Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan
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Xavier Bach
Abstract
This study examines the morphological behaviour of the infinitive in French and Occitan in diachrony, finding that the infinitive and the rest of the verb paradigm exhibit differential behaviour. The infinitive is the last member of the paradigm to undergo analogical change, or undergoes an idiosyncratic change; in cases of conjugational class shift, the infinitive is typically affected last, if at all; in paradigms presenting overabundance, overabundant forms are either confined to the infinitive, or to paradigm cells excluding the infinitive; and the availability (or otherwise) of infinitives in defective paradigms provides strong evidence for a distinction between ‘decay’ and ‘arrested development’ as subtypes of defectiveness. The study proposes that treating the infinitive as a morphologically mixed category, a member of two paradigms at once, can account both for cases in which the infinitive simultaneously displays properties of nouns and verbs, and for the idiosyncratic behaviour of the infinitive.
Abstract
This study examines the morphological behaviour of the infinitive in French and Occitan in diachrony, finding that the infinitive and the rest of the verb paradigm exhibit differential behaviour. The infinitive is the last member of the paradigm to undergo analogical change, or undergoes an idiosyncratic change; in cases of conjugational class shift, the infinitive is typically affected last, if at all; in paradigms presenting overabundance, overabundant forms are either confined to the infinitive, or to paradigm cells excluding the infinitive; and the availability (or otherwise) of infinitives in defective paradigms provides strong evidence for a distinction between ‘decay’ and ‘arrested development’ as subtypes of defectiveness. The study proposes that treating the infinitive as a morphologically mixed category, a member of two paradigms at once, can account both for cases in which the infinitive simultaneously displays properties of nouns and verbs, and for the idiosyncratic behaviour of the infinitive.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
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Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
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Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
-
Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
-
Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
-
Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
-
Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
