The Linguistic Cycle
in the Early History of English,
and clauses in particular
Elly van Gelderen
ellyvangelderen@asu.edu
14 April 2007, GLAC 13
www.public.asu.edu/~gelderen/GLAC13
Aims
To present a description of some recurring
changes in the history of English
To understand some of these cycles within a
Minimalist Program
Outline
Examples of Cycles
Economy Principles
Recycling in Clause Markers
Cycles
Negative (neg):
neg adverb > neg particle > (neg particle) neg
indefinite/adverb > neg particle
Definiteness
demonstrative > definite article > Case/non-generic >
class marker
Agreement
emphatic > pronoun > agreement
Auxiliary
A/P > M > T > C
Clausal
pronoun > complementizer
PP/Adv > Topic > C
Background on the Cycle/Spiral
• de Condillac, Tooke, A.W. von Schlegel,
von Humboldt, Bopp
• more recently: Tauli 1958 and Hodge 1970
• Grammaticalization literature:
word
>
clitic >
affix >
(from Hopper & Traugott 2003)
0
Economy Principles,
e.g. van Gelderen 2004
Head Preference Principle (HPP):
Be a head, rather than a phrase.
Late Merge Principle (LMP):
Merge as late as possible.
Specifier Incorporation (SIP)
Be incorporated if you are a phrase.
Null hypothesis of language acquisition
A string is a word with lexical content.
UG Principles: guidance to the child (in acquisition) and the
adult (in the derivation)
The Linguistic Cycle,
e.g. the Negative Cycle
HPP
XP
Spec
na wiht
Late Merge
X'
X
not > n’t
YP
…
Negative Cycle
(1)a.
b.
c.
d.
no/ne
ne
(na wiht/not)
(ne) not
not
-not/-n’t
eOE
OE, especially Southern
ME, especially Southern
LME
LME
Old English – South:
(2)Næron 3e noht æmetti3e, 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).
Negative Concord Cycle
(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 þeowian
not may no man two lords serve (Hatton c1150)
Matthew 6.24
DP Cycle
a.
DP
dem
D
D'

NP
b.
D'
D
art

c.
DP
DP
D'
D
^
renewal
NP
N

(=HPP)
NP
N
Subject Cycle
TP
DP
pron
TP
T’
T
VP
Urdu/Hindi, Japanese
(=HPP)
DP
T’
pron pron-T
VP
Coll French, CVC
TP
[DP]
[pron]
T’
pron-T
Navajo, Spanish, Arabic
(=LMP)
VP
Late Merge?
• Chomsky (1995: 348): Late Merge accounts for
the presence of expletive subjects over raising;
the principle is used by Fox (2002) to account for
Antecedent Contained Deletion and by Bhatt &
Pancheva (2004) for the scope of degree
clauses. Both Roberts & Roussou (2003) and
van Gelderen (2004) use it to account for
grammaticalization.
• Chomsky post 1995: IM = EM, no difference
• It still seems salvageable but is it better to see
things in terms of features?
Feature Economy: uF as perfection
Economy of Features
Minimize the interpretable features in the
derivation
a.Spec >
Head
>
zero
b.semantic > interpretable > uninterpretable
(phi on N)
(uphi on T)
From V > AUX
VP
TP
V
wolde
DP
[uCASE]
T
would
[ACC]
[phi]
[uphi]
[uphi]
>
VP
V
DP
From P > C
PP
CP
P
after
DP
[u-phi]
[3S]
[ACC]
[uACC]
>
C
after
(u-phi)
In English, no phi, but Germanic C-agreement.
TP
Renewal at the end of the cycle
• Newmeyer 2006 notes that some grammaticalizations
from noun/verb to affix can take as little as 1000 years,
and wonders how there can be anything left to
grammaticalize if this is the right scenario.
• Late Merge (Feature Economy), however, provides an
answer for what the source of the replenishments are,
namely lexical elements from lower in the tree. There are
also borrowings and creative inventions through SIP.
• The Economy Principles do not provide a reason why
certain languages/societies are more conservative than
others, e.g. why the split infinitive has encountered such
opposition by prescriptivists, and has kept to from
grammaticalizing more.
New specifiers:
- Emphatic pronouns
- Demonstrative pronouns
- VP adverbs
New heads
- Verbs
- Adverbs
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').
Clause markers
1.
WH > Yes/No marker
2.
Relative > Conjunction
3.
Preposition >
Complementizer/Conjunction
4.
VP adverb > Clausal adverb
Creation of new Clause boundaries
Whether: WH-pronoun to Yes/No and C
(1)Hwæðer þara twe3ra dyde þæs fæder willan?
Who of-the two did the father’s will WS Gosp. Matt. xxi. 31
(2)Hwæðer wæs iohannes fulluht þe of heofonum
þe of mannum
Whether was John's baptism that of heavens or of man
`Was the baptism of John done by heaven or by man' (West Saxon
Gospel, Corpus, Matthew 21.25).
(3)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).
Same is true in other languages
(1)
(2)
kya ram jata he
Hindi/Urdu
Q Ram go-3S is
`Is Ram going'?
Ap kya kerũge
Hindi/Urdu
you what do-FUT.2P
`What are you going to do'.
Account
CP
CP
C’
whether

whether
…
C
Or Feature Grammaticalization:
whether
[i-wh]
>
whether
[u-wh]
C
C’ =LMP
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)
Wh-cycle
a.
CP
b.
þat
C'
se/þam C
(þe/þat)
(=SIP)
TP
CP
C
that

