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A comparative approach to syntactic change in the history of English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2005

JAN-WOUTER ZWART
JAN-WOUTER ZWART
Affiliation:
University of Groningen
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Abstract

This programmatic article suggests that crucial aspects of syntactic change in the history of English derive from the resetting of a single parameter, the pied piping parameter. Whereas Old English (and the Modern Continental West Germanic languages) treats VP material individually, yielding characteristic patterns of object, particle, and verb placement, Modern English treats the VP as a collective, moving it to a position to the left of certain ‘low’ adverbs and adverbials. The shift from individual to collective movement is described in detail, with its repercussions on the position of the verb, its object(s), and the verbal particle. The emergence of a zero reflexive and the development of have as the exclusive perfect auxiliary are suggested to be long-term effects of the shift from individual to collective movement.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , May 2005 , pp. 157 - 179
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2005

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Footnotes

The research reported on here was conducted at the University of Geneva in 2002 and discussed at the Historical Linguistics seminar of the Department of English there; it was also presented at the Comparative Diachronic Syntax conference in Leiden 29 August 2003. I thank participants, colleagues, and reviewers for their comments.