Volume 12
2025
The editors of the twelfth volume are Anne-Elisabeth DONZÉ, Eric HAEBERLI, Tabea IHSANE and Wenli TANG.
Subjunctive Selection in Quebec French and the Emotive Attitude
Lena Baunaz, Joanna Blochowiak & Cristina Grisot
In many languages, including those of the Balkan, Hungarian, and Romance families, the primary mood distinction is between the indicative and the subjunctive. In Romance languages, while certain predicate classes show systematic tendencies—doxastic predicates (e.g., believe) typically select the indicative, and volitive predicates (e.g., want) favor the subjunctive—this division is complicated by so-called emotive factives and mood-alternating verbs. Moreover, French exhibits significant morphological erosion, making mood selection less overt. Drawing on cross-linguistic data involving embedded subjunctive clauses, Baunaz and Puskás (2022) argue that the emotive component associated with the subjunctive originates in the lexical structure of the predicates that license such clauses. This component encodes a desirability-based attitude—termed emotive—toward the eventuality described by the embedded clause. Building on previous research on Hexagonal French (HF), the present study examines mood selection in Quebec French (QF), focusing on written production, in response to claims that the subjunctive is in decline (Poplack et al., 2013). An elicitation experiment, modeled on Baunaz, Blochowiak, and Grisot (2024), was adapted for QF to test speakers’ use of the subjunctive in emotive versus non-emotive contexts. The results show that emotivity significantly influences mood selection with alternating predicates, suggesting that the process is regulated by contextual factors at the syntax–pragmatics interface. Contrary to earlier findings from spoken QF, our data indicate that the subjunctive remains a productive and context-sensitive form in writing. These findings are consistent with nanosyntactic accounts, in which lexical items are syncretic, lexicalizing multiple structural configurations without ambiguity.
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Geno was Right about How Negation Affects Long wh Dependencies in French
Lena Baunaz, Giuliano Bocci & Ur Shlonsky
This study explores how negation affects long-distance (i.e., embedded) wh interrogative arguments in French. We begin with the observation by Baunaz & Puskás (2008) that wh in-situ constructions are grammatical with clausemate negation but significantly degraded with matrix negation. To investigate this phenomenon, we report on two experimental studies that compare long-distance wh-questions across various classes of interrogative-selecting matrix verbs, including communication, (semi-)factive, perception, and reasoning.
Our findings indicate that wh in-situ constructions are at least as acceptable as their ex-situ counterparts across all configurations tested. This challenges the common claim that negation only interferes with covert wh movement. We delineate a clear hierarchy of acceptability based on the position of negation: positive clauses (no negation) are rated higher than those with embedded negation (Neg2), which in turn are rated higher than those with matrix negation (Neg1). While this pattern consistently applies to communication and (semi-)factive verbs, an exception arises with perception verbs, where embedded negation leads to a significant acceptability decline similar to that caused by matrix negation. This finding aligns with Baunaz and Puskás’ (2008) assertion that the semantics of the matrix predicate influences the effects of negation. Finally, we propose a new perspective for understanding how negation selectively impacts wh extraction.
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Subjunctive Mood in Tigrinya?
Gioia Cacchioli
The goal of this squib is to contribute to a better understanding of subjunctive mood by providing novel data on the understudied Ethio-semitic language Tigrinya (SOV, Eritrea and Ethiopia). I suggest that the clausal prefix kɨ-, that is selected by many different verb classes and is used to build several different constructions, is a subjunctive marker. I support this idea by presenting a varied amount of data that shows that kɨ- appears (for the most part) in contexts that trigger subjunctive mood in other languages.
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Le Subjonctif le Plus Mystérieux Qui Soit. Subjunctive with Superlative
Isabelle Charnavel
The goal of this note is to discuss the licensing of subjunctive in relative clauses modifying NPs with superlatives (as in French le subjonctif le plus mystérieux qui soit 'the subjunctive the most mysterious there is[SUBJ]'), which remains poorly understood . Mainly on the basis of French data, it is argued that the most promising hypothesis is to analyze this subjunctive use as a subjunctive of polarity licensed by the superlative. But many details remain mysterious, which this note leaves open for further research.
