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The Linguistic Cycle in English

The Linguistic Cycle in English. Elly van Gelderen Arizona State University ellyvangelderen@asu.edu Tokyo, 29 April 2009. Outline. 1. What is the Linguistic Cycle; why is it there? 2. My framework/methodology

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The Linguistic Cycle in English

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  1. The Linguistic Cycle in English Elly van Gelderen Arizona State University ellyvangelderen@asu.edu Tokyo, 29 April 2009

  2. Outline 1. What is the Linguistic Cycle; why is it there? 2. My framework/methodology 3. Examples of Cycles (Negation, Aspect, Agreement, Definiteness, and Complementizers) 4. Explanations of Change

  3. Aims • To present a description of some recurring changes in the history of English • To understand some of these cycles • Examine internal and external factors of linguistic change and their interaction

  4. Preview - Cycles are the result of reanalysis by the language learner who apply Economy Principles. I argue that the real sources of change are internal principles. - This is very different from models such as Lightfoot's and Westergaard’s that examine how much input a child needs to reset a parameter. According to Lightfoot, "children scan their linguistic environment for structural cues" (2006: 32); for these, change comes from the outside

  5. The Linguistic Cycle or Spiral von der Gabelentz 1901: “always the same: the development curves back towards isolation, not in the old way, but in a parallel fashion. That's why I compare them to spirals.” (“immer gilt das Gleiche: die Entwicklungslinie krümmt sich zurück nach der Seite der Isolation, nicht in die alte Bahn, sondern in eine annähernd parallele. Darum vergleiche ich sie der Spirale”, p 256).

  6. Others on the Cycle/Spiral • de Condillac, Tooke, A.W. von Schlegel, von Humboldt, Bopp, etc • Jespersen 1917 in particular about Negatives • more recently: Tauli 1958 and Hodge 1970 • Grammaticalization literature: word > clitic > affix > 0 (from Hopper & Traugott 2003) • formal approaches

  7. Macrocycles or Microcycles? - Hodge (1970: 3): Old Egyptian morphological complexity (synthetic stage) turned into Middle Egyptian syntactic structures (analytic stage) and then back into morphological complexity in Coptic. - Heine et al. (1991: 246): there is “more justification to apply the notion of a linguistic cycle to individual linguistic developments.”

  8. Some criticism: Jespersen (1922: chapter 21.9) criticizes the concept of cyclical change. Hopper & Traugott (2003: 124) point out that the cyclical model is “extremely problematic because it suggests that a stage of a language can exist when it is difficult or even impossible to express some concept” (p. 124).

  9. Examples of Cycles Negative Cycle a negative argument > negative adverb > negative particle > zero b verb > aspect > negative > C Subject Agreement demonstrative/emphatic > 3 pronoun > agreement > zero noun/emphatic > 1/2 pronouns >agreement > zero Case or Definiteness or DP demonstrative > definite article > ‘Case’ > zero Future and Aspect Auxiliary A/P > M > T > C

  10. Internal and External Change • Jespersen: "the correct inference can only be that the tendency towards ease may be at work in some cases, though not in all, because there are other forces which may at times neutralize it or prove stronger than it". • Von der Gabelentz (1891/1901: 251/256): "Deutlichkeit" ('clarity') and "Bequemlichkeit" ('comfort').

  11. Grammaticalization

  12. My framework/methodology Systematic morpho-syntactic change Minimalist theory

  13. Why are Cycles interesting? If these are real patterns of change, then they give insight in the Faculty of Language Factors (Chomsky 2005): 1. Genetic endowment = Universal Grammar 2. Experience 3. Principles not specific to language

  14. Building blocks + derivation Phrase (specifier) – word (head) Functional categories (D, C, T) – features Three layers (CP, TP, vP) Lexicon, selection, merge, move (=internal merge), and agree; Interpretation at LF + PF

  15. Phrases and single heads Phrase (= VP) Specifier . The dogs Head (= V) Complement loved the neighbors

  16. A typical sentence CP Spec C’ What C TP will Spec T’ she T VP Spec V’ V DP eat

  17. Starting from the bottom up, with the VP VP > VP V D aliens V’ see it V D see it

  18. And functional categories TP T VP [u-phi] aliens V’ will [3P] V D [fut] see it This then goes to PF/Spell-Out/PHON and to LF/SEM

  19. Economy Locality = Minimize computational burden (Ross 1967; Chomsky 1973) Use a head = Minimize Structure (Head Preference Principle, van Gelderen 2004) Late Merge = Minimize computational burden (van Gelderen 2004, and others)

  20. (a) Phrase (Specifier) > Head Full pronoun to agreement Demonstrative that to complementizer Demonstrative pronoun to article Negative adverb phrase to negation marker Adverb phrase to aspect marker Adverb phrase to complementizer

