Tracing overlap in function in historical corpora
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Gea Dreschler
Abstract
This paper investigates an overlap in function between object fronting and passivization in Old English, based on observations that these constructions in Present-day English and Present-day verb-second languages both perform a function of restoring the unmarked given-before-new order of information in a sentence. A study of the information status of the relevant elements in these constructions in Old English shows that the majority of examples indeed show given-before-new order. Quantitative data on the frequencies of these constructions in later periods provide suggestive evidence that as object fronting is lost in the Middle English period, the use of passives increases. This, in turn, suggests that the information-structural function remains constant while syntactic options to express it change.
Abstract
This paper investigates an overlap in function between object fronting and passivization in Old English, based on observations that these constructions in Present-day English and Present-day verb-second languages both perform a function of restoring the unmarked given-before-new order of information in a sentence. A study of the information status of the relevant elements in these constructions in Old English shows that the majority of examples indeed show given-before-new order. Quantitative data on the frequencies of these constructions in later periods provide suggestive evidence that as object fronting is lost in the Middle English period, the use of passives increases. This, in turn, suggests that the information-structural function remains constant while syntactic options to express it change.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Information structure and syntax in old Germanic and Romance languages 1
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Part I. Information-structural categories and corpus annotation
- The theoretical foundations of givenness annotation 17
- Testing the theory 53
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Part II. Changes on the interface between syntax and information structure
- Quantifying information structure change in English 81
- Tracing overlap in function in historical corpora 111
- Referential properties of the full and reduced forms of the definite article in German 141
- The cognitive status of null subject referents in Old Norse and their Modern Norwegian counterparts 173
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Part III. Comparisons on the interface between syntax and information structure
- Word order variation in late Middle English 203
- Preverbal word order in Old English and Old French 233
- Formal properties of event-reporting sentences in Old High German and Old French 271
- Subjects and objects in Germanic and Romance 295
- Object position and Heavy NP Shift in Old Saxon and beyond 313
- On the interaction between syntax, prosody and information structure 341
- Contrastivity and information structure in the old Ibero-Romance languages 377
- Index of languages 413
- Databases and annotation schemes 415
- Word index 417
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Information structure and syntax in old Germanic and Romance languages 1
-
Part I. Information-structural categories and corpus annotation
- The theoretical foundations of givenness annotation 17
- Testing the theory 53
-
Part II. Changes on the interface between syntax and information structure
- Quantifying information structure change in English 81
- Tracing overlap in function in historical corpora 111
- Referential properties of the full and reduced forms of the definite article in German 141
- The cognitive status of null subject referents in Old Norse and their Modern Norwegian counterparts 173
-
Part III. Comparisons on the interface between syntax and information structure
- Word order variation in late Middle English 203
- Preverbal word order in Old English and Old French 233
- Formal properties of event-reporting sentences in Old High German and Old French 271
- Subjects and objects in Germanic and Romance 295
- Object position and Heavy NP Shift in Old Saxon and beyond 313
- On the interaction between syntax, prosody and information structure 341
- Contrastivity and information structure in the old Ibero-Romance languages 377
- Index of languages 413
- Databases and annotation schemes 415
- Word index 417
