The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface
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Agnieszka Pysz
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel analysis of the shift to the strict VO word order in the history of English. We begin with pointing out that the previous accounts of this shift are problematic at least for two reasons. First, they do not explain why at some point in its history English became a strict word order language, nor why it became strict VO rather than strict OV. Second, they do not capture a number of diachronic and cross-linguistic facts. We provide a principled account of the shift to the strict VO under which these facts fall into place. We argue that the setting of strict VO in English was necessitated by the loss of m(orphological)-case on nominals. This follows from a theory in which the presence of zero case exponents requires local licensing at the PF interface.
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel analysis of the shift to the strict VO word order in the history of English. We begin with pointing out that the previous accounts of this shift are problematic at least for two reasons. First, they do not explain why at some point in its history English became a strict word order language, nor why it became strict VO rather than strict OV. Second, they do not capture a number of diachronic and cross-linguistic facts. We provide a principled account of the shift to the strict VO under which these facts fall into place. We argue that the setting of strict VO in English was necessitated by the loss of m(orphological)-case on nominals. This follows from a theory in which the presence of zero case exponents requires local licensing at the PF interface.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Comparative Germanic Syntax ix
- Modal complement ellipsis 1
- On the adverbial reading of infrequency adjectives and the structure of the DP 35
- Crossing the lake 67
- Preposition-determiner amalgams in German and French at the syntax-morphology interface 99
- Conditional clauses, Main Clause Phenomena and the syntax of polarity emphasis 133
- Cross-Germanic variation in binding Condition B 169
- Development of sentential negation in the history of German 199
- Contact, animacy, and affectedness in Germanic 223
- Syntactic change in progress 249
- Cross Germanic variation in the realm of support verbs 279
- The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface 311
- Deriving reconstruction asymmetries in Across The Board by means of asymmetric extraction + ellipsis 353
- A morphologically guided matching approach to German(ic) relative constructions 387
- Index 415
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Comparative Germanic Syntax ix
- Modal complement ellipsis 1
- On the adverbial reading of infrequency adjectives and the structure of the DP 35
- Crossing the lake 67
- Preposition-determiner amalgams in German and French at the syntax-morphology interface 99
- Conditional clauses, Main Clause Phenomena and the syntax of polarity emphasis 133
- Cross-Germanic variation in binding Condition B 169
- Development of sentential negation in the history of German 199
- Contact, animacy, and affectedness in Germanic 223
- Syntactic change in progress 249
- Cross Germanic variation in the realm of support verbs 279
- The shift to strict VO in English at the PF-interface 311
- Deriving reconstruction asymmetries in Across The Board by means of asymmetric extraction + ellipsis 353
- A morphologically guided matching approach to German(ic) relative constructions 387
- Index 415
