The downward grammaticalisation of irrealis subordinators in Romanian, Salentino and southern Calabrese
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Kim A. Groothuis
Abstract
Romanian să, Salentino cu and southern Calabrese mu/ma/mi are irrealis subordinators, which also replace the infinitive in many of its uses. The present chapter investigates the diachrony of these elements. It is shown that they are all instances of downward grammaticalisation, deriving from high C-elements which move down to Fin0, and in the case of cu and mu, also further down to T- and v-related positions. quomodo is proposed as an etymon for both cu and mu, rather than the traditionally assumed quod and modo (ut). quomodo, originally replacing ut, follows Haspelmath’s (1989) grammaticalisation path for infinitives when developing into cu and mu. The development of si into să is similar: it develops from a conditional complementiser to general irrealis subordinator.
Abstract
Romanian să, Salentino cu and southern Calabrese mu/ma/mi are irrealis subordinators, which also replace the infinitive in many of its uses. The present chapter investigates the diachrony of these elements. It is shown that they are all instances of downward grammaticalisation, deriving from high C-elements which move down to Fin0, and in the case of cu and mu, also further down to T- and v-related positions. quomodo is proposed as an etymon for both cu and mu, rather than the traditionally assumed quod and modo (ut). quomodo, originally replacing ut, follows Haspelmath’s (1989) grammaticalisation path for infinitives when developing into cu and mu. The development of si into să is similar: it develops from a conditional complementiser to general irrealis subordinator.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The acquisition of verbal passives by Portuguese-speaking children 9
- Plus in the French negative system 29
- An experimental approach to parallelism in ellipsis 49
- On focal and wh -projections, indirect wh -questions, and quantificational chains 73
- Is there a dative alternation in Romanian? 91
- The interpretation of null subjects in Romanian 111
- Verum focus and Romanian polar questions 135
- The downward grammaticalisation of irrealis subordinators in Romanian, Salentino and southern Calabrese 157
- Differential object marking 171
- The effects of language ecology on syntactic structure 193
- The syntactic distribution of raddoppiamento fonosinttatico in Cosentino 205
- The causative-inchoative alternation (as we know it) might fall short 239
- On wh -extraction in de + que constructions in Spanish 263
- On another apparent violation of the subject-island constraint in French 277
- Moving towards an event 297
- Cyclicity without containment in Romanian perfects 311
- Dative clitics in Romanian ditransitives 335
- Syntactic vs pragmatic passive 357
- Index 373
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The acquisition of verbal passives by Portuguese-speaking children 9
- Plus in the French negative system 29
- An experimental approach to parallelism in ellipsis 49
- On focal and wh -projections, indirect wh -questions, and quantificational chains 73
- Is there a dative alternation in Romanian? 91
- The interpretation of null subjects in Romanian 111
- Verum focus and Romanian polar questions 135
- The downward grammaticalisation of irrealis subordinators in Romanian, Salentino and southern Calabrese 157
- Differential object marking 171
- The effects of language ecology on syntactic structure 193
- The syntactic distribution of raddoppiamento fonosinttatico in Cosentino 205
- The causative-inchoative alternation (as we know it) might fall short 239
- On wh -extraction in de + que constructions in Spanish 263
- On another apparent violation of the subject-island constraint in French 277
- Moving towards an event 297
- Cyclicity without containment in Romanian perfects 311
- Dative clitics in Romanian ditransitives 335
- Syntactic vs pragmatic passive 357
- Index 373
