FOCUS PLACEMENT AND
VERB SECOND IN THE
HISTORY OF FRENCH
B. Devan Steiner
Indiana University
March 10, 2015
Questions
• Was 13th Century French a V2 language?
• How do we account for V>2 declarative matrix clauses?
• How can Information Structure/Left Periphery help
diagnose V2 grammar?
Arguments
• Understanding of V2 (Haegman 1997, 2012; Holmberg 2011; Poletto
2002; Roberts 2004)
• V to Fin
• EPP on FinP
• More than one type of V>2 clause
• Some permitted in V2, some not
• Information Structure is KEY
• Syntax and Information Structure coded independently of each
other
Verb Second: 13th Century
Ansi diroit
il les choses qui seroient fetes…Adverb
Thus would.say he the things that would.be done
“Thus he would say the things that would be done”
Li ennemis ne
s’oublia mie
The devil
NEG forgot
hardly
“The devil did not forget at all”
Subject
Verb Second: 13th Century
Et en ce tens estoit costume que…
Prepositional
and in this time was the.custom that…
phrase
“And the custom at the time was that…”
et por ce que tu l’ as trespassee,
Clause
and for this that you it have trespassed,
t’ enchargerai je ta penitence
you giveFUT.
I your penitence
“And because you have committed this misdeed, I
will charge you with your penance”
V>2: 13th Century
devant vostre conseil nos vos
dirons ce que
PP & Subj
before your council we to.you tellFUT what
nostre seignor vos
mandent
our
lord
to.you tells
“And we will tell you before your council what our lord
commands you”
Adv + Obj
Dont cele hautesce ne puet clarez asommer
Thus this highness NEG can claret achieve
ne ataindre
NEG attain
“Thus claret can neither achieve nor attain this
highness”
V>2: 13th Century
Et nos aliens,
si les prenoiens
D.O. & “si”
And our prisoners, SI them take.IMP.1.P
et les tormentiens
plus que les autres
and them torment.IMP.1.P more than the others
“And our prisoners, we took them and tormented
them more than the others”
V>2: German
[Den
Hans] DEN kenne ich seit Langem
The-ACC Hans him known I since long
“I have known Hans for a long time”
[Hans], jeder
mag ihn
Hans, everyone likes him
“Everyone likes Hans”
Left Periphery: V2
Benincà (2004, 2006)
ForceP
FrameP
TopP
Devant
vostre
conseil
FocP
FinP
Fin’
TP
nos
vos dirons
devant vostre conseil nos vos dirons
ce que nostre seignor vos mandent
Left Periphery: V2
• V2= V to Fin; EPP
• Only certain V>2 clauses permitted in V2 grammar
• EPP blocks movement beyond SpecFin (Roberts 2004)
• Base generation “doesn’t count” (Holmberg 2011)
• SpecTopic and SpecFrame – Base Generation
• SpecFocus – Move
Left Periphery: V2
V>2 Clause Type
V2 Grammar
Non-V2 Grammar
Frame XP V
Topic XP V
Possible
Possible
Possible
Possible
Focus XP V
NO
Possible
• Other factors may restrict the frequency of V>2 clauses in
V2 languages
Information Structure
• The way in which speakers present new, old, and
important information, as well as link an utterance to the
rest of the discourse. (e.g. Reinhart 1981; Gundel 1985; Speyer 2008)
• Topic, Focus & Frame-Setting
Topic
• What the sentence is about
(Reinhart 1981; Krifka 2007; etc.)
• [Barack Obama]T visited Chicago last month for the NATO
summit
• Aboutness, familiar, contrastive
Focus
• New, relevant or important information (about the topic)
• “it is X, and not other members of the salient set
containing X, although they would have been equally
eligible.” (Rooth 1985)
• {What book did you read?}
[I]T read [THE GREAT GATSBY]F
• New Information, Contrastive
Frame-Setters
• In (X, Y), X is the frame for Y iff X specifies a domain of
(possible) reality to which the proposition expressed by Y
is restricted. (Jacobs 2001)
• When she left the house that morning, [Sarah]T had no
idea it would rain.
• Because of the rain Sarah’s files were ruined.
• Separate from Topic
Corpus
• 8 texts
• 2 texts each from the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th century
• 2400 declarative matrix clauses
• 300 sentences per text, collected in 100 sentence groups
Diachronic subject position
13th
14th
15th
16th
total
SV:
259
333
364
374
1335
SV
43%
55.5%
60.7%
62.3%
55.6%
VS
113
18.8%
79
13.2%
51
8.5%
29
4.8%
273
11.4%
13th-14th (z=4.3306, p<0.001)
14th-15th (z=0.1871, p=0.8493)
15th-16th (z=0.5933, p=0.552)
Null Subject
228
38.2%
188
31.3%
185
30.8%
197
32.8%
792
33%
Diachronic subject position
13th
14th
15th
16th
total
259
333
364
374
1335
SV
43%
55.5%
60.7%
62.3%
55.6%
VS
113
18.8%
79
13.2%
51
8.5%
29
4.8%
273
11.4%
VS: 13th-14th (z=2.6772, p=0.00736)
14th-15th (z=2.6007, p=0.00932)
15th-16th (z=2.546, p=0.01078)
Null Subject
228
38.2%
188
31.3%
185
30.8%
197
32.8%
792
33%
Descriptive Verb Position
13th
14th
15th
16th
Total
V1
57
9.5%
101 16.8%
88
14.7%
68
11.3%
314 13.1%
433
330
323
326
1412
V2
72.2%
55%
53.8%
54.3%
58.8%
110
169
189
206
674
13th – 14th (z=6.1791, p<0.001)
14th – 15th (z=0.4057, p=0.6818)
V>2: 13th – 14th (z=4.0319, p<0.01)
14th – 15th (z=1.2619, p=0.20766)
V2:
V>2
18.3%
28.2%
31.5%
34.4%
28.1%
V>2 sentences: 13th C
[Quant il
orent une piece esté FS], [si NA] dist li rois
When they had some time been,
SI
said the king
a un de ses chevaliers
to one of his knights.
