Spoken syntax in Cimbrian of the linguistic islands in Northern Italy- and what they (do not) betray about language universals and change under areal contact with Italo-Romance
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Werner Abraham✝
Abstract
This article is on Cimbrian German, an old enclave dialect in Upper Italy surrounded by Italo-Romance dialects. Next to clear traces of German clausal syntax, it shows Romance characteristics, which could be due to borrowing from the surrounding Italo-Romance majority dialects. Pertinent literature to date has assumed that the mix of structural properties of German and Italian are indeed due to the century-long isolation of the German island dialects and their relationship to the majority Italo-Romance dialects. The position presented in this paper focuses on the exclusive orality of Cimbrian and the specific structural changes oral-only variants are subject to as opposed to written, standard vernaculars. More generally, the methodological tenet is pursued that single changes subject to ambiguous interpretation need to be disambiguated by careful alignment with the major set of properties - i.e. a minority structures that are commonly found in Italo-Romance dialects may receive interpretations that are typical of oral-only German. The methodological null-hypothesis, then, is that change occurs under the narrowest accompanying structural conditions accessible within one and the same language rather than by borrowing from the social majority language.
Abstract
This article is on Cimbrian German, an old enclave dialect in Upper Italy surrounded by Italo-Romance dialects. Next to clear traces of German clausal syntax, it shows Romance characteristics, which could be due to borrowing from the surrounding Italo-Romance majority dialects. Pertinent literature to date has assumed that the mix of structural properties of German and Italian are indeed due to the century-long isolation of the German island dialects and their relationship to the majority Italo-Romance dialects. The position presented in this paper focuses on the exclusive orality of Cimbrian and the specific structural changes oral-only variants are subject to as opposed to written, standard vernaculars. More generally, the methodological tenet is pursued that single changes subject to ambiguous interpretation need to be disambiguated by careful alignment with the major set of properties - i.e. a minority structures that are commonly found in Italo-Romance dialects may receive interpretations that are typical of oral-only German. The methodological null-hypothesis, then, is that change occurs under the narrowest accompanying structural conditions accessible within one and the same language rather than by borrowing from the social majority language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of abbreviations ix
- List of contributors xi
- Why study Sprachinseln from generative or structural perspectives? 1
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Section 1. Phonetics & Phonology
- On final laryngeal distinctions in Wisconsin Standard German 13
- Past participles in Mòcheno 33
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Section 2. Morphology & Lexical studies
- Plautdietsch gender 67
- Anaphors in contact 111
- Lexical developments in Texas German 129
- Gender assignment of English loanwords in Pennsylvania German 151
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Section 3. Syntax I - Verb clusters
- Synchrony and diachrony of verb clusters in Pennsylvania Dutch 165
- Looking for order in chaos 187
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Section 4. Syntax II - The syntax of Cimbrian German
- Spoken syntax in Cimbrian of the linguistic islands in Northern Italy- and what they (do not) betray about language universals and change under areal contact with Italo-Romance 233
- Diachronic clues to grammaticalization phenomena in the Cimbrian CP 279
- Hidden verb second 301
- Revisiting the Wackernagelposition 347
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Section 5. Syntax III - The syntax of Pennsylvania German
- Changes in frequency as a measure of language change 371
- From preposition to purposive to infinitival marker 385
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Section 6. Pragmatics & Conversation analysis
- Word choice, turn construction, and topic management in German conversation 415
- Texas German discourse pragmatics 455
- Index 475
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of abbreviations ix
- List of contributors xi
- Why study Sprachinseln from generative or structural perspectives? 1
-
Section 1. Phonetics & Phonology
- On final laryngeal distinctions in Wisconsin Standard German 13
- Past participles in Mòcheno 33
-
Section 2. Morphology & Lexical studies
- Plautdietsch gender 67
- Anaphors in contact 111
- Lexical developments in Texas German 129
- Gender assignment of English loanwords in Pennsylvania German 151
-
Section 3. Syntax I - Verb clusters
- Synchrony and diachrony of verb clusters in Pennsylvania Dutch 165
- Looking for order in chaos 187
-
Section 4. Syntax II - The syntax of Cimbrian German
- Spoken syntax in Cimbrian of the linguistic islands in Northern Italy- and what they (do not) betray about language universals and change under areal contact with Italo-Romance 233
- Diachronic clues to grammaticalization phenomena in the Cimbrian CP 279
- Hidden verb second 301
- Revisiting the Wackernagelposition 347
-
Section 5. Syntax III - The syntax of Pennsylvania German
- Changes in frequency as a measure of language change 371
- From preposition to purposive to infinitival marker 385
-
Section 6. Pragmatics & Conversation analysis
- Word choice, turn construction, and topic management in German conversation 415
- Texas German discourse pragmatics 455
- Index 475
