Syntactic Features: Parametric Variation in the History of English
J. S. Lumsden, 1987
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This study compares the syntax of Old English and early Middle English, with particular attention to the annals of the Peterborough Chronicle. It provides an account of the immediate changes in syntactic representations during this period and relates these changes to the revisions which swept the English lexicon during the Middle Ages.
The thesis argues that the properties of substantive inflection (i.e., number, gender and Case) are best represented as binary features in underspecified matrices. These grammatical features are syntactic features. Grammatical feature matrices define phrases in the syntactic representation.
The thesis proposes that a single binary feature distinguishes structural Case from inherent Case. In Old English, only structural Case was underlyingly marked. Inherent Case was assigned by a general rule in each derivation. In later English, this markedness was reversed in verb and adjective phrases. Because the Case feature is listed in verbal lexical entries, this reversal altered the markedness of verb classes in the English lexicon. During the Middle Ages, hundreds of verbs which had assigned inherent Case in Old English were revised to become structural Case assigners. More immediate changes in the syntax of early Middle English are evident in adjective phrases and in other constructions where Case is not specified in lexical entries.
The analysis provides support for a "principles and parameters" view of variation in natural language. The grammars of Old English and early Middle English are argued to be massively similar. Relatively simple changes in the distribution of grammatical features can account for complex differences in the surface structure of these languages.
Thesis supervisor: Morris Halle
Title: Institute Professor
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 9
1.1 The problem 9
1.1.1 The problem in particular 9
1.1.2 The problem in general and a general solution 13
1.1.3 A solution in particular 17
1.2 The theoretical framework 25
1.3 Innovations 27
1.4 Organization 30
Chapter 2 Inflection in Old English 33
2.1 On the nature of inflection 33
2.2 The oppositions extant in the paradigms 54
2.2.1 Number 54
2.2.2 Gender 55
2.2.3 Case 61
2.3 The specifications in the signals 70
2.3.1 Weak nouns and adjectives 74
2.3.2 Interrogative pronouns 76
2.3.3 Demonstrative pronouns 79
2.3.4 Third person personal pronouns 83
2.3.5 Strong adjectives 84
2.3.6 Strong nouns 87
2.4 Lexical insertion 90
2.4.1 Agreement and blocking 90
2.4.2 The hierarchy of features 94
2.4.3 A universal of grammar? 101
2.4.4. Rule ordering and insertion 106
Chapter 3 Features in underlying representations 111
3.1 D-structure underspecification 111
3.1.1 Number 112
3.1.2 Gender 116
3.1.3 Case 126
3.1.3.1 [+/- accusatiive] 127
3.1.3.2 [+/- genitive] 134
3.1.3.3 [+/- inherent] 136
3.2 Features and syntactic structures 147
3.2.1 The X-bar convention 148
3.2.2 The projection principle 150
3.2.3 "Project X" 152
3.2.4 What features are syntactic features? 155
3.2.4.1 Verbal inflection 155
3.2.4.2 Substantive inflection 160
3.3 The linking conventions 166
Chapter 4 Syntactic features and thematic structure 174
4.1 Higginbotham on semantics 175
4.2 Jackendoff on conceptual structure 182
4.3 Feature matrices and theta-grids 189
4.3.1 Verbs 189
4.3.2 Nouns 198
4.3.3 Clauses 208
4.4 Modifications 213
4.4.1 Adjectives and nouns 213
4.4.2 Verbs and clauses 225
4.5 Adjuncts 227
4.5.1 Prepositions and adverbs 228
4.5.2 Default adjuncts 234
4.5.3 "Adverbial" adjuncts 239
Chapter 5 Old English Syntax 247
5.1 Substantive phrases 248
5.1.1 Adjectives 248
5.1.2 Adjective phrase complements 261
5.1.3 Functional category specifiers 263
5.2 Prepositions and adverbs 267
5.3 Complementizers 274
5.3.1 The OE relative clause 274
5.3.2 The OE subordinate clause 280
5.4 The loss of inflection in OE 281
Chapter 6 Early Middle English syntax 286
6.1 The Peterborough Chronicle 286
6.1.1 Inflection in Peterborough 289
6.1.2 OE to ME: the default parameter 300
6.1.3 Default domains in Peterborough 306
6.2 Functional category signals in ME 309
6.2.1 Inserted prepositions 312
6.2.1.1 "of" 314
6.2.1.2 "on" 316
6.2.1.3 "to" and "for" 319
6.2.2 Other inserted forms 325
6.2.2.1 Determiners 328
6.2.2.2 "what" 329
6.3 Verb + preposition combinations 330
6.4 Complementizers and relative pronouns 333
6.5 Adjective phrase complements 336
Chapter 7 Diachronic drift in the English lexicon 339
7.1 Single object construction 345
7.1.1 Single dative objects 345
7.1.1.1 The diachronic status of "to" 351
7.1.1.2 Changes in loan-words 356
7.1.1.3 Other dative complements 358
7.1.1.4 Summary 359
7.1.2 Single genitive objects 359
7.1.2.1 Summary 362
7.1.3 Single accusative objects 363
7.2 Double complement constructions 365
7.2.1 Dative and genitive 365
7.2.2 Accusative and genitive 366
7.2.3 Accusative and dative/instrumental 367
7.2.4 Dative and accusative 1 368
7.2.5 Dative and accusative 2 371
7.2.6 Double accusatives 374
7.3 Impersonals 375
7.4 Adjuncts 384
7.4.1 Accusative adjuncts 384
7.4.2 Cognate adjuncts 393
7.4.3 Gentive adjuncts 394
7.4.4 Dative adjuncts 397
7.4.5 Dative reflexive adjuncts 400
7.5 Absolute participles 403
7.6 The default default 410
8 Conclusion 414