Predicting Mergers in New Dialect Formation

This paper considers the application of Yang’s (2000, 2002, 2009) model of phonological change and population dynamics to the case of competing mergers in the formation of New Zealand English, as described by Peter Trudgill and colleagues. Trudgill (1986 et seq) argues for the deterministic nature of change in the specific case of contactinduced change referred to as New Dialect Formation, such that given sufficient knowledge about the linguistic features represented among the speakers of the different contact-varieties, it is possible to predict with a high degree of certainty the features which will survive into the new dialect. Specifically, Trudgill argues that the features that are in a majority in the input mixture will survive at the expense of its competitors. He accounts for exceptions to this generalization, the focus of this paper, in terms of linguistic pressures such as markedness. The aim of the current paper is twofold. First, Yang’s model predicts exactly the proportion of merged speakers necessary for a given merger to be successful in a competing grammar situation. Thus, we use the case of phonological mergers in the formation of New Zealand English as a case study to test Yang’s model. Second, the model can help us better understand the complexity of the dynamics of New Dialect Formation. Here, we test the hypothesis that New Dialect Formation is in principle no different from other types of language change, in the sense that the acquisition-based mechanisms driving language change are the same across all learners. Specific to New Dialect Formation, we argue, is the unique demographic situation through which the variation is introduced that forms the child’s primary linguistic data, the basis for his or her first language

The Syntax of Assertion and Presupposition

This paper addresses the question of how assertion and presupposition are reflected in the grammar. Since Kiparsky & Kiparsky (1970) and Hooper & Thompson (1973), it's often been suggested that these notions provide the semantic-pragmatic underpinning for a range of complementation patterns, including the licensing of so-called Main Clause Phenomena [MCP]. This paper presents a new large-scale experimental study, investigating the lexical and semantic-pragmatic licensing conditions of four types of MCP (Verb Second [V2], topicalization, speech act adverbs, and scene setting adverbs) in English, Swedish, and German. The central contribution of this paper is demonstrating what precise dimensions of assertion and presupposition are reflected in the grammar: for embedded V2, what matters is the discourse status of the embedded proposition as new vs. Given (in the sense of Schwarzschild 1999); a dimension which cross-cuts both factive and non-factive verbs. The other MCP investigated show no sensitivity to either of the lexical or pragmatic factors investigated. We further show that Givenness is not reflected in a (null) DP-layer, contrary to previous claims

(Non-)factive (non-)islands and meaning-based approaches

A key question in the literature on factive Weak Islands has been whether the effect is syntactic or semantic. Since Szabolcsi & Zwarts (1993), a key argument for the semantic nature of Weak Islands is the observation that the effect requires not just factivity, but also that the property described by the embedded clause is non-iterable with respect to the extracted argument (uniqueness). We present twocaveats concerning the notion of factivity needed in meaning-based approaches. First, we present novel data on factive non-islands showing that certain lexically factive verbs do not (always) lead to islandhood when combined with uniqueness. Second, recalling data from Cattell (1978), we argue that certain non-factive islands can be captured by the same meaning-based explanation. The emerging picture is that lexical factivity of the embedding verb is neither necessary nor sufficient to induce weak islands in combination with uniqueness; rather, what matters is whether or not there is a contextual entailment, pragmatic or lexical, that the complement proposition is true

Assertion and factivity:Towards explaining restrictions on Embedded V2 in Scandinavian

Since \citet{HooperThompson1973}, many researchers have pursued the insight that V2 is licensed by assertion. H\&T categorise predicates depending on whether their complement can be asserted: e.g. communication verbs (\emph{say}) permit the assertion of their complement, in contrast to factives (\emph{be happy}). \citet{Simons2007} proposes distinguishing between embedded propositions that do or do not constitute the Main Point of Utterance (MPU) -- a sharpening of the notion of assertion: in question/response-sequences, the proposition answering the question is the MPU. Given this definition/diagnostic for assertion, factives \emph{can}, given the appropriate discourse context, embed MPU and thus should allow embedded V2 (EV2). This paper presents two experiments testing whether factives can embed MPU and whether MPU licenses EV2 in Swedish. The results support both \citegen{Simons2007} contention that factives can embed MPU, while providing new evidence that MPU does not correlate with EV2.

Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure

This book reconsiders the role of order and structure in syntax, focusing on fundamental issues such as word order and grammatical functions. The first group of papers in the collection asks what word order can tell us about syntactic structure, using evidence from V2, object shift, word order gaps and different kinds of movement. The second group of papers all address the issue of subjecthood in some way, and examine how certain subject properties vary across languages: expression of subjects, expletive subjects, quirky and locative subjects. All of the papers address in some way the tension between modelling what can vary across languages whilst improving our understanding of what might be universal to human language. This book is complemented by Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure &nbsp

Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure

This book reconsiders the role of order and structure in syntax, focusing on fundamental issues such as word order and grammatical functions. The first group of papers in the collection asks what word order can tell us about syntactic structure, using evidence from V2, object shift, word order gaps and different kinds of movement. The second group of papers all address the issue of subjecthood in some way, and examine how certain subject properties vary across languages: expression of subjects, expletive subjects, quirky and locative subjects. All of the papers address in some way the tension between modelling what can vary across languages whilst improving our understanding of what might be universal to human language. This book is complemented by Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure &nbsp

Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure

This book reconsiders the role of order and structure in syntax, focusing on fundamental issues such as word order and grammatical functions. The first group of papers in the collection asks what word order can tell us about syntactic structure, using evidence from V2, object shift, word order gaps and different kinds of movement. The second group of papers all address the issue of subjecthood in some way, and examine how certain subject properties vary across languages: expression of subjects, expletive subjects, quirky and locative subjects. All of the papers address in some way the tension between modelling what can vary across languages whilst improving our understanding of what might be universal to human language. This book is complemented by Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure &nbsp

Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure

This book reconsiders the role of order and structure in syntax, focusing on fundamental issues such as word order and grammatical functions. The first group of papers in the collection asks what word order can tell us about syntactic structure, using evidence from V2, object shift, word order gaps and different kinds of movement. The second group of papers all address the issue of subjecthood in some way, and examine how certain subject properties vary across languages: expression of subjects, expletive subjects, quirky and locative subjects. All of the papers address in some way the tension between modelling what can vary across languages whilst improving our understanding of what might be universal to human language. This book is complemented by Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure &nbsp

Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure

This book reconsiders the role of order and structure in syntax, focusing on fundamental issues such as word order and grammatical functions. The first group of papers in the collection asks what word order can tell us about syntactic structure, using evidence from V2, object shift, word order gaps and different kinds of movement. The second group of papers all address the issue of subjecthood in some way, and examine how certain subject properties vary across languages: expression of subjects, expletive subjects, quirky and locative subjects. All of the papers address in some way the tension between modelling what can vary across languages whilst improving our understanding of what might be universal to human language. This book is complemented by Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure &nbsp