On the Conservatism of Embedded Clauses

Matsuda, Kenjiro

doi:10.1075/cilt.164.18mat

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…This appears to be all the more valid for negated subordinate clauses, which have been argued to be more presuppositional than their positive counterparts (Givón 1979: 125). Additional reasons for the conservatism of subordinate clauses include that they are (i) more difficult to process and (ii) less frequent than main clauses (Matsuda 1998: 9-11, Crowley & Bowern 2010.…”

Section: Mirenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The word order of negation in the history of Basque

Salaberri

2021

DIA

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This article investigates word order changes in negated periphrastic constructions in the history of Basque. A number of linguistic variables are argued to correlate with these changes: the negative particle ez is increasingly focalized in main clauses, the innovative pattern negative particle – auxiliary verb – main verb allows for more syntactic flexibility than the conservative one, and the word order changes do not progress at equal rates in all clause subtypes. Genre issues are also considered, including the hypothesis that the loss of the conservative order main verb – negative particle – auxiliary verb of main clauses occurs first in texts close to oral language. Moreover, it is argued that eastern dialects are more innovative than western dialects and that efforts towards standardization of the language have slowed down this case of word order change.

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Section: Mirenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The word order of negation in the history of Basque

Salaberri

2021

DIA

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“…For identifying basic word order, some, like Bickford (1998:214-16), argue that subordinate clauses take priority in the identification of basic word order. For diachronic syntax, it has been noted that word order changes in, for example, English, German, and Kru, first took place in main clauses and only later (often much later) applied to subordinate clauses (see Matsuda 1998 andBybee 2002 for discussion and bibliography). Importantly, if it is established that a diachronic word order change has affected main clauses but not subordinate clauses in Hebrew, the priority of the clauses for word order typology is reversed: the new order exhibited in main clauses should be taken as basic.…”

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The Typological Classification of the Hebrew of Genesis: Subject-Verb or Verb-Subject?

Holmstedt¹

2011

JHS

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, the Object can precede or follow both the Subject and the Verb, and adverbs and prepositional phrases can be thrown into a variety of positions. To the reader word order often seems to be random, but grammarians have long agreed that it is not random or ‘free’. Describing precisely what determines the order of words, though, remains an elusive task. Yet, it is universally understood that determining a rhyme and reason for the variation exhibited in the biblical texts would provide access to subtle linguistic cues the ancient authors used to get their message across. And so many Hebraists have attempted to identify the patterns. As with all investigations, though, the initial assumptions strongly influence the conclusions and for Hebrew word order studies the almost universal starting point has been to assume a basic Verb-Subject order. In this essay I challenge this assumption, thereby potentially undercutting the methodologies and conclusions of the vast majority of existing word order studies. I introduce, describe, and illustrate the typological linguistic criteria for determining basic word order and conclude, contrary to near-consensus position, that Biblical Hebrew is better classified as a Subject-Verb language.

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Is it Possible to Identify ‘Orality’?

Moretti

2019

Mnemosyne

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First, based on analysis of some—mostly late—Latin texts that positively reflect actual oral delivery, I present some remarks on structure and frequency of Verb-Phrases ‘auxiliary+infinitive’ as arguable markers of ‘orality’ in Latin. Second, I examine the occurrence of these Verb-Phrases in some works by Ambrose of Milan and show that, on the one hand, the investigation of Verb-Phrases might support the view that the De sacramentis and Explanatio symboli are unrevised catecheses, but, on the other hand, it is of no help in the conjecture of the degree of elaboration undergone by those works that, stemming from an oral homiletic delivery, were later revised in view of publication.

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On the Conservatism of Embedded Clauses

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

The word order of negation in the history of Basque

The word order of negation in the history of Basque

The Typological Classification of the Hebrew of Genesis: Subject-Verb or Verb-Subject?

Is it Possible to Identify ‘Orality’?

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