LINGUIST List 13.1682

Fri Jun 14 2002

Qs: Empty Nouns/Old English, German "blau"

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. DagmarHaumann, Empty nouns in Old English
2. Susanne Niemeier, German colour expressions: "blau"

Dear linguists, 

As has been argued by Lobeck (1993) and Kester (1996), strong
adjectival agreement morphology functions as a formal licenser for
empty nominal heads, e.g. German "das gruene Buch und das rote 'e' "
(the green book and the red 'e'). Supportive evidence for the claim
that the empty category is a head, and not an NP, derives from the
fact "ellipsis" does not affect the noun's complements, e.g. German
"das grosse Auto von Klaus und das kleine 'e' von Paul" (the big car
of Klaus and the small 'e' of Paul). Thanks strong adjectival
agreement morphology, Old English, like German and Dutch, allows for
empty nominal heads, e.g. "Her Leo se ae+dela papa & se halga 'e'
for+t ferde" (CHROA2,58.814.1) (here Leo that noble pope & that holy
'e' departed). I would like to find Old English data showing that the
"ellipted" noun is followed by a complement. T

hanks in advance, 
Dagmar Haumann 

Dagmar Haumann Anglistische Linguistik Universitaet Erfurt
Nordhaeuser Str. 63 D-99089 Erfurt dagmar.haumannuni-erfurt.de /
dagmarhaumannaol.com
http://www.uni-erfurt.de/englische_sprachwissenschaft/d_haumann.html
Language Name: English Language Family: 

Dear all,

Can anybody tell me where the German expressions "blaumachen", "blauer
Montag", "blauer Brief", "Forelle blau" and "blau" (for drunk)
originate from?

Thanks a lot, and I will post a summary if there are enough answers.

Susanne Niemeier


Dr. Susanne Niemeier
University of Bremen, Germany
sniemeieruni-bremen.de 

Subject-Language: German; Code: GER