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On the Decline of the Infinitival Ending -n in Middle English Prose
Anne-Elisabeth Donzé
This paper aims to capture the gradual loss of the infinitival inflection -n in Middle English (ME) prose texts. Contrary to Present-Day English, in early English, infinitives, as well as other verbal forms, were constructed with an additional suffix. In Old English (OE), -(i)an - and its spelling variants - was the main form of the infinitive, which gradually changed to -en by the end of OE. During the Middle English period, this infinitival suffix slowly disappeared and was mostly dropped by 1500. However, it still subsists in certain texts from the late Middle English period.
Three different aspects of the development have been analysed: first, I have observed the overall evolution, and variation, of the use of the different inflections of the infinitive, i.e., -n, -e and no suffix, over the course of the Middle English period; then, I have briefly investigated the impact of the different English dialects on the use of the infinitival ending -n; finally, this paper ends with a short case study on the use of the -n suffix, used with either the bare infinitive or the to-infinitive, in texts from the end of the Middle English period.
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Pre-auxiliary Placement of Adverbs in the History of English
Eric Haeberli & Tabea Ihsane
In Present-Day English clauses containing a subject, a finite auxiliary and a non-finite verb, there is variation with respect to adverb placement in the clause-medial domain: Adverbs may precede or follow the auxiliary (SAdvAuxV vs. SAuxAdvV). However, the latter option is strongly preferred. This paper explores the diachronic development of this variation. It will be shown that the marginal status of SAdvAuxV is a stable feature of the syntax of English throughout its history. The rate of SAdvAuxV order consistently remains in the range of 2% to 7%. This diachronic stability of a low-frequency word order phenomenon raises the question as to why, in contrast to many other cases of linguistic variation, the clear minority option has not been driven out of the grammar over time. We propose that the maintenance of SAdvAuxV order is the result of the presence of contexts that either strongly favour pre-auxiliary placement of adverbs or make it necessary. These include clauses without overt subjects, clauses with adverb scope over reduced negation, and clauses with non-low stress on the auxiliary. In all these contexts, semantic or prosodic factors can be argued to lead language learners to maintain a syntactic option deriving AdvAux order.
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A Narrative Garden Path in Christie’s Murder is Easy (Easy to Kill)
Liliane Haegeman
This case study shows how a precise grammatical analysis may contribute to our understanding and/or appreciation of works of fiction. Christie’s detective stories are of the ‘whodunnit’ genre, starting with one or more crimes, bringing to the fore multiple suspects and in the dénouement revealing the perpetrator of the crime and their motive.
The empirical material investigated is the development of the plot in one detective story by Agatha Christie, Murder is Easy (MiE). The grammatical patterns investigated are register-specific subject omission, typically associated with written registers such as diary writing, and with informal spoken English, and second conjunct subject ellipsis. By using register-specific subject omission, Christie creates a referential ambiguity. This gives rise to a narrative garden path, whose competing interpretations are carefully balanced and maintained up until the denouement.
In MiE the pivotal passage is (1), with the crucial line italicized:
(1) Matter of fact we had a bit of a row over something. Blinking bird she had – one of those beastly tittering canaries – always hated them – bad business – wrung its neck. (MiE: 178)
Two interpretations of wrung its neck compete: ‘I’, i.e. the speaker, the default interpretation of the sentence in isolation, and ‘she’, the discourse topic. The latter interpretation turns out to be correct.
The paper focusses on
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Yes-no Questions in Tatar
Goljihan Kashaeva
In this paper, we examine the C-system of Tatar, a head-final wh-in-situ language, with a focus on yes/no questions (Qy/n). Specifically, we investigate the position of the Tatar question particle -mı, which marks yes/no questions, in relation to other complementizer particles within the CP domain. We argue that the question particle -mı, like other elements of the CP, occupies a distinct position within the structure, thereby supporting the universal hierarchy of the Left Periphery of the clause.
