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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.
The article investigates the conditions under which the w-relativizer was appears instead of the d-relativzer das in German relative clauses. Building on Wiese 2013, we argue that was constitutes the elsewhere case that applies when identification with the antecedent cannot be established by syntactic means via upward agreement with respect to phi-features. Corpuslinguistic results point to the conclusion that this is the case whenever there is no lexical nominal in the antecedent that, following Geach 1962 and Baker 2003, supplies a criterion of identity needed to establish sameness of reference between the antecedent and the relativizer.
This paper focuses on the origin of the V2 property in the history of Germanic. Considering data from Gothic and Old English (OE), it is suggested that the historical core of the V2 phenomenon reduces to V-to-C movement that is triggered in operator contexts. Therefore, the historical system shares basic propertieswith limited V2 in Modern English. It is shown that apparent deviations from this pattern that can be observed in Gothic can be attributed to the influence of Greek word order. Concerning the apparently more elaborate V2 properties of OE, it is claimed that a large part of them in fact do not involve a Spec-head relation, but rather result from linear adjacency between the clause-initial element and a finite verb located in T0. Special attention is paid to the placement of pronominal subjects in OE, which are claimed to occupy SpecTP. This contrasts with a lower position of full subjects due to the absence of an EPP in OE. Finally, the loss of superficial V2 orders in the Middle English period is attributed to the development of an EPP feature in T.
In diesem Beitrag werden zunächst zwei Perspektiven auf sprachliche Variabilität diskutiert: Im Fokus stehen zum einen die Variation der Form und zum anderen die Variation der Funktion. Im Anschluss daran werden im Bereich der formalen Variation zwei Fälle eingehender untersucht: die Acl-Konstruktion mit ihren Kovarianten und die Relativsatzeinleitung mittels das oder was. Dabei wird der zuvor modellhaft entworfene methodische Rahmen auf die differenzierte Praxis linguistischer Forschung angewendet und das heuristische Potenzial des Prinzips der „Variationsreduktion“ genauer illustriert.
This paper discusses the categorial status of nominalized adjectives, which share formal properties with both adjectives and nouns, in present-day German. Based on a corpus study conducted in the Deutsches Referenzkorpus (DeReKo), it is shown that different types of deadjectival nouns do not behave uniformly with respect to pronoun choice in attributive relative clauses. While nominalized positives (in the neuter gender) preferably combine with the regular relative pronoun das ‘that’, superlatives strongly favor relativization by means of the corresponding wh-form was ‘what’. The contrasts are taken to reflect structural differences in the internal make-up of the respective categories that give rise to different degrees of ‘nouniness’.
Relativpronomenselektion und grammatische Variation: 'was' vs. 'das' in attributiven Relativsätzen
(2019)
Grammatische Strukturen verbinden Systeme des Denkens und Systeme des Sprechens und Zeigens, deren jeweilige Bedingungen kaum zueinander zu passen scheinen. Der Reparaturansatz betrachtet den regulären Umgang mit Übersetzungsproblemen innerhalb des grammatischen Systems und an seinen Schnittstellen als konstitutiv für Expressivität und Ökonomie der Sprache. Reparaturen sind produktive Wiedergutmachungs- und Anpassungsmechanismen, die linguistische Phänomene als Reflex der Kompensation für derivationelle oder interpretative Schäden erklären.
Sprachliche Variation
(2018)
Der Beitrag diskutiert anhand von Kongruenzschwankungen im Zusammenhang mit Subjektreihungen verschiedene Aspekte sprachlicher Variation. Es wird gezeigt, wie mithilfe einer Korpusstudie grammatische Faktoren ermittelt werden können, die die Verteilung der Varianten steuern. Im Anschluss wird eine Analyse vorgestellt, die Variation darauf zurückführt, dass syntaktische Strukturen, die an der Schnittstelle zur Morphologie/Phonologie nicht vollständig interpretierbar sind, auf verschiedene Arten repariert werden können.
In Adjektivreihungen ohne Determinierer ('in neuem korpuslinguistisch-em/-en Licht') und in Fügungen aus Pronominaladjektiv und attributivem Adjektiv ('mancher ausbildend-er/-e Betrieb') treten Schwankungen zwischen Parallel- und Wechselflexion auf, die von einem komplexen Zusammenspiel verschiedener grammatischer und außergrammatischer Faktoren beeinflusst werden. Auf der Basis einer explorativen Korpusstudie werden im vorliegenden Beitrag zunächst einschlägige Einflussgrößen identifiziert und deren Effektstärken geschätzt. Im Anschluss wird gezeigt, dass entgegen bisherigen Annahmen nach Pronominaladjektiven keine allgemeine Tendenz zur schwachen Flexion vorliegt, sondern mit Ausnahme des Kontextes Dat. Sg. Mask./Neutr. diachron eine Ausbreitung der Parallelflexion (stark/stark) beobachtbar ist.