The cognitive status of null subject referents in Old Norse and their Modern Norwegian counterparts
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Kari Kinn
Abstract
This paper investigates the distribution of pronouns in Old Norse and Modern Norwegian, focusing mainly on Old Norse referential null subjects and their counterparts in Modern Norwegian. The theoretical starting point is the Givenness Hierarchy of Gundel et al. (1993), which predicts that null and unstressed pronouns can only be used appropriately if their referents have the cognitive status in focus, meaning, in short, that their referents must be “[…] at the current center of attention” (Gundel et al. 1993: 279). I will argue that the referents of Old Norse null subjects are not necessarily in focus, whereas Modern Norwegian unstressed subject pronouns seem to require this. I will propose an analysis of Old Norse null subjects whereby cognitive status is supplemented by semantic and morphological factors.
Abstract
This paper investigates the distribution of pronouns in Old Norse and Modern Norwegian, focusing mainly on Old Norse referential null subjects and their counterparts in Modern Norwegian. The theoretical starting point is the Givenness Hierarchy of Gundel et al. (1993), which predicts that null and unstressed pronouns can only be used appropriately if their referents have the cognitive status in focus, meaning, in short, that their referents must be “[…] at the current center of attention” (Gundel et al. 1993: 279). I will argue that the referents of Old Norse null subjects are not necessarily in focus, whereas Modern Norwegian unstressed subject pronouns seem to require this. I will propose an analysis of Old Norse null subjects whereby cognitive status is supplemented by semantic and morphological factors.
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