“When they had been some time, the kid said to one
of his knights…” (Merlin en prose l. 38.25-27)
[ForceP [FrameP [TopP [FocP[ FinP]]]]]
75% of V>2 are subordinate clause initial in 13th C
V>2 sentences: 13th C
Et [lors FS] [je AbTop] sai tout vraiement qu’ il
istront
and so
I
know all truly
that they will.go
hors pour ce que il
cuideront que ce soit
voirs…
out for this that they will.believe that this is.SUBJ truth…
“So I absolutely know that they will go outside
because they will believe that this is true…”
(Cassidorus, circa 1267, §36)
[ForceP [FrameP [TopP [FocP[ FinP]]]]]
V>2 sentences: 13th C
[Dont FS] [cele hautesce NIFoc] ne puet clarez asommer
Thus
this highness
NEG can claret achieve
ne ataindre
NEG attain
“Thus claret can neither achieve nor attain this
highness”
(Cassidorus, circa 1267, §34)
[ForceP [FrameP [TopP [FocP[ FinP]]]]]
V>2 sentences: 13th C
Et [Merlins AbTop], [si tost coment il fut hors FS], prist
And Merlin,
as soon as
he was outside, took
la semblance dou garcon qui ot aportees les letres
the appearance of.the boy
who had brought the letters
“And Merlin, as soon as he was outside, took on the
appearance of the boy who brought the letters”
(Merlin en prose §37.56-58)
[ForceP [FrameP [TopP [FocP[ FinP]]]]]
Value of XXV constituent (V>2)
13th
14th
15th
16th
Topic
Focus
15 13.6% 4
3.6%
19
11% 11 6.4%
14
7.3% 41 21.4%
20
9.6% 22 10.6%
Frame
91 82.7%
138 80.2%
130 67.7%
163 78.4%
Non-IS
0 0%
4 2.3%
7 3.6%
3 1.4%
X2=63.4318, d.f.=18, p<0.001
13th-14th: Topic (z=0.6515, p=0.5157)
Focus (z=1.007, p=0.3125)
Frame (z=0.5231, p=0.60306)
w.r.t. focus EPP present (*Focus XP V)
Value of XXV constituent (V>2)
13th
14th
15th
16th
Topic
Focus
15 13.6% 4
3.6%
19
11% 11 6.4%
14
7.3% 41 21.4%
20
9.6% 22 10.6%
14th-15th:
Frame
91 82.7%
138 80.2%
130 67.7%
163 78.4%
Topic (z=1.2456, p=0.2113)
Focus (z=4.0718, p<0.001)
Frame (z=2.7072, p<0.01)
w.r.t. focus  15th C EPP no longer active?
Non-IS
0 0%
4 2.3%
7 3.6%
3 1.4%
Focus XP V
[de force hastive FOC] il s’
en retourna
of force urgent
he REFL en returned
contre les Troyens foursenans
against the Trojans furiously
“With urgent force he furiously turned back against
the Trojans”
(Perceforeste, 14th C)
[De cela Foc], ma commere, je ne me soucy point.
Of that,
my friend,
I NEG REFL worry hardly
“Of that, I hardly worry, my dear”
(Les Quinze Joyes de Mariage, 15th C)
Focus XP V
aussi [le plus souvent FOC] [par ses gens FOC]
Also the most often,
by his people
[ses devocions et offrandes FOC] faisoit
faire,
his devotions and offerings
made.3.s to.make
“Also, most frequently, he made his people make his
devotions and offerings…”
(Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles, 15th C)
Focus XP V
Mais [du surplus de la vie au jaloux NIFOCUS]
But of the rest of the life to.the jealous
[de ses affères et mainières et mantiens NIFOCUS]
of his affairs and manners and conduct
ceste histoire se taist.
this story REFL quiets
“But as to the rest of the jealous one’s life and his life
and manners and conduct, the story is quiet.”
(Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles, 15th C)
Premierement
[premierement FOC] je rens graces a Dieu,
Firstly
I give thanks to God
et a vous apres de l’ onneur
and to you after of the honor
dont il
m’
a
presentement pourveue
that they to.me have presently
provided
“Firstly, I give thanks to God and afterward to you for
the
honor that they have given me”
(Mélusine, 14th c)
Premierement
Gauvains le creanta premierement, et Lancelot apres
Gawain it promised first,
and Lancelot after
“First, Gawain promised it, and then Lancelot did”
(Queste del saint graal, 13th c)
Car tout premierement avoies tu virginité herbergiee
For all firstly
had you virginity housed
en toi si naturelment que onques ne l’ avoies
in you so naturally
that never NEG it had.2.s
enfrainte ne en volenté ne en oevre
broken NEG by desire NEG by act
“For first of all, you have fostered virginity so naturally in
yourself that it has never been lost, neither by desire nor
by
act”
(Queste del saint graal, 13th c)
Ordered Build-up
13th
14th
15th
Syntax
V2; non-SV
rise V>2; SV
Stable V>2; SV
IS (V>2)
*Focus XP V
*Focus XP V
Focus XP V
V2
EPP; V to Fin
EPP; V to Fin
EPP?