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Intraparadigmatic cyclic and roll-up derivations in the Old Norse reinforced demonstrative

  • Eric T. Lander EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 24, 2015
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Abstract

This paper presents a case study in intraparadigmatic variation. It begins with a fine-grained morphological decomposition of the reinforced demonstrative pronoun in Old Norse. Five distinct morphemes are identified, and it is shown that there are three patterns into which these morphemes can be assembled within the paradigm. Applying Cinque’s (2005) U20 theory of movement, it is then shown that the three different structures observed in the reinforced demonstrative paradigm are derived from a single functional sequence of four syntactic heads. Interestingly, a morphological reflex of the cyclic/roll-up divide is identified in the process. Finally, an account is provided for why only these three structures appear in the paradigm in the first place. Overall the paper argues that Cinque’s (2005) theory of syntactic movement can be applied also at the morphological level and ultimately that syntax and morphology are governed by the same principles.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Liliane Haegeman and Michal Starke for invaluable discussion, guidance, and comments. Thanks also to Sverre Stausland Johnsen and Katrín Axelsdóttir for discussion of the data, and to GIST for useful feedback on previous versions of this talk (April 2 and 12, 2013; March 26, 2014). Thanks also to Bronwyn Bjorklund, Anne Breitbarth, Jeroen van Craenenbroeck, Marcel Den Dikken, Thomas McFadden, Maria Polinksy, and Coppe van Urk for their questions and comments at GLOW 37 in Brussels, as well as two anonymous reviewers for The Linguistic Review. My research is supported by BOF grant 01D30311 (UGent).

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Published Online: 2015-11-24
Published in Print: 2015-12-1

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