The history of the mixed inflection of German masculine and neuter nouns
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Elke Ronneberger-Sibold
Abstract
This paper provides an investigation of the dialectal spread of the “mixed” inflection (i.e. the combination of a “strong” singular with a “weak” plural) to non-feminine German nouns from the 14th to the 19th century, thereby revealing three different lines of development: Mixed inflection is well attested in Upper German, but poorly so in Low German and East Central German, whereas the standard language combined both traditions in the 18th century, depending on the sound shape of the respective nouns. It is only at the transition from the 19th to the 20th century that “mixed” inflection was almost lost entirely with non-feminine nouns, thus becoming a signal of feminine gender. A typological explanation relying on syntactic framing in German is proposed.
Abstract
This paper provides an investigation of the dialectal spread of the “mixed” inflection (i.e. the combination of a “strong” singular with a “weak” plural) to non-feminine German nouns from the 14th to the 19th century, thereby revealing three different lines of development: Mixed inflection is well attested in Upper German, but poorly so in Low German and East Central German, whereas the standard language combined both traditions in the 18th century, depending on the sound shape of the respective nouns. It is only at the transition from the 19th to the 20th century that “mixed” inflection was almost lost entirely with non-feminine nouns, thus becoming a signal of feminine gender. A typological explanation relying on syntactic framing in German is proposed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Plural inflection in North Sea Germanic languages 17
- Frequency as a key to language change and reorganisation 57
- The history of the mixed inflection of German masculine and neuter nouns 93
- Ablaut reorganisation 149
- Reorganising voice in the history of Greek 175
- Making sense of grammatical variation in Norwegian 209
- Manner of motion and semantic transitivity 231
- Active and passive tough -infinitives 269
- Genesis and diachronic persistence of overabundance 119
- Index 297
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Plural inflection in North Sea Germanic languages 17
- Frequency as a key to language change and reorganisation 57
- The history of the mixed inflection of German masculine and neuter nouns 93
- Ablaut reorganisation 149
- Reorganising voice in the history of Greek 175
- Making sense of grammatical variation in Norwegian 209
- Manner of motion and semantic transitivity 231
- Active and passive tough -infinitives 269
- Genesis and diachronic persistence of overabundance 119
- Index 297
