Lars Heltoft

Paradigmatic structure and reanalysis: from NPs to DPs in Scandinavian

The present article deals with paradigmatic structure as part of grammar and as part of grammaticalization theory. Grammatical paradigms are necessary parts of any theory of grammaticalization and of grammar as such. The empirical issue studied is the development of definiteness and determiner phrases in Scandinavian, illustrated by late Middle Danish. The later phase of this development integrates morphology with word order systems and constructional systems, and is therefore well suited to being an illustration of the main claim: that paradigmatic structure is found not only in morphological systems, but also in syntax (constructional syntax and word order). Paradigmatic change will always involve semantic change, and the rise of Scandinavian determiners and determiner phrases during the late Middle Ages can be shown to be semantic change as well, including changes of the meaning of possessive pronouns and of the genitive form. These changes must be seen in connection with the rise of an obligatory, complex determiner paradigm involving morphological change, constructional change and word order change. Most of the data are taken from the manuscript Sjælens Trøst (Consolatio animae) from around 1425.

Zero expression of arguments in Old Danish

Old Scandinavian (represented here by the Scanic dialect of Old Danish) allowed zero arguments (null-arguments) in any nominal (argument) position, that is: for NPs as subjects, objects and in PPs. In generative grammar, zero arguments are held to be variants of pronouns, but in this article, I shall claim that zero arguments in Scanic are semantically different from pronouns, and therefore pronouns and zero arguments are not variants. At one level, zero arguments and pronouns are similar with respect to function, namely to supply means for establishing co-reference in text; however, they are not semantically equivalent. By reducing these two categories to one single underlying category, such as pro, one would miss this point. On the contrary, zero arguments are arguably full-bodied signs with their own content, thus corresponding to Melčuks Zero Sign Introduction Principle (2006). My analysis is intended as an example of the way Danish Functional Grammar unites a functional approach with important insights from European structuralism.

Die schwache Adjektivflexion im Dänischen und Deutschen. Eine Fingerübung in diachronischer Typologie

Abstract Obwohl deutsche und dänische Adjektive der traditionellen Anschauung nach eine Bestimmtheitsflexion haben, so sind die Ähnlichkeiten oberflächlich. Während es sich im Dänischen um eine echte Beugung des Adjektivs mit der dazugehörigen Inhaltsgröße Bestimmtheit handelt, sind deutsche Nominalgruppen als Ganze als [±definit] markiert — wobei die Adjektive gelegentlich an dieser Markierung mitwirken, gelegentlich aber auch nicht. Die schwache Flexion ist der reine Nominalgruppenkitt. Ein Vergleich mit anderen germanischen Sprachen und früheren Sprachstufen zeigt, dass Deutsch und Dänisch verschiedenen diachronischen Entwicklungstypen gefolgt sind. Nebenher wird der Mythos der ,gemischten Adjektivbeugung ‘im Deutschen endgültig abgeschafft.

Paradigm formation: Changes of function and structure in German and Danish mood systems

Recent studies in semantic change have agendas in common with the theory of grammaticalization and thus focus on processes of central interest to grammaticalization theory, namely generalization, bleaching and subjectification. One typical outcome of such processes is the addition of new diachronic meanings (“layering”), leading to a content side that involves more and more sprawling polysemic clusters. The study of morphological changes, however, provides instances of many other types of processes. This article discusses two such types: (1) a regrammation process, namely a change in paradigmatic organization, and (2) a specification of meaning, i.e. reduction rather than proliferation of meaning variants. Both will be illustrated with reference to the development of mood in German: it is a split from what was still in Middle High German one inflectional mood paradigm into three different mood paradigms in the modern standard High German language – and each of the separate paradigms involve a specification rather than proliferation in meaning. Our focus is on the characterization of semantic structure, but as in any usage-based grammatical model, the relation between structure and function is also considered. Former main functions of the subjunctive are promoted to the rank of structurally distinctive features between the modern paradigms, but the modern paradigm structure also contains content variation that was not grammaticalized in the older language – while other forms of content variation remains a matter of context of use. A comparison is offered with Middle Danish (showing a similar split of the older paradigm) and Modern Danish (the reverse process: loss of the distinction between the tense and mood paradigms). Again, regrammation processes like the ones studied show the importance of specification in semantic change and also of the importance of fine-grained language-specific analysis of grammatical content and its paradigmatic organization.

Reanalysing structure : The Danish definite article, its predecessors and development

Abstract The history of the definite article in Danish represents an interesting case of reanalysis and generalisation, the result of which is a semantically and typologically restructured system of definiteness. More generally, it is part of a restructuring process of Danish morphology from the fusional (inflexional) Indo-European type to the agglutinative type.

Topologisk og kombinatorisk syntaks som alvorligt ment skelnen

Die topologische Tradition nach Paul Diderichsen nimmt unter den danischen Generativisten eine zweideutige Position ein. In den zahlreichen Artikeln uber die Satzklammeranalyse ist der Schluss unweigerlich derselbe: Was das topologische Modell und die topologische Analyse zu leisten hatten, sei schon in den verschiedenen Fassungen der Chomsky- Grammatik geleistet; Satzklammermodelle seien, was Konstituenten, Felder und Platze betrifft, als Notationsvarianten generativer Konstituentenstrukturen zu betrachten. Gegen diesen Reduktionsversuch richte ich unter der Uberschrift “Topologische und kombinatorische Syntax als ernst gemeinter Unterschied” eine sowohl theoretische als empirische Kritik. In einer Analyse der danischen Pradikativkonstruktion komme ich zu dem Schluss dass die lineare und wohl auch die kategoriale Identifikation von direkten Objekten und Pradikativen in der generativen Grammatik empirisch falsch ist, was seinerseits auch auf ihre theoretischen Grundannahmen zuruckzufuhren ist. Zweitens erlaubt das topologische Modell im Gegensatz zur generativen Grammatik eine notwendige Differenzierung zwischen klitischen Gliedern ohne und mit Topologie. Sowohl Reflexivpronomina als auch Personalpronomina lehnen sich klitisch an die Nexuskonstituente an; die Personalpronomina sind topologisch relevant, die Reflexivpronomina aber haben keine selbstandige Topologie.

Call for papers: NJL Special Issue on Grammaticalization

The second issue of Volume 29 (2006) of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics will be a special issue on grammaticalization.