LINGUIST List 18.200
Fri Jan 19 2007
Diss: Historical Ling: Dewey: 'The Origins and Development of Germa...'
Editor for this issue: Hannah Morales
<hannahlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Tonya
Dewey,
The Origins and Development of Germanic V2: Evidence from alliterative verse
Message 1: The Origins and Development of Germanic V2: Evidence from alliterative verse
Date: 18-Jan-2007
From: Tonya Dewey <tonyadberkeley.edu>
Subject: The Origins and Development of Germanic V2: Evidence from alliterative verse
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Program: Department of German
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2006
Author: Tonya Kim Dewey
Dissertation Title: The Origins and Development of Germanic V2: Evidence from alliterative verse
Linguistic Field(s):
Historical Linguistics
Language Family(ies): Germanic
Dissertation Director:
John Lindow
Irmengard Rauch
Thomas F. Shannon
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation describes finite verb placement in older Germanic on thebasis of data from the Old Saxon Heliand, the Old Icelandic Poetic Edda,and the Gothic Skeireins. The author argues that placement of the finiteverb in these texts is determined by intonational strength, and that thisreflects the origins of verb-second word order in Germanic (hereafterGermanic V2). The findings demonstrate that Germanic V2 is in factinherited in all the daughter languages, and does not represent parallelindependent developments.
As has been previously observed (cf. Kristján Árnason 2002), a finite verbin second position never participates in alliteration, i.e., does not carrya stave, in Eddic or Skaldic poetry. This usually means that the finiteverb is unstressed. However, a finite verb in initial or final positionmay carry a stave, meaning that it must be stressed. Unstressed finiteverbs thus tend to appear in the second position in early Germanic, aphenomenon similar to (but not identical with ) Wackernagel's Law. Thistendency is best observed in alliterative verse, but may also be seen in atext such as the Skeireins where the manuscript punctuation indicates theintonational pattern of the text.
The dissertation is structured as follows. Chapter 1 provides an overviewof previous analyses of Germanic V2, both in its synchronic analysis andwith respect to its historical development. Chapter 2 presents argumentsfor the specific analysis adopted here, an HPSG linearization account alongthe lines of Kathol (2000). This is followed by a brief overview ofGermanic metrics and a description of clause types in early Germanic.Chapters 3 and 4 are in-depth analyses of the data from Old Saxon and OldNorse, respectively. In Chapter 5, data from Gothic is considered.Chapter 6 describes the development of Germanic V2 based on the Old Saxon,Old Icelandic and Gothic data, continuing in to the modern Germanic languages.
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