  21. and (b) higher in the tree On, from P to ASP (I am on going) VP Adverbials > TP/CP Adverbials Like, from P > C (like I said) Negative objects to negative markers Modals: v > ASP > T Negative verbs to auxiliaries To: P > ASP > M > C PP > C (for something to happen)

  22. Head Preference and Late Merge (1) a. FP b. FP F … pro F’ pro F … (2) a. TP b. TP T VP T VP might V’ V' V ... V ... might

  23. Cognitive Economy (or UG) principles help the learner, e.g: Phrase > head (minimize structure) Avoid too much movement XP Spec X' X YP Y …

  24. Now to the Data • Old English Dictionary Texts (all of OE) • Helsinki Corpus (OE through eModE) • Oxford English Dictionary (Adv. Search) • http://dictionary.oed.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/entrance.dtl • Oxford Text Archive electronic-texts etc • http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/ • Modern corpora: British National Corpus, International Corpus of English • http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/lookup.html

  25. Two Negative Cycles I Indefinite phrase > negative = Jespersen’s Cycle Negation weakens and is renewed. For instance: (1) I can’t do that > (2) I can’t see nothing II Verb > negative (3) is-i ba-d-o she-NOM disappear-PF-PST `She disappeared.' (Binyam 2007: 7) (4) ‘is-i dana ‘ush-u-wa-nni-ko she-NOM beer drink-PRES-not_exist-3FS-FOC ‘She does (will) not drink beer.’ (Binyam 2007: 9) (= doesn’t exist she drink beer)

  26. Negative Cycle in Old English450-1400 CE a. no/ne early Old English b. ne (na wiht/not) after 900, esp S c. (ne) not after 1350 d. not > -not/-n’t after 1400

  27. A weakening no/ne (1) No hie fæder cunnon not they father know ‘They don’t know their father’. (Beowulf 1355) (2) Men ne cunnon secgan to soðe ... hwa Man not could tell to truth ... who ‘No man can tell for certain ... who’. (Beowulf 50-52) (3) nis þæt seldguma wæpnum geweorðad not-is that hall-man weapons adorned ‘That is not an (ordinary) hall-man, adorned with weapons’. (Beowulf 249-250)

  28. Renewal (4)Æt nyxtan næs nan heafodman þæt fyrde gaderian wolde At last not-was no headman who force gather wanted ‘In the end there was no chief man who would gather a force’. (Peterborough Chronicle, a1010, Thorpe 265) (5) ne fand þær nan þing buton ealde weallas & wilde wuda ‘He found there nothing but old walls and wild woods’. (Peterborough Chronicle, addition to year 963, Thorpe 220)

  29. Starts in the South Levin 1958; Wood 2002; Ogura 2005 Stable noht > not (6) Næron ʒe noht æmettiʒe, ðeah ge wel ne dyden not-were you not unoccupied. though you well not did ‘You were not unoccupied, though you did not do well’. (Pastoral Care, Cotton, Sweet, 206, from the OED).

  30. Negative Concord is related: (1) ænig monn ne mæg tuæm hlaferdum hera any man not may two lords serve (Northumbrian c950) (2) ne mæg ænig twæm godum ðeowigan not may any two gods serve (Mercian C10) (3) Ne mæg nan man twam hlafordum þeowian not may no man two lords serve (Corpus c1000) (4) Ne mayg nam man twam hlaferden þeowiannot may no man two lords serve (Hatton c1150) Matthew 6.24

  31. Matthew White’s map www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe/oemap.html

  32. Weakening and renewal (1) we cannot tell of (Wycliff Sermons from the 1380s) (2) But I shan't put you to the trouble of farther Excuses, if you please this Business shall rest here. (Vanbrugh, The Relapse1680s). (3) that the sonne dwellith therfore nevere the more ne lasse in oon signe than in another (Chaucer, Astrolabe 665 C1). (4) No, I never see him these days (BNC - A9H 350)

  33. The Negative Cycle NegP Spec Neg' na wihtNeg YP not> n’t …

  34. Indefinites > Negatives in Scandinavian (1) er-at maðr svá góðr at galli né fylgi, is-NEG man so good that blemishes not belong né svá illr, at einugi dugi nor so bad that nothing is-fit-for `Nobody is so good that he doesn't have faults nor so bad that he is not good for anything.' (Hávamál, 133). (2) Þat mæli ek eigi that say-1S I not, `I am not saying that.' (Njalssaga, 219) Changes: ne > zero eigi >ikke > ‘ke

  35. Weakening and Renewalin Modern Norwegian (3) Trøtt...jeg? Ha'kke tid tired ... me? have-not time, `Me, tired? I don't have the time'. (website) (4) for jeg merket ikke aldri at noen hadde kjærestebesøk because I noticed not ever that someone had visitors (website)

  36. Negatives

  37. Two Cycles • Using an indefinite phrase, e.g. nothing/never/a bit • English, Scandinavian, French, Arabic • Using a new verbal head • Chinese • Using both • Koorete, Athabascan

