The word order of negation in the history of Basque

Abstract

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.

Why we need a gradient approach to word order

“…Examples are adjectivenoun and noun-adjective order in Romance and many other languages, such as in Greater Philippine (Austronesian), where four of the six languages in Dryer (2013a) show variable order and at least seven more languages have both orders (Santo Domingo Bikol in Fincke [2002: 93-94]; Mandaya in Estrera [2020: 26-27]; Mansaka in Svelmoe and Svelmoe [1974: 51]; Kalagan in Collins [1970: 66-67]; Cebuano in Tanangkingsing [2009: 134]; Romblomanon in Law [1997: 19-20]; Inonhan in van den Heuvel [1997: 39]). Other examples are verb-object order in main/subordinate clauses in Germanic and many other languages, such as Western Nilotic (for Dinka and Nuer see Salaberri [2017], other relevant Western Nilotic languages are Jumjum in Fadul et al [2016: 39] and Reel in Cien et al [2016: 88]), and co-existence of prepositions and postpositions in Gbe and Kwa languages (Aboh 2010;Ameka 2003; see in general Hagège 2010: 110-114). There are usually different diachronic sources for each part of the doublet (Hagège 2010;Hawkins 1983), but this does not necessarily imply that one word order will outcompete the other over the course of generations.…”