On the syntax of yes/no questions in Classical Portuguese: insights from a New Testament translation
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André Antonelli
Abstract
In this work, we investigate the syntactic structure of yes/no interrogative sentences in Classical Portuguese, looking in particular at the syntax of verb position. Our main data is extracted from Joao Ferreira de Almeida’s New Testament translation, published in 1681. With basis on a generative perspective, we propose that the inflected verb always moves to the periphery of the clause. As we show in the chapter, the evidence in favor of this idea is both quantitative and qualitative. A challenge that our proposal faces is the occurrence of preverbal subjects, a fact which could be interpreted as an indication that the verb remains within TP. We show that the cases of preposed subjects can be analyzed as structures in which the subject is associated with a discursive feature of topic or focus, thus occupying a position in the periphery of the sentence. Following a cartographic view according to which topicalized or focused phrases occupy specific projections in the periphery of the clause, we propose that, in sentences with linear subject-verb order, the verbal constituent also moves to the split CP system, but to a space hierarchically lower than that where a focus or a topic element can be positioned.
Abstract
In this work, we investigate the syntactic structure of yes/no interrogative sentences in Classical Portuguese, looking in particular at the syntax of verb position. Our main data is extracted from Joao Ferreira de Almeida’s New Testament translation, published in 1681. With basis on a generative perspective, we propose that the inflected verb always moves to the periphery of the clause. As we show in the chapter, the evidence in favor of this idea is both quantitative and qualitative. A challenge that our proposal faces is the occurrence of preverbal subjects, a fact which could be interpreted as an indication that the verb remains within TP. We show that the cases of preposed subjects can be analyzed as structures in which the subject is associated with a discursive feature of topic or focus, thus occupying a position in the periphery of the sentence. Following a cartographic view according to which topicalized or focused phrases occupy specific projections in the periphery of the clause, we propose that, in sentences with linear subject-verb order, the verbal constituent also moves to the split CP system, but to a space hierarchically lower than that where a focus or a topic element can be positioned.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Prefacio V
- Contenido VII
- Traducción bíblica e historia de las lenguas iberorrománicas 1
- Esquemas adverbiales y prepositivos en la Vulgata: del modelo subyacente hebreo a los primeros romanceamientos castellanos y portugueses 31
- El calco de los pluralia tantum del hebreo en las traducciones bíblicas castellanas medievales y renacentistas 55
- «E creyéronlo el pueblo». Concordancia semántica y texto subyacente en el corpus Biblias hispánicas 85
- Morfología verbal de glosas romances aljamiadas (leʿazim) en un glosariocomentario bíblico hebreo del s. XIII en la península ibérica 113
- La variación pronominal en los romanceamientos bíblicos del siglo XV: hacia una caracterización dialectal del corpus Biblia medieval 133
- Orden de constituyentes y variación entre traducciones bíblicas del siglo XV 157
- On the syntax of yes/no questions in Classical Portuguese: insights from a New Testament translation 189
- Is the first New Testament in Portuguese representative of Classical Portuguese? A comparative approach around the grammar of dislocation 213
- La gramaticalización del futuro y el condicional en el iberorromance del siglo XIV a partir de traducciones bíblicas paralelas: el caso del castellano y el catalán antiguos 243
- La extensión del pretérito perfecto compuesto en la transición del español medieval al clásico: comparación de las biblias castellanas medievales con la Biblia del Oso (1569) 275
- Las oraciones condicionales del castellano medieval: aportes procedentes de las biblias romanceadas 321
- Indíce 357
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Prefacio V
- Contenido VII
- Traducción bíblica e historia de las lenguas iberorrománicas 1
- Esquemas adverbiales y prepositivos en la Vulgata: del modelo subyacente hebreo a los primeros romanceamientos castellanos y portugueses 31
- El calco de los pluralia tantum del hebreo en las traducciones bíblicas castellanas medievales y renacentistas 55
- «E creyéronlo el pueblo». Concordancia semántica y texto subyacente en el corpus Biblias hispánicas 85
- Morfología verbal de glosas romances aljamiadas (leʿazim) en un glosariocomentario bíblico hebreo del s. XIII en la península ibérica 113
- La variación pronominal en los romanceamientos bíblicos del siglo XV: hacia una caracterización dialectal del corpus Biblia medieval 133
- Orden de constituyentes y variación entre traducciones bíblicas del siglo XV 157
- On the syntax of yes/no questions in Classical Portuguese: insights from a New Testament translation 189
- Is the first New Testament in Portuguese representative of Classical Portuguese? A comparative approach around the grammar of dislocation 213
- La gramaticalización del futuro y el condicional en el iberorromance del siglo XIV a partir de traducciones bíblicas paralelas: el caso del castellano y el catalán antiguos 243
- La extensión del pretérito perfecto compuesto en la transición del español medieval al clásico: comparación de las biblias castellanas medievales con la Biblia del Oso (1569) 275
- Las oraciones condicionales del castellano medieval: aportes procedentes de las biblias romanceadas 321
- Indíce 357
