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This paper investigates the conditions that govern the choice between the German neuter singular relative pronouns das ‘that’ and was ‘what’. We show that das requires a lexical head noun, while in all other cases was is usually the preferred option; therefore, the distribution of das and was is most successfully captured by an approach that does not treat was as an exception but analyzes it as the elsewhere case that applies when the relativizer fails to pick up a lexical gender feature from the head noun. We furthermore show how the non-uniform behavior of different types of nominalized adjectives (positives allow both options, while superlatives trigger was) can be attributed to semantic differences rooted in syntactic structure. In particular, we argue that superlatives select was due to the presence of a silent counterpart of the quantifier alles ‘all’ that is part of the superlative structure.
In recent minimalist work, it has been argued that C-agreement provides conclusive support for the following theoretical hypotheses (cf. Carstens 2003; van Koppen 2005; Haegeman & van Koppen 2012): (i) C hosts a separate set of phi-features, a parametric choice possibly linked to the V2 property; (ii) feature checking/valuation is accomplished under (closest) c-command (i.e. by the operation Agree, cf. Chomsky 2000 and subsequent work). This paper reviews the significance of C-agreement for syntactic theory and argues that certain systematic asymmetries between regular verbal agreement and complementizer agreement suggest that the latter does not result from operations that are part of narrow syntax. The case is based on the observation that at least in some Germanic varieties (most notably Bavarian), the realization of inflectional features in the C-domain is sensitive to adjacency effects and deletion of the finite verb in right node raising and comparatives. The fact that C may not carry inflection when the finite verb has been elided is taken to suggest that complementizer agreement does not involve a dependency between C and the subject, but father between C and the finite verb (i.e. T). More precisely, it is argued that inflectional features present in the C-domain are added postsyntactically via a process of feature insertion (cf. e.g. Embick 1997; Embick & Noyer 2001; Harbour 2003) that creates a copy of T’s (valued) <J)-set. It will then be shown that this account can also capture phenomena like first conjunct agreement (FCA) and external possessor agreement, which are often presented as crucial evidence of the syntactic nature of complementizer agreement (cf. van Koppen 2005; Haegeman & van Koppen 2012).
Das Wort
(2018)
Die kompetente Verwendung von Wörtern im Kontext einer Sprache stellt ein hochspezialisiertes Fähigkeitssystem dar, das wir unbewusst beherrschen. Ebenso verfügen wir über eine implizite Kenntnis der Regeln, die den inneren Aufbau von Wörtern bestimmen. Der unbewusste Charakter sprachlichen Wissens erschwert jedoch dessen Vermittlung in Schule und Universität. Der vorliegende Überblick über wesentliche morphologische Phänomene des Deutschen sowie einschlägige grammatische Begriffe und Analysemethoden berücksichtigt dieses Problem des Grammatikunterrichts und begegnet ihm mit einer Synthese von sprachwissenschaftlicher und sprachdidaktischer Perspektive.
Einleitung
(2019)
In the present-day Germanic languages, free relatives (FRs) share formal properties with indirect question in that both constructions are introduced by w-pronouns. However, at least in German (and historical stages of a larger set of languages, including English), there is an additional pattern which involves the use of d-pronouns such as German der/die/das ‘that.masc./fem./neut.’, which typically introduce headed relative clauses. Focusing on presentday German, this paper shows that d-FRs are set apart from w-FRs by a number of properties including syntactic distribution in the matrix clause, behavior with respect to matching effects, inventory of pronominal forms, and semantic interpretation. From these observations, it is concluded that d-FRs should not be analyzed on a par with w-FRs. More precisely, we argue that d-FRs are in fact regular headed (restrictive) relative clauses where the relative pronoun has been deleted under identity with a demonstrative antecedent. This apparent instance of syntactic haplology is then analyzed as resulting from the same mechanism that eliminates copies/traces in movement dependencies.
Die Beschreibung und Modellierung grammatischer Variation, d.h. von Instanzen, in denen eine Funktion oder Bedeutung durch mehrere, miteinander konkurrierende Formtypen ausgedrückt werden kann, stellt eine Herausforderung sowohl für Grammatikografie als auch Grammatiktheorie dar. Die vorliegende Doppelstudie zur starken Genitivflexion und ihrem Wegfall entwickelt neue korpusorientierte Zugänge zu dieser Problematik. Quantitative und inferenzstatistische Methoden ermöglichen nicht nur eine detaillierte und empirisch fundierte Beschreibung der Distribution der einschlägigen Markierungsvarianten (-s, -es, -ens, -Ø, Apostroph). Sie sind auch das geeignete Rüstzeug, die Hypothesen der bisherigen Forschung zu evaluieren und die sehr zahlreichen sprachlichen und außersprachlichen Einflussfaktoren präzise zu hierarchisieren, um einem konsistenten Gesamtmodell der Variation in diesem Teilbereich der Grammatik näher zu kommen.
In recent years, the availability of large annotated and searchable corpora, together with a new interest in the empirical foundation and validation of linguistic theory and description, has sparked a surge of novel and interesting work using corpus-based methods to study the grammar of natural languages. However, a look at relevant current research on the grammar of the Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages reveals a variety of different theoretical approaches and empirical foci, which can be traced back to different philological and linguistic traditions. Still, this current state of affairs should not be seen as an obstacle but as an ideal basis for a fruitful exchange of ideas between different research paradigms.
Language Change
(2017)
The present chapter outlines a research program for historical linguistics based on the idea that the object of the formal study of language change should be defined as grammar change, that is, a set of discrete differences between the target grammar and the grammar acquired by the learner (Hale 2007). This approach is shown to offer new answers to some classical problems of historical linguistics (Weinreich et al. 1968), concerning, specifically, the actuation of changes and the observation that the transition from one historical state to another proceeds gradually. It is argued that learners are highly sensitive to small fluctuations in the linguistic input they receive, making change inevitable, while the impression of gradualness is linked to independent factors (diffusion in a speech community, and grammar competition). Special attention is paid to grammaticalization phenomena, which offer insights into the nature of functional categories, the building blocks of clause structure.