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Navigating Bilingualism and Language Transmission in Geneva: Research-Based Guidance for Parents
Gavish Kawol, Margherita Pallottino, Alexis Perillo & Emily Stanford
The canton of Geneva in Switzerland has a multicultural identity and a diverse linguistic background. As such, bilingualism may have perceived value among parents raising children in Switzerland, but such parents may also have certain preconceptions (or even misconceptions) regarding bilingualism and their child(ren)’s language and literacy development growing up in such an environment. With this work we aimed to (i) identify parental beliefs and behavior regarding the transmission of their home language (HL) as well as gauge the esteem they give to the acquisition of certain foreign languages, and (ii) pinpoint any developmental concerns parents may have when raising children with multiple languages. To answer our questions, we created a survey that we used to collect data from 79 parents living in the canton of Geneva. Our results showed that the transmission rate of HLs was high for four HLs in particular (English, German, Spanish and Portuguese), and that Genevan parents value the mastery of English by their child(ren), either as an HL or as a foreign language. As for developmental concerns raising bilingual children, Genevan parents tended to hold beliefs that aligned with scientific literature. One exception was the belief held by 20% of respondents that exposing young children to multiple languages leads to speech and language delays, which is not supported by scientific findings. Following our results section, this work includes a list of six questions commonly raised by parents regarding bilingualism and development, as well as scientifically founded answers and recommendations.
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The Implication of the Interface Syntax-phonology in the Creation of Complex Structure Words in Kode
Yannick Romain Konan
The current paper studies the complex word structures of Kwa languages such as Baule-Kode. It focuses on the impact of the interaction between syntax and phonology in the formation of complex structures. We analyzed the relationship between tone and complex word structure, and we proposed an analysis based on the inventories of some complex structures in Kode. Two morpho-syntactic structures were put together in these combinations, and each of the short phrases generates a meaning. The results showed that the phonological process is linked to the syntactic process in the formation of complex structure. Tone change happens after the syntactic movement. Phonological operations come after the syntactic realization.
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L2 Acquisition of the Sequencing of Post-nominal Adjectives in French by English-speaking Learners
Hugues Peters, Christopher Laenzlinger & Gabriela Soare
This study examines how English-speaking learners of French acquire knowledge of the placement and ordering of postnominal adjectives with a focus on Relational Adjectives (RAs) and Qualifying Adjectives (QAs). The goal is to determine whether learners recognize French-specific ordering constraints and how these constraints interact with their developing interlanguage grammar.
A total of 68 intermediate to advanced learners from eight Australian universities and 14 native French speakers (controls) completed an Acceptability Judgment Task (AJT) and a Non-Forced Preference Task (NFPT). One main finding is that in the AJT conditions testing a single thematic adjective, learners show evidence of NP-raising alhough with lower accuracy than native speakers, thus reflecting ongoing acquisition. The other major key finding regards the ordering of (different types of) RAs and QAs. When judging combinations of (different types of) RAs and QAs, learners favor the grammatical French “mirror-image” order over the ungrammatical English linear order. Crucially, this indicates that they are acquiring French syntax through Roll-up NP movement. Another main finding regards the significant role of the Thematic Hierarchy. In the conditions with two thematic adjectives, learners show some difficulty when the thematic roles are close in the hierarchy. This suggests that the Thematic Hierarchy, part of Universal Grammar, acts as an implicit cognitive constraint on their interlanguage grammar. Overall, this study demonstrates that English-speaking learners of French gradually acquire the syntax of postnominal adjectives. Their judgments and preferences show sensitivity to NP-raising, Roll-up movement, and the Thematic Hierarchy although their performance remains slightly less consistent than that of native speakers.
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Sometimes, Concession is (Anti-)purpose: Some Observations on per+Infinitive Concessive Constructions in Italian
Martina Rizzello
This squib examines concessive per + infinitive constructions in contrast to their purposive and causal counterparts, focusing on the syntactic and semantic features that contribute to their interpretation. It identifies the key properties that license their concessive reading: genericity, gradability, and conceptual structure. The analysis proposes that per-concessives are best understood as instances of inoperant purpose, introducing a stereotyped role or kind associated with normative expectations that are subsequently denied or subverted in the main clause.
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Stable Mood-Tense-Aspect Patterns Observed in the CLARIN.SI Repository
Tanja Samardžić
We typically wish that something happens, while we say that something happened. In French, verbs like wish require the form of the complementing verb to be subjunctive, while verbs such as say are complemented by indicative forms. In languages that do not make a formal difference between subjunctive and indicative, subjunctive contexts can be recognised by characteristic non-past tenses, like present tense in happens, and perfective verb aspects, which is implicit in the verb happen.
