The dog that's leg was run over: On the genitive of the relative pronoun

Seppänen, Aimo; Kjellmer, Göran

doi:10.1080/00138389508598981

“…On the one hand, as pointed out by van der Auwera (1985), Seppänen and Kjellmer (1995), and others, speakers of modern English have at various times and in various places extended possessive 's to relative 'that', as in example (6). This construction is widely distributed in English, if not of particularly high frequency.…”

Section: Complementizers Becoming Relative Pronounsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Contrastive linguistics and language change

Harbert

¹

2012

LiC

19

0

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Contrastive linguistic studies have focused almost exclusively on contrasting the synchronic grammars of modern standard language varieties. There may be some merit in expanding the scope of the enterprise to include contrastive investigations of grammatical systems with respect to how they change over time. Full understanding of some contrasts between grammars requires reference to the diachronic axis. This paper illustrates the point with one particular case in the Germanic languages, involving parallel instances of reanalysis of relative pronouns as relative complementizers in Yiddish, Afrikaans and Gothic. These parallel changes, operating on grammatical systems with slight differences in initial conditions, yield sharply different outcomes.

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“…3 Items used for this relativization strategy are characterized by being indeclinable, and not marked for gender, number or case. Unlike pronominal relativizers, they lack genitive forms (contra Seppänen and Kjellmer (1995) who report examples such as The dog that's leg was run over as examples of that explicitly marked for the genitive) and are not marked for animacy. Additionally, these elements are usually found as complementizers or subordinators in the language, as is the case with that and also þe in earlier English, the former used to introduce complement clauses throughout the history of the language and as a pleonastic marker of subordination up to early Modern English (Rissanen 1997) and the latter frequently used to mark complement clauses and subordinate clauses of purpose and result in Old English (Fischer 1992: 294).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The consolidation of þat as an invariable relativizer in the history of English

Suárez

¹

2012

NJES

1

0

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Two different invariable relative markers were in use in early English, þe and þat/that. This paper aims to answer the question of how and why þat replaced þe as an invariable relativizer in Middle English. To this end I analyse the distribution of invariable relativizers in the relevant periods of the English language (from Old English to late Middle English) as represented in The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts. The following variables are examined: (i) the syntactic function of the relativizer, which determines the progression and recession of relativization strategies, following the Accessibility Hierarchy proposed by Keenan and Comrie (1977); (ii) the type of relative clause (whether restrictive or non-restrictive), which conditions the distribution of relativization strategies in particular; (iii) the type of NP antecedent, which also plays a role in the selection of relativizer; (iv) the text type; and (v) dialect. The analysis reveals that þat/that starts to replace þe very slowly, occupying the environments less favoured by þe, that is, those of object and resuming inanimate antecedents. Moreover, I will show that this slow, progressive introduction suddenly evolves into a dramatic change, with þat quickly becoming the only invariable relativizer available.

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“…3 Items used for this relativization strategy are characterized by being indeclinable, and not marked for gender, number or case. Unlike pronominal relativizers, they lack genitive forms (contra Seppänen and Kjellmer (1995) who report examples such as The dog that's leg was run over as examples of that explicitly marked for the genitive) and are not marked for animacy. Additionally, these elements are usually found as complementizers or subordinators in the language, as is the case with that and also þe in earlier English, the former used to introduce complement clauses throughout the history of the language and as a pleonastic marker of subordination up to early Modern English (Rissanen 1997) and the latter frequently used to mark complement clauses and subordinate clauses of purpose and result in Old English (Fischer 1992: 294).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volume 11 Issue 1

Issue¹

2012

Nordic Journal of English Studies

1

0

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In applied linguistics, it is far from doubt the prominent role of English as a global language. However, not many studies (Rodríguez 2002; Reichelt 2006) have provided a deep account of the current role of English in Spain. This paper sheds light on the unprecedented prominence of English in almost every single area of Spaniards' daily life. It aims to show the impact of English in various settings such as the Spanish linguistic landscape by analysing shop signs in English; the media, including television, radio, and music; interpersonal communications, which includes the workplace, and the academic setting. The Spanish education system has been given special attention, as this study examines all the educational levels and it discusses, from a pedagogical point of view, the Spaniards' level of proficiency.

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The dog that's leg was run over: On the genitive of the relative pronoun

Cited by 35 publications

References 4 publications

Contrastive linguistics and language change

Contrastive linguistics and language change

The consolidation of þat as an invariable relativizer in the history of English

Volume 11 Issue 1

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