  38. Perfective aspect Cycle: (1) adverb > affix > 0 Latin (2) eo trans flumen > trans-i-eo flumen > transieo trans flumen go through river through-go river go-through through river (Dag Haug p.c.) NT Greek (3) eis-elthen eis ton oikon in-came in the house `He entered the house.’ (Luke 1.40) Næron [JU1]ʒe noht æmettiʒe, ðeah ge wel ne dyden not-were you not unoccupied. though you well not did ‘You were not unoccupied, though you did not do well’. (Pastoral Care, Cotton, Sweet, 206, from the OED). [JU1]Would you prefer yogh or ordinary g in the OE quotations? The yogh, EvG

  39. Old > Middle English (1) Hu lange sceal min feond beon uppahafen ofer me `How long shall my enemy be elevated over me?' (Paris Psalter, p. 19; HC OE3) (2) Se, … and in þy name y shal lift up myn hondes. (Prose Psalter, Ps 62.5; HC ME2)

  40. Renewal in English (1) Elizabeth's accession allowed him to receive back his wife (BNC-GTB938) (2) a husband who changed his mind to receive his wife back without ceremony (BNC-HTX2122). - Pattern (a) has become more frequent in the recent period (Davies 2005), even with definite nominals: In the 100-million British National Corpus, receive occurs nine times in constructions such as (1) and four times in constructions such as (2) (twice with a pronoun and twice with a DP) - The use of pronominal objects, typical for the first order, with these verbs has gone down too.

  41. Other such adverbs • evaporate out boost up • dissipate away issue out • spend down order up (from the library) • receive in offer up • copy down compact down

  42. Acquisition (1) You can’t open up it because it is glued on. (Abe, 2.11.21, Kuczaj corpus) (2) to pick up it (Abe 3.4.08, Kuczaj corpus)

  43. Clause markers 1. WH > Yes/No marker > 0 2. Relative pronoun > Conjunction 3. Preposition > Complementizer/Conjunction 4. VP adverb > Clausal adverb

  44. Fronting the WH-pronoun (1) ond siþðan witig god on swa hwæþere hond, ... and then wise lord to so which-ever hand ... mærðo deme swa him gemet þince. glory grant so him right think `And may the wise lord grant glory to whichever side he thinks right.' (Beowulf 686, Klaeber’s edition) (2) Hwæðer þara twegra dyde þæs fæder willan `Who of-the two did the father's will?’ (West Saxon Gospel Corpus, Matthew 21.31, Skeat’s edition) (3) hwæðersel mæge æfter wælræse wunde gedygan uncer twega who better may after bloody-storm wounds survive 1.D.GEN two-GEN `Who of us two is better at surviving wound after the deadly battle?’ (Beowulf 2530-2, Klaeber’s edition)

  45. Whether from WH-pronoun to Yes/No and C (1) Hwæðer þara twe3ra dyde þæs fæder willan? Who of-the two did the father’s will Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxi. 31 (2) þær se snotera bad hwæþer him alwalda æfre wille ... wyrpe gefremman. there the wise waited whether him almighty ever would ... change accomplish `There the wise one waited whether the almighty would ever grant him change' (Beowulf 1313-5). (3) Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, ... `Would you rather be a Faulconbridge' (Shakespeare, John I, i, 134).

  46. The reanalysis CP C’ C TP T’ T VP V hwether N

  47. English relatives in OE and ME OE se þe > þe or þæt: (1) scyldwiga … se þe wel þenceþ shield-fighter … the that well thinks/judges `(Every sharp) shield fighter, who judges well' (Beowulf 287-9). (2) as theo the duden with Godd al thet ha walden. `as those who did with God all that they wanted’. (Ancr. R. III 492)

  48. The reanalysis of relatives CP dem C’ C TP þat T’ T VP V …

  49. New relatives (1) a laide de Dieu notre Seigneur, Qui vous douit bonne vie et longue. `With the help of God, our Lord, who gives us a good and long life' (Bekynton, from Rydén, p. 131). (2) be the grace of God, who haue yow in kepyng `by the grace of God, who keeps you' (Paston Letters 410).

  50. Preposition > Complementizer/ConjunctionAfter from P > C (1) Ercenberht rixode æfter his fæder `E. ruled after/following his father' (Chron A, 640) (2) a. [æfter him] Stephanus feng to rice. `after him (i.e. Pope Leo), Stephanus became pope'. (Chronicle A, anno 814 [816]) b. [æfter þissum gefeohte] cuom micel sumorlida. `after this fight, there came a large summer-force' (Chronicle A, anno 871) (3) a. [Æfter þysan] com Thomas to Cantwarebyri `After this, Thomas came to Canterbury'. (Chronicle A, anno 1070) b. [æfter ðon] uutedlice ic eftariso ic forlioro vel iowih in galileam `after that, surely I arise-again I come before you in Galilee' (Lindisfarne Gospel, Matthew 26. 32).

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