On two negative concord dialects in early English

Abstract

R i c h a r d I n g h a m UCE BirminghamA B S T R A C T Hogg (2004), Levin (1958), andOgura (1999) have shown the existence of dialectal differences as regards Old English (OE) negative contraction. This study reassesses the traditional view that OE showed optional use of negative concord (NC), and finds instead that variation in NC was dialectal, based on an analysis of 260 instances of indefinites in OE (prose) negated clauses. Standard West Saxon (WS) texts systematically accompanied a negated indefinite (NI) with the particle ne. In non-WS texts ne use was systematic with a postverbal negated indefinite but variable with preverbal NIs. A sample of 389 NIs in Middle English (ME) verse texts from around 1300 from selected dialect areas showed a similar dissociation. These two sets of findings lend support to the notion of a persisting dialect split in early English whereby symmetrical NC characterized the South0Southwest area while Midland regions of England had asymmetric NC. West Saxon texts may thus represent a regional vernacular tendency as regards NC, not merely a standardized scribal dialect.Recent research on the syntax of negation (see e.g., Haegeman & Zanuttini, 1996; Rowlett, 1998) distinguishes languages with negative concord, such as Italian or Middle English, from those without negative concord, such as Classical Latin or Modern Standard English. It is of interest to ask where in this typology of negation we should place Old English, where we find seemingly divergent cases, such as (1) and (2), which seem to make a uniform answer to that question problematic:(1) qaet heo nanne aefter hyre ne forlete.Martyrology 210, 27 that she none after her NEG leave-3psg-SUBJUNC 'that she should leave none behind after her'(2) qaet he naefre godes geleafan forlete.Martyrology 34, 5 that he never God's belief give up-3 psg-SUBJUNC 'that he should never give up believing in God' In (1) we have negative concord (henceforth NC) between the negative particle ne and the negated indefinite nanne ('none'), whereas in (2) the negated indefinite naefre is not in an NC relationship. 1 It would appear that in OE a negated indefinite could optionally be supported by a sentential negator. This apparentThe author wishes to acknowledge the helpful comments of anonymous referees. All remaining errors and misinterpretations are my own.

Null subjects in Old English

“…The key to resolving the apparent contradiction lies in dispelling the illusion of Old English as a monolithic entity. Though it is often treated as such for the purposes of syntactic generalizations-for instance by Fischer et al (2000:37)-the texts provide evidence for diatopic and diachronic variation even within syntax; see, for example, Ingham (2006) for a demonstration of dialectal variation in negative concord configurations and Suárez-Gómez (2009) on variation in relative clauses. 11 This result can be underscored by collapsing the figures in Table 1 according to whether the text is listed in the YCOE as purely West Saxon (the works of AElfric, the Benedictine Rule, the translation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, the Cura Pastoralis, the H manuscript of Gregory's Dialogues, the Heptateuch, St. Augustine's Soliloquies, the West-Saxon Gospels, and Wulfstan's Homilies).…”

Sentential negation in early child English

“…See also Ingham (2005Ingham ( , 2006Ingham ( , 2007 and van Kemenade (2000) for the history of negation.…”

NegP and negated constituent movement in the history of English1

“…As well as these changes in the syntactic movement possibilities of negated constituents, English has over its history shifted twice between observing and not observing Negative Concord (henceforth NC). Early verse data and some early Northern prose appear to preserve a grammar in which indefinites in negated clauses were non‐assertive polarity items (van Gelderen 2006), but by Early Middle English negative concord was obligatory (Ingham 2006). Then, towards the end of the Late Middle English period, NC weakened and was lost, at least from educated varieties.…”