Syntactic Change and the Rise of Transitivity: The Case of the Polish and Ukrainian -no/-to Construction
Syntactic Change and the Rise of Transitivity: The Case of the Polish and Ukrainian -no/-to Construction
Author(s): James E. LavineSubject(s): Language studies, Theoretical Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: syntactic change; voice, passive; -no/-to construction; v-heads; accusative; natural force causers; Polish; Ukrainian
Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the historical divergence of predicates marked with old passive neuter -no/-to in Polish and Ukrainian. It is argued that the locus of change leading to the rise of the transitivity property involved a rearrangement of morphologically-eroded voice morphology. Despite the surface similarity of the Polish and Ukrainian constructions, their divergent distribution in the modern languages indicates that grammaticalization of the old passive morpheme proceeded along different pathways, implicating the internal structure of vP, and creating new accusative case-assigning possibilities.
Journal: Studies in Polish Linguistics
- Issue Year: 12/2017
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 173-198
- Page Count: 26
- Language: English