C’ (=HPP)
TP

c.
CP
wh-
renewal
C'
C
that
TP
...
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).
Preposition > Complementizer/Conjunction
After from P > C
(1)
Ercenberht rixode æfter his fæder
`E. ruled after/following his father' (Chronicle A, anno 640)
(2) a.
[æfter him] Stephanus feng to rice.
`after him (i.e. Pope Leo), Stephanus became pope'.
(Chronicle A, anno 814 [816])
[æfter þissum gefeohte] cuom micel sumorlida.
`after this fight, there came a large summer-force'
(Chronicle A, anno 871)
b.
(3) a.
b.
[Æfter þysan] com Thomas to Cantwarebyri
`After this, Thomas came to Canterbury'.
(Chronicle A, anno 1070)
[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).
(1)After that the king hadde brent the volum
(Wyclyf 1382, taken over in Coverdale 1535 and KJV
1611, from the OED).
(2)After that Raleigh had Intelligence that Cobham had
accused him, he endeavour'd to have Intelligence from
Cobham (HC, EModE2)
(3) Aftir he hadde take þe hooli Goost (c1360 Wyclif De
Dot. Eccl. 22).
(4) After thei han slayn them (1366 Mandeville174).
Four stages:
PP
< PP
PP (that)
P that
C
900 (Chronicle A) – present
950 (Lindisfarne) - 1600 (OED 1587)
1220 (Lambeth) - 1600 (OED 1611)
1360 (Wycliff) - present
Percentages of demonstrative
objects (Dem) with after and fronting
Dem
Fronting
Beowulf
Chronicle Chronicle A
<892
>892
2/65=3%
2/65=3%
2/26= 8% 17/22= 77%
7/26= 27% 12/22= 55%
For : P to C
(1)
ouþer for untrumnisse ouþer for lauerdes neode
ouþer for haueleste ouþer for hwilces cinnes oþer
neod he ne muge þær cumon
`either from infirmity or from his lord's need or from lack of means or
from need of any other kind he cannot go there' (Peterborough
Chronicle, anno 675).
(2)
forþam Trumbriht wæs adon of þam biscopdome
`because T had been deprived of his biscopric' (Peterborough
Chronicle, anno 685).
Beowulf
Dem objects/
forðan
Fronting
PC
16/54 =30%
67/150 =45%
18/54 =33%
80/150 =53%
_________________________________
for(ðan) as PP
54
150
C
0
16
_________________________________
Total for(ðan) 54
166
From lexical to grammatical category
From P > C
PP
CP
P
after
DP
[u-phi]
[3S]
[ACC]
[uACC]
>
C
after
(u-phi)
TP
OE Clausal adverbs
(1)Witodlice [æfter þam þe ic of deaþe arise] ic
cume to eow on galilee
Surely after that that I of death arise I come to
you in Galilee (West Saxon Gospels, Matthew
26.32)
(2)Ne deþ witodlice nan man niwes claðes scyp
on eald reaf.
Not does surely no man new cloth piece on old
garment (West Saxon Gospels, Matthew 9.16)
Decline
OE I-II OE III
OE IV ME1
ME2
witodlice
2
84
20
9
--
wærlice
5
10
5
5
--
soþlice
72
205
19
37
2
sicerlice
--
--
--
5
6
wiselice
--
6
3
9
--
New CP adverbs
(1)
(2)
(3)
You wrote so probably that hyt put me in a
feare of daungerys to come. (OED, 1535)
A source, from whence those waters of
bitterness..have..probably flowed (OED,
1647)
for, tho very probably I shall not have
occasion for them, yet it wou'd be very
vexatious to want them shou'd ther be
occasion. (1690, Letter by Charles Hatton,
HC)
VP adverb > Clausal adverb
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
and he shulde goo frank and quite.
(OED 1475)
All other lawfull thinges..to do as liberally,
frankelie, lawfully..as if they..had been naturally
borne within this realme (OED, 1541)
Therefore [with franke and with vncurbed
plainnesse], Tell vs the {Dolphins} minde.
(Henry V)
She... Can you wonder that I'm disinclined
for amusement? He.Frankly, I do (OED 1888)
Dutch, Bulgarian, Chinese
(1) Eerlijk
gezegd voel ik daar niet zoveel voor
honestly
spoken feel I there not so-much about
`Honestly, I don't quite feel like doing that'.
(2) Chestno
kazano
nishto ne
razbiram
Frankly
spoken
nothing not
understand-1S.PRES
'Frankly, I don't understand anything.' (Mariana Bahtchevanova p.c.)
(3) Shihua
shuo zhezi
shi
ni
zuo
le
Honest
say
this-time
be
you
wrong LE
`Honestly this time you were wrong'. (Ji 2006)
(4) nou eerlijk ik vind dit een mooi machien
now honestly I think this a beautiful engine
(www.motor-europe.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?t=899)
(5) Eerlijk, ik heb het nu zeer moeilijk
honestly, I have it now very difficult
huizekeytsman.telenet.be/groen%20plus%20senioren/WVDStappen
Asbest.pdf
Late Merge or Features
• Late Merge cases that can be seen as
Feature Economy: whether, who, after,
for, etc
• VP > CP adverbial are harder to see in
terms of features.
Conclusions
• description of some changes as Economy
– Negative, Demonstrative, (Agreement), and
Perfective Cycles
– Clause marking through
• wh
• P
• VP adverb
• Reason: semantic features are reanalyzed as
grammatical
• internal (grammaticalization) vs external
(renewal)
Data
• Old English Dictionary Texts (all of OE)
• Helsinki Corpus (OE through eModE)
• Oxford English Dictionary
– 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