This volume provides the first book-length study of the controversial
topic of Verb Second and related properties in a range of Medieval
Romance varieties. It presents an examination and analysis of both
qualitative and quantitative data from Old French, Occitan, Sicilian,
Venetian, Spanish, and Sardinian, in order to assess whether these
were indeed Verb Second languages. Sam Wolfe argues that V-to-C
movement is a point of continuity across all the medieval varieties -
unlike in the modern Romance languages - but that there are rich
patterns of synchronic and diachronic variation in the medieval period
that have not previously been observed and investigated. These include
differences in the syntax-pragmatics mapping, the locus of verb
movement, the behaviour of clitic pronouns, the syntax of subject
positions, matrix/embedded asymmetries, and the null argument
properties of the languages in question. The book outlines a detailed
formal cartographic analysis of both the attested synchronic patterns
and the diachronic evolution of Romance clausal structure. The
findings have widespread implications for the understanding of both
the key typological property of Verb Second and the development of
Latin into the modern Romance languages.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192526823
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter