Middle English V2: Compatible with a North Germanic source?
Middle English V2: Compatible with a North Germanic source?
Author(s): Joseph EmondsSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Syntax, Philology
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: Anglicized Norse; initial adverbs; Middle English; Verb-Second; Verb-Third;
Summary/Abstract: The new hypothesis that Middle English descends syntactically from Norse has been strongly contested by several specialists in ME syntax. One counterargument contends that ME Verb-Second patterns with Old English in sharing Verb-Third with OE but not Norse. The present paper argues that a Mainland Scandinavian adverb så ‘so’, which appears after scene-setting adverbials (mostly PPs), is in SPEC(IP) and there blocks the common and expected UG order “PP – [IP subject – finite verb – …]” found in ME. When early Anglicized Norse lost this use of the så adverbial, the UG order resurfaced in ME; this was not because of direct descent from OE.
Journal: Acta Linguistica Hungarica (Since 2017 Acta Linguistica Academica)
- Issue Year: 63/2016
- Issue No: 4
- Page Range: 457-470
- Page Count: 14
- Language: English