Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian
-
Anna Maria Di Sciullo
Abstract
We examine pronominal objects in Old Romanian and show that the fluctuation in their position (pre-/post-verbal) and in their form (clitic/strong pronoun) is the result of the Directional Asymmetry Principle (DAP), a complexity-reducing principle proposed in Di Sciullo (2011), according to which language evolution is symmetry breaking. We show that DAP is sensitive to both derivational and representational complexity. Under its effects, on grounds of derivational complexity reduction, Romanian lost the discourse-driven verb movement that yielded enclisis. On grounds of representational (sensori-motor) complexity reduction, Romanian lost the use of strong pronouns in contexts that now only allow clitics. Thus, a fluctuating phase in the evolution of pronominal objects is followed by a phase where a preponderant use is attested (i.e. proclitics in Modern Romanian). We confirm previous findings on the diachronic development of the Romanian DP under the effects of DAP, showing the role of complexity reduction in language change.
Abstract
We examine pronominal objects in Old Romanian and show that the fluctuation in their position (pre-/post-verbal) and in their form (clitic/strong pronoun) is the result of the Directional Asymmetry Principle (DAP), a complexity-reducing principle proposed in Di Sciullo (2011), according to which language evolution is symmetry breaking. We show that DAP is sensitive to both derivational and representational complexity. Under its effects, on grounds of derivational complexity reduction, Romanian lost the discourse-driven verb movement that yielded enclisis. On grounds of representational (sensori-motor) complexity reduction, Romanian lost the use of strong pronouns in contexts that now only allow clitics. Thus, a fluctuating phase in the evolution of pronominal objects is followed by a phase where a preponderant use is attested (i.e. proclitics in Modern Romanian). We confirm previous findings on the diachronic development of the Romanian DP under the effects of DAP, showing the role of complexity reduction in language change.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
-
Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
-
Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
-
Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
-
Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
-
Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
-
Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
