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Transitional syntax: postverbal pronouns and particles in Old English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2005

WILLEM KOOPMAN
WILLEM KOOPMAN
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
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Abstract

Based on the occasional presence of personal pronoun objects and particles to the right of the nonfinite verb, Pintzuk (1999) argues that we must allow VO phrase structure in Old English as well as OV phrase structure. This article shows that personal pronoun objects and particles follow the nonfinite verb often enough to indeed assume VO as a genuine option. During the Old English period there is a significant increase in absolute as well as relative frequency. A quantitative analysis reveals that the relevant cases are found particularly often in coordinate contexts (pronouns) and ACI constructions (particles).

Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , May 2005 , pp. 47 - 62
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2005

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Footnotes

I am grateful to Ann Taylor, Wim van der Wurff, and two anonymous referees for substantial comments on an earlier version, which resulted in major improvements.