Valency changes in the history of English

Gelderen, Elly van

doi:10.1075/jhl.1.1.05van

Cited by 31 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…I agree with Ottosson (2009: 51), who concludes that even though the j-causatives were less transparent in Old English, this formation may still have been somewhat productive. After the evidence is lost more and more, verbs become increasingly labile in English (from 80 in Old English to 800 in Modern English; see McMillion 2006 andvan Gelderen 2011).…”

Section: Object Experiencers Are Causativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Psych-verbs: A reanalysis of little v

Gelderen

2014

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The present paper examines psych-verbs in the history of English. As is well-known, object experiencers are reanalyzed as subject experiencers in many of the modern European languages. I discuss one such change in detail, namely the change in the verb fear from meaning 'to frighten, cause to fear' to meaning 'to fear'. The reason for the change may be the loss of the morphologically overt causative and a change in the set of light verbs. Object experiencers are constantly lost but I show there is also a continual renewal through external borrowing and internal change from physical to mental impact. A last change I discuss is the one where Subject Experiencers are reanalyzed as Agents in a V(oice)P. Resum. Canvis en els verbs psicològics: una reanàlisi de vAquest article estudia els verbs psicològics en la història de l'anglès. Com és ben sabut, moltes de les llengües modernes reanalitzen els objectes experimentadors com a subjectes experimentadors. Analitzo un d'aquests canvis en detall: el canvi en el verb fear des del seu significat original d''espantar, fer por' al de 'témer'. El motiu del canvi podria ser la desaparició de la marca morfològica del causatiu i un canvi en el conjunt dels verbs lleugers. Encara que els objectes experimentadors es perden de manera constant, mostro que alhora hi ha una renovació incessant a través dels manlleus i mitjançant canvis interns des de sentits d'impacte físic a sentits d'impacte mental. Finalment, analitzo un canvi en què els subjectes experimentadors es reanalitzen com a agents en un Sintagma Veu.

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Section: Object Experiencers Are Causativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Psych-verbs: A reanalysis of little v

Gelderen

2014

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“…1 above), the presence of a definite overt object is required and definite null objects are disallowed. Definite null objects behave in a similar manner with overt objects; they must check the Trans feature in ME (and ModE Another aspect of the possible interrelation is between the changes in the aspectual system and the transitivity and case 29 system of English, which has been investigated by van Gelderen (2011). Van Gelderen (who analyzed the causative/anticausative alternation and the basic transitivity patterns in various stages of English) has reached a similar conclusion about the role of aspect and its changes in the development of (in)transitivity in English.…”

Section: Acta Linguistica Hungarica 60 2013mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…38 Causativizations and transitivizations (cf. Fischer 1992;Denison 1993;van Gelderen 2011), the change in word order from OV to *OV (that caused the reanalysis of many examples of OV into SV; cf. Fischer et al 2000, 138ff), or changes in the characteristics of the coordinated clauses (see above) can be other possible causes for the development of null (and cognate) objects.…”

Section: Acta Linguistica Hungarica 60 2013mentioning

confidence: 99%

Null and cognate objects and changes in (in)transitivity

Lavidas¹

2013

Acta Linguistica Hungarica

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This paper examines the historical development of null objects (e.g., *He took the loaf and held 0 / between his hands) and cognate objects (e.g., He sang a song) in English. We will demonstrate that English lost definite/referential (and indefinite) null objects (only generic null objects are possible in present-day English, e.g., They have the ability to impress and delight 0 /) but extended the range of cognate objects (which is now also possible with activity/event nouns, e.g., He smiled a disarming smile). Cross-linguistic diachronic comparison (using data from the history of the Greek language) reveals that the historical development described is language-specific and that both directions of change (loss or rise) of null and cognate objects are possible. We will test the hypothesis that there is a connection between the availability of such (de)transitivization processes and changes that affect the syntactic representation of aspectual distinctions. More precisely, we will examine the hypothesis that in English, both the loss of definite null objects and the rise of cognate objects with activity/event nouns are linked to the grammaticalization of the viewpoint (progressive) aspect (be + V + ing). We will show that the grammaticalization of the viewpoint aspect in English has not affected the development and loss of null object constructions. However, the grammaticalization of the viewpoint aspect appears to have progressed in parallel with activity/event-noun cognate objects.

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“…As regards the changes observed in English, we might ask whether the rise of lability should likewise be given language‐internal motivation. Studies by McMillion (2005), van Gelderen (2011), and Stroobant (2014) have either not addressed or not resolved the issue of what is responsible for the change towards lability as the dominant strategy for expressing the causative/inchoative relationship in English. An alternative possibility is that it can be ascribed to contact influence, a plausible hypothesis given the acknowledged importance this factor has had in the history of the language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Contact with French Drove Patient‐Lability in English

Ingham

2020

Trans of the Philol Soc

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This paper examines whether the argument structure of English verbs of change of state/ location was influenced by contact. Scandinavian as a source of influence is rejected for not having had suitable properties. In Old French, including its insular variety, Anglo-Norman, verbs of change of state/location were labile in the late 13th and 14th c., the period of contact via intense bilingualism. It is proposed that contact with Old French provided models for the generalisation of lability across these English verb classes. Using standard lexicographical resources, change-of-state/location verbs are shown to display a great expansion of lability after Old English, reaching a level of 75 per cent attestation of such verbs as labile by 15th c. Middle English. This outcome is taken to be an effect on English of the later medieval bilingual contact situation in England, where French was increasingly used by bilingual speakers, who replicated in English the argument realisations of French verbs expressing change-of-state/location concepts. The effect was particularly strong with French loan verbs, where contact influence involved borrowing not only forms and their semantic denotation, but also the borrowed verb's argument structure; lability also increased very markedly with native verbs.

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Valency changes in the history of English

Cited by 31 publications

References 28 publications

Changes in Psych-verbs: A reanalysis of little v

Changes in Psych-verbs: A reanalysis of little v

Null and cognate objects and changes in (in)transitivity

How Contact with French Drove Patient‐Lability in English

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