding adjuncts more generally (Hornstein & Nunes 2008). The underlying reason for the asymmetry is thus that C-elements must be simplex to ensure that the selected complement clause is properly endowed with a syntactic category. There is no corresponding need for this in (unselected) adverbial clauses, and hence no derivational problem for Merging PP with CP which suppresses the application of the labeling algorithm.

Adverbial clauses: Internally rich, externally null

Language Change And Linguistic Theory: The Case Of Archaic Indo-European Conjunction

Complementizer Deletion in Florentine

This chapter discusses the development of two German causal subjunctions weil and zumal. In particular, it introduces a new proposal for the syntactic reanalysis of weil in the C0-position from a free relative clause. Later, weil-clauses also underwent a shift in meaning in the course of which weil developed from a temporal into a causal subjunction. The development of temporal into causal meaning is widely-attested cross-linguistically. This chapter argues that in the case of German, the actuation of this general path was probably enabled by prior extensions of the temporal meaning, which had made the subjunction into a universal subjunction of simultaneity relations. The subjunction zumal, by contrast, developed from the combination zumal weil ‘especially since’ after zumal had been reanalyzed in the C0-position. The reanalysis only concerned the internal syntax of the clause. Its external syntax and the meaning remained stable and corresponded to zumal weil-clauses. Based on these findings, it will be argued more generally that the development of new elements in the C0-position takes place through the fusion of the properties of the new and the old C0-elements. After the reanalysis, the new C0-element has the subordinating force of the old C0-element as well as the semantic content of the new and the old C0-element. 

Chapter 10. On the divergent developments of two German causal subjunctions

This article addresses the German conjunction zumal ‘the more so as’ from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. On the basis of historical corpus data, I trace the uses and meaning development of the lexical item zumal , from a temporal adverb to a conjunction. I argue that it acquired its current syntactic and interpretive features from the final step in this development: the focus particle zumal adopted some syntactic features and meaning components from the subordinate causal conjunctions da and weil , with which it frequently cooccurred in the historical data. In the current language it is thus best analyzed as a subordinate causal conjunction with focus-marking properties, similar to the combination besonders weil ‘especially since’.

/pdf/from-a-focus-particle-to-a-conjunction-diachronic-and-23bvp1q4f8.pdf

From a focus particle to a conjunction: Diachronic and synchronic analysis of German zumal

This article reports empirical work on the tests or judgement criteria which are used to determine the integration status of dependent clauses. Specifically it looks at focus particles and negative scope as indicators of such status in adverbial clauses. Some uses of these tests have produced conflicting results, which might suggest that they are not reliable criteria. Our empirical study suggest that both may be useful independently, but some factors may interfere with each other, producing falsified findings. Additionally, we observe that the test only works with certain sorts of focus particles, not with all, which could also potentially cause misleading findings.

https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/5233/galley/12664/download/

Focus particles and negative scope: Both evidence for syntactic integration?

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From a focus particle to a conjunction: Diachronic and synchronic analysis of German zumal

Focus particles and negative scope: Both evidence for syntactic integration?