Lene Schøsler

Intralinguistic and extralinguistic variation factors in Old French negation with ne-Ø, ne-mie, ne-pas and ne-point across different text types

Old French sentential negation (NEG) represents an important morphosyntactic change that has been investigated by a large number of scholars from different theoretical approaches. From the 12th to the 14th (and mainly in the 13th) century, there are two variants of this variable in competition: NEG with only ne (the older variant) and NEG with ne + pas/mie/point , etc. The research presented in this paper has been motivated by the wish to find relevant factors for this variation in Old French. In order to identify factors of influence on the variable NEG with or without pas , mie and point , we analyse two subcorpora containing two different text types. The choice of the tested factors is rooted both in variational linguistics and in previous studies on Old French negation, implying (extralinguistic) diasystematic factors like diatopic and diastratic ones as well as intralinguistic factors like transitivity of the verb, word order and clause type. Main findings are the probable relevance of clause type and the influence of socially definable (diastratic) groups. Beyond this, the results across the two different text type are predominantly similar, but we found differences as well. This leads us to plead in favour of the importance of considering the factor text type while working on diachronic corpora.

The Development of the Declension System

The traditional understanding of case systems is that morphological case is needed to mark NPs in order for the speakers to identify their syntactic function. Accordingly, if changes in case systems occur, they are considered to be linked to fundamental reorganizations of the grammatical structure of a language. In contrast to the traditional view, the line of thinking adopted here takes into account the role of the case system with respect to other parts of the grammar. Moreover, our approach is anchored in variational linguistics, implying that synchronic and diachronic variation is both the result of, and the reason for, change. Indeed, the interpretation of variation is one of the greatest challenges for diachronic linguistics. With respect to the break-down of the Old French case system, it is difficult to uncover the underlying tendencies that might explain the apparently chaotic morphological variation. I show in this chapter that diasystematic variation parameters provide clues for the correct interpretation of this system. Finally, I propose that the ultimate break-down of case has proceeded via an intermediate system of case marking on articles.

Organization and reorganization of a constructional paradigm: the case of dative two-argument constructions from Latin to Modern French

This paper presents arguments in favour of extending the concept of paradigms to constructional systems. The term “construction”, as used here, refers to the level of the sentence, labelled “schematic constructions” by Croft and Cruse. The study of organization and reorganization of dative two-argument constructions in terms of paradigm modification is based on extensive electronic corpora of Classical Latin and French (from Old to Modern French). The views on grammar and paradigmaticity presented here are elaborated in close collaboration with Lars Heltoft and Jens Nørgård-Sørensen, as part of a research programme on “Grammaticalisation and Paradigmatic Structure”.

Reanalysing structure: The modern French definite article, its predecessors and development

Abstract The development of the determiner system in Romance is one of the standard examples of grammaticalization; and the demonstrative, in this case represented chiefly by Latin ille, is a classic source of articles (cf. Greenberg 1991). This study takes another look at the development from Latin to Modern French (Non-Standard as well as Standard), examining in particular the role of definiteness in the process.