Dialects and diachronic syntax: free relatives in Old Spanish

Rivero, María-Luisa

doi:10.1017/s0022226700010872

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…In (1)-(11), the modal force of MECs is reflected in the grammatical mood of their verb, which is either infinitive or subjunctive, subject to some cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic variation. Earlier works known to me that mentioned or analyzed MECs, in particular Pesetsky (1982( ), Suñer (1984, Rappaport (1986), Rivero (1986), Rudin (1986), Grosu (1989Grosu ( , 1994, Grosu and Landman (1998), and Izvorski (1998), have all assumed that a non-indicative mood is an inherent property of MECs. This assumption is, as far as I can tell, basically correct, provided that in languages which do not have a morphological indicative/subjunctive contrast (e.g., Modern Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian), we make the reasonable assumption that MECs with finite verbs are "concealed subjunctives".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The syntax-semantics of modal existential wh constructions

Grosu¹

2004

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today

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This paper attempts to analyze the properties of a construction that is typical of Balkan languages, but is also encountered in non-Balkan Romance and Slavic, and a few additional languages. The construction, neutrally referred to as MEC (Modal Existential wh Construction), has the superficial appearance of a wh-clause, but the semantics of a narrow-scope existential generalized quantifier (GQ) such that the property expressed by IP has modal possibility/ability force. It is proposed, building on Grosu (1994), Grosu and Landman (1998) and Izvorski (1998), and modifying some of the views in these works, that MECs are non-core relative constructions consisting of a bare CP which carries the feature [GQ ∃ ], as well as a specification of its particular modality. Cross-linguistic distribution is captured by extensions of subcategorization options from nominal to CP arguments, such extensions being potentially 'licensed' by semantic-pragmatic properties of the matrix predicates in conjunction with the larger context, in the sense that such properties constitute necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for extension. The proposed analysis accounts for the upper bound on MEC distribution, for the kind of attested cross-linguistic variation, and for certain hitherto unaccounted for properties of MECs, in particular, an inability to serve as predicates, and a complete incompatibility with wh+ever-like phrases. 1 This paper could not have been written without the extensive help I received from a number of persons who generously provided information about their native languages and/or contributed substantive suggestions. Concerning the latter, I am profoundly indebted to Nirit Kadmon, who read several versions of this paper and offered suggestions that led to genuine improvements; concerning the former, I am grateful to

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The syntax-semantics of modal existential wh constructions

Grosu¹

2004

Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today

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“…Based on texts of the medieval period, I have argued in favour of two different origins for qualquer. Following the proposal by Rivero (1986Rivero ( , 1988 for Old Spanish, I have defended the existence of a quantifier qualquer, occurring only in prenominal position and associated with universal interpretations, already in the 13th century. On the other hand, qualquer also develops as an adjectival-like element.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Cardoso 2008, p. 88) 'Paul drunk as much milk as he wanted.' 30 Palomo (1934) and Rivero (1986) also account for the existence of the form qualsequier in Old Spanish data.…”

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On the Emergence of Portuguese FCI qualquer: A Diachronic Perspective

Pinto

2023

Languages

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Romance free choice items (FCIs) are frequently pointed out as resulting from the grammaticalization of the relative determiner qual ‘which’ and an element derived from a volition verb, such as querer ‘want’. Contrary to other Romance FCIs, Portuguese qualquer ‘any’ remains understudied, therefore motivating the current research. In this article, I investigate the syntax and semantics of qualquer, from a diachronic perspective, based on examples extracted from 13th and 14th century texts. Analysis of contexts of occurrence of qualquer showed that, in Old Portuguese, the elements qual and quer could combine in different configurations, corresponding to different structures. On the one hand, the relative determiner qual could combine with a form of the volition verb in ever free relative clauses. On the other hand, qual and quer were also combined in appositive relative clauses, which seem to be at the core of postnominal qualquer. However, similar to what is argued for Old Spanish, qualquer was also a quantifier-like element, occurring in prenominal position and giving rise to universal interpretations. The different origins of prenominal and postnominal qualquer may help explain the different readings in contemporary data.

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“…This construction is characterised crosslinguistically by a number of shared properties, but has not so far been identified in Maltese. For a discussion of the construction in a variety of languages see Plann (1980), Pesetsky (1982), Suñer (1983), Rudin (1986), Rappaport (1986), Rivero (1986), Grosu (1994), and in particular Grosu and Landman (1998), Izvorski (1998), Izvorski (2000b), Grosu (2004), Caponigro (2004), and Šimík (2011) for observations concerning the semantic properties characteristic of the construction. Caponigro (2003), Grosu (2004) and Šimík (2011) all provide substantial discussion from a crosslinguistic perspective.…”

Section: Free Relatives As Indefinitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free relatives in Maltese

Sadler

Camilleri

2018

J. Afroasiatic Lang. Linguist.

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This paper makes a contribution to our understanding of free relative clauses (frcs) in Maltese, in particular so-called plain, standard or non -ever free relative clauses. We demonstrate that such frcs are interpreted as definites, consistent with the findings in much previous literature on other languages. However, we also show that Maltese has not one but two strategies for plain (realis or definite) frcs: alongside frcs formed using a wh-word we also find frcs introduced by the complementising element li, inconsistent with the seemingly widespread assumption that frcs necessarily involve a wh-word. Both strategies give rise to definite interpretations. Additionally, we argue that definite or realis wh-frcs are to be distinguished from a different (but apparently structurally identical) type, the so-called irrealis free relative clause or modal existential construction, which has not been previously identified for Maltese. We show that this subset of free relatives exhibit the properties associated with the modal existential construction crosslinguistically. We then demonstrate the existence of a subtype of headed relative clauses in Maltese which also share a number of the properties which we identify in the Maltese modal existential construction.

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Dialects and diachronic syntax: free relatives in Old Spanish

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

The syntax-semantics of modal existential wh constructions

The syntax-semantics of modal existential wh constructions

On the Emergence of Portuguese FCI qualquer: A Diachronic Perspective

Free relatives in Maltese

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