Séminaire de Recherche en Linguistique

The Loss of the Special Status of Old English Conjunct Clauses

Richard Zimmermann - University of Geneva

Main clauses and main clauses introduced by a conjunction pattern differently in terms of verb placement and topicalization in Old English. I will propose a model that can capture these differences by allowing conjunctions to be inserted under C, thereby blocking the CP-layer as a locus for finite verbs and topics. I will then present supporting evidence in the form of quantitative data from the extant Old English text corpus. Finally, I will investigate the diachronic trajectory of variable verb positions, which used to evidence the special status of conjunct clauses in Old English, but fizzle out during the Middle English period. Specifically, the model makes unusual predictions about the diachronic trajectory of the loss of verb-final orders and V-to-C movement - the former should be faster, the latter slower, in conjunct clauses than in non-conjoined main clauses. These hypotheses are tested and found to be correct.