John Benjamins Publishing Company
Subjects and objects with Latin habere and some of its Romance descendants
Abstract
This study deals with the argument structure of the Latin verb habere and its possible role in the subsequent changes. Latin habere originated in verbs that now exist almost exclusively as temporal auxiliaries in Spanish and Portuguese, but this was not always so. We find uses of this verb where it expresses possession in Late Latin texts like Itinerarium Egeriae. This raises questions as to the status of subjects and objects. In previous studies I have found that the subject-roles (active, neutral and patient) connected with the descendants of habere play a part in the development of this verb in Ibero-Romance. This paper will shed some light on the diachronic processes involved that led to these semantic and syntactic changes. The data are taken from 4th century texts. They show no sign of syntactic decay but the descending verbs have developed a more abstract sense during the period in question. The structural information of the verb does not in itself predict the disappearance of it in a few hundred years and its replacement by Ibero-Romance tenere, and this in itself intriguing.
Abstract
This study deals with the argument structure of the Latin verb habere and its possible role in the subsequent changes. Latin habere originated in verbs that now exist almost exclusively as temporal auxiliaries in Spanish and Portuguese, but this was not always so. We find uses of this verb where it expresses possession in Late Latin texts like Itinerarium Egeriae. This raises questions as to the status of subjects and objects. In previous studies I have found that the subject-roles (active, neutral and patient) connected with the descendants of habere play a part in the development of this verb in Ibero-Romance. This paper will shed some light on the diachronic processes involved that led to these semantic and syntactic changes. The data are taken from 4th century texts. They show no sign of syntactic decay but the descending verbs have developed a more abstract sense during the period in question. The structural information of the verb does not in itself predict the disappearance of it in a few hundred years and its replacement by Ibero-Romance tenere, and this in itself intriguing.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
- On tense and mood in conditional clauses from Early to Late Latin 13
- The fate of the subjunctive in late Middle Persian 57
- The negated imperative in Russian and other Slavic languages 79
- Grammaticalisation of verbs into temporal and modal markers in Australian languages 107
- Aspect and tense in counterfactual main clauses 133
- On non-canonical modal clause junction in Turkic 159
- Reference, aspectuality and modality in ante-preterit (pluperfect) in Romance languages 173
- Subjects and objects with Latin habere and some of its Romance descendants 211
- Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree (Algonquian, Algic) 223
- Typological change in Vedic 261
- On the evolution of verbal aspect in insular Celtic 299
- The anticausative and related categories in the Old Germanic languages 329
- Directionality, case and actionality in Hittite 383
- The case of unaccusatives in Classical Portuguese 411
- Some historical developments of the verb in Neo-Aramaic 425
- Contributors 435
- Index 437
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
- On tense and mood in conditional clauses from Early to Late Latin 13
- The fate of the subjunctive in late Middle Persian 57
- The negated imperative in Russian and other Slavic languages 79
- Grammaticalisation of verbs into temporal and modal markers in Australian languages 107
- Aspect and tense in counterfactual main clauses 133
- On non-canonical modal clause junction in Turkic 159
- Reference, aspectuality and modality in ante-preterit (pluperfect) in Romance languages 173
- Subjects and objects with Latin habere and some of its Romance descendants 211
- Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree (Algonquian, Algic) 223
- Typological change in Vedic 261
- On the evolution of verbal aspect in insular Celtic 299
- The anticausative and related categories in the Old Germanic languages 329
- Directionality, case and actionality in Hittite 383
- The case of unaccusatives in Classical Portuguese 411
- Some historical developments of the verb in Neo-Aramaic 425
- Contributors 435
- Index 437