Focusing on Serbian as one of the languages that does not have subjunctive verb forms but makes a formal difference between perfective and imperfective aspect, this study shows that Serbian counterparts of French verbs that take subjunctive complements tend to take perfective verbs in present tense. On the other hand, Serbian counterparts of French verbs that take indicative and alternating complements tend to take imperfective verbs as complements. The alternating complements appear more similar to the indicative than to the subjunctive group. A more fine-grained analysis of the mood-aspect associations shows an interesting parallel between non-present tenses and verb prefixes: both of these categories are avoided in all complements and especially in subjunctive contexts.
These are the results of a computational analysis carried out on an annotated Serbian corpus of 2.3 billion words and a verb database freely available on the CLARIN.SI repository.
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Cause of Persian Ditransitives with Postverbal Datives and Locatives
Bahareh Samimi
I discuss the surprising postverbal occurrence of directional arguments in Persian. To explain their peculiar position, I distinguish two types of directional arguments, a Dative one and a Locative one. I study transitive sentences of each type and reveal the source of the difference between them in a process of decausativization. After suppression of the external argument, it appears that the postverbal Dative argument can move to subject position and become the new subject, while the postverbal Locative argument must remain low. In view of this different reaction to decausativization, I present different merge positions for each, with the Dative merging higher than the Locative. I propose that while the Locative is canonically postverbal as the verb’s complement, the postverbal occurrence of the Dative in transitive sentences is derived by further verb movement.
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Syntacticization across Registers, Genres and Modalities: A Crosslinguistic Quantitative Cartographic Study
Giuseppe Samo
This study aims to identify trends in reordering flexibility across registers and genres in syntactically annotated corpora. Using a theory-driven frequency-based approach, we analyze word order flexibility with respect to nominal internal arguments targeting the Left Periphery across 53 morphosyntactically annotated treebanks in 15 languages from multiple language families. The results reveal patterns across genres and registers, demonstrating the potential of corpus data to inform syntactic theory.
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The Syntax of Factivity and Referentiality in South Slavic Languages
Tomislav Sočanac
The paper studies the syntactic manifestations of factivity/presuppositionality and referentiality (i.e. discourse givenness) in South Slavic languages, namely Bulgarian (Bg) and Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian (BCMS). I first propose a classification of different types of predicates in relation to these notions, dividing them into four categories: (i) volunteer-stance verbs (i.e. non-factive and non-referential verbs; e.g. think, believe, say); (ii) non-factive referential verbs (e.g. doubt, deny); (iii) semi-factive verbs (e.g. realize, find out, prove); (iv) true factive verbs (e.g. regret, be happy, be surprised). I then propose a syntactic analysis explaining the different behavior observed between the verbs listed above. Referential readings are claimed to be encoded at the level of DP (an additional nominal projection above the embedded CP) while factive readings are encoded within C via dedicated factive complementizers (deto in Bg and što in BCMS). The factive C can only be selected by verbs in (iv), which is why they are defined as true factives. As for the referential D, it is introduced under verbs in (ii) and (iv) (explaining their referential properties), whereas non-referential verbs in (i) select a bare CP structure. Semi-factives in (iii), on the other hand, can select either a DP or a CP structure, which explains their mixed properties in relation to referentiality.
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Morphological Variation in Certain Verb Forms in Swiss German
Manuela Schönenberger & Eric Haeberli
Based on WilKo (Geparstes Korpus von Spontansprachdaten des Schweizerdeutschen der Stadt Wil 'Parsed corpus of spontaneous production data of Swiss German of the town Wil', Schönenberger, Haeberli & Santorini, to appear), we studied variation found in certain verb forms in this dialect of Swiss German. The data for this corpus were obtained during informal interviews with 62 informants, classified into three gender-balanced age groups with a similar number of speakers and with different social backgrounds within each group, all speaking the local dialect of Wil.
In this paper the focus is on variation in verb forms. The verb forms in question can be realized in two different ways but do not seem to differ in meaning. Variation can vary in scope. At one extreme, just one form may be concerned, e.g. 1SG present tense – (i) gang vs. (i) gò '(I) go'. At the other extreme, all forms, finite and non-finite, may be concerned, as in the case of 'ask', in which individual forms either contain the root fròòg or fröög. Our intent has been to evaluate whether the areas of variation examined are diachronically stable or whether there are any signs of ongoing change. We have therefore concentrated on the role that age plays in order to detect potential apparent-time effects. We have so far looked at six cases of morphological variation in verb forms. The preliminary results are that there does seem to be some evidence of change.
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