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Mutation and Case in Welsh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Robert D. Borsley
Robert D. Borsley*
Affiliation:
University of Wales, Bangor
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Abstract

The most common mutation system of Welsh, soft mutation, affects among other elements the object of a finite verb. This is often known as direct object mutation (DOM). Objects have accusative Case in many languages. Hence, it is natural to consider the possibility that DOM is a manifestation of accusative Case, and this has been proposed by a number of people. There is evidence, however, that this idea is both too strong and too weak. It predicts soft mutation where it does not in fact occur, and there are a number of instances of soft mutation which appear to form a natural class with DOM but cannot plausibly be analyzed as a manifestation of accusative Case. A widely discussed alternative to a Case-based view of DOM is one in which DOM is triggered by a preceding phrase of some kind. This approach looks quite promising. However, it does not fit readily into the Principles and Parameters framework. It seems, then, that DOM poses a major challenge for this framework.

Résumé

Résumé

Le système de mutation le plus répandu du gallois affecte, entre autres éléments, l’objet de verbes à temps fini et est ainsi souvent appelé la mutation de l’objet direct (MOD). Puisque les objects directs portent normalement le Cas accusatif, il semble naturel de considérer que MOD est une manifestation du Cas accusatif, comme l’ont proposé plusieurs auteurs. Il existe cependant des indications que cette hypothèse est à la fois trop forte et trop faible. En effet, cette hypothèse prédit que la mutation devrait se produire dans certains contextes où elle n’a pas lieu. Par ailleurs, il existe un certain nombre de cas de mutation qui paraissent former une classe naturelle avec MOD mais qui ne peuvent pas être analysés comme des manifestations du Cas accusatif. Une hypothèse concurrente largement discutée propose que MOD est déclenchée par la présence d’un syntagme précédent d’un certain type. Quoique cette approche semble prometteuse, elle n’est pas conforme à la théorie des principes et paramètres. Il semble donc que MOD constitue un défi important pour cette approche.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 42 , Special Issue 1-2: Topics in Celtic Syntax , June 1997 , pp. 31 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1997

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