'Magis rythmus quam metron': the structure of Seneca's anapaests, and the oral/aural nature of Latin poetry

The aim of this contribution is twofold. The empirical focus is the metrical structure of Seneca's anapaestic odes. On the basis of a detailed formal analysis, in which special attention is paid to the delimitation and internal structure of metrical periods, I argue against the dimeter colometry traditionally assumed. This conclusion in turn is based on a second, more methodological claim, namely that in establishing the colometry of an ancient piece of poetry, the modern metrician is only allowed to set apart a given string of metrical elements as a separate metron, colon or period, if this postulated metrical entity could 'aurally' be distinguished as such by the hearer

Variation in English subject extraction : the case of hyperactive subjects

International audienceStarting from the well known observation that for some speakers of English, wh-subjects extracted across a transitive predicate can bear accusative case, we investigate the syntax of the pattern in which a subject is wh-moved across a passive predicate. For a minority of speakers, in this second pattern the moved wh-subject can trigger agreement with the predicate in the matrix clause, yielding an apparent case of finite raising which we will call wh-raising. In attempt to offer a unified account of these two structures, we suggest that both are possible in a grammar that allows for DPs to be 'hyperactive' (Carstens 2011) and to take part in A-operations (i.e. syntactic phenomena related to Case and agreement) in more than one clause. The analysis that we propose is couched in the cartographic framework, and adopts the approach to subject extraction from Rizzi (2006) and Rizzi & Shlonsky (2006, 2007)

Syntacticizing blends : the case of English wh-raising

This paper aims at analysing English structures in which a wh-moved subject triggers agreement both in the clause it is extracted from and in the immediately higher clause. This pattern is only accepted by some native speakers, and it is also attested in corpora. Although the relevant structures could at first sight be analysed as extragrammatical ‘blends’, we propose that they are in fact part of certain speakers’ linguistic competence, and hence generated by the grammar of those speakers. Adopting the approach to subject extraction developed in Rizzi & Shlonsky (2007), we suggest that extracted subjects can exceptionally be ‘hyperactive’ (Carstens 2011), and thus take part in A-relations (case and agreement) in more than one clausal domai

On the left periphery of Latin embedded clauses

The main topic of the present thesis is word order in Latin embedded clauses. More specifically, it deals with a specific surface order in which one ore more constituents are found in the left periphery of the embedded clause, to the left of a subordinating conjunction. This particular pattern is referred to as 'Left Edge Fronting', henceforth LEF. The theoretical framework used is the so called 'cartographic' variety of generative grammar, which assumes a richly articulated (functional) structure to form the syntactic backbone of clauses and noun phrases. The first chapter provides some background concerning the theoretical framework one the one hand and the 'discourse configurational' nature of Latin on the other hand. Chapter 2 focuses on the syntax of the particular subtype of embedded clauses that I investigate, namely adverbial clauses (ACs). Special attention is given to the distribution and availability of so called Main Clause Phenomena in ACs. Chapter 3 gives an overview of the results of a large-scale corpus study on word order in ACs, in which texts from 180 BC to 120 AD were taken into account. These results reveal a quantitative left-right asymmetry: it is shown that LEF occurs most frequently in clause-initial ACs. Moreover, relative and demonstrative pronouns are exclusively found in an LEF-position in clause-initial ACs. These two observations give rise to a distinction between two types of LEF: pronoun fronting in initial ACs (LEF1) and XP-fronting in both initial and final ACs (LEF2). The syntax of LEF1 is analyzed in chapters 4 (on relative pronouns) and 5 (on demonstratives): the phenonenon is characterized as a type of topicalization, which is derived in two steps. First, the pronoun undergoes 'internal movement' to the edge of the embedded clause. This step is followed by an operation of clausal pied-piping, targeting the left periphery of the superordinate clause. A derivation along these successfully explains the left-right asymmetry mentioned earlier. LEF2 on the other hand is argued to be a type of non-contrastive focalization (chapter 6), which can occur in initial and final ACs alike. Chapter 7 focuses on the diachronic evolution of LEF2. The observed decline of this phenomenon is related to a change that took place in the same period, viz. the decreasing frequence of INFL-final clauses

La posició del subjecte en la historia del llatí

The aim of this paper is to provide further support for one aspect of the analysis of Classical and Late Latin clause structure proposed in Danckaert (2017a), namely the diachrony of subject placement. According to the relevant proposal, one needs to distinguish an earlier grammar (‘Grammar A’, whose heyday is the period from ca. 200 BC until 200 AD), in which there is no A-movement for subjects, and a later grammar (‘Grammar B’, which is on the rise from ca. 50-100 AD, and fully productive from ca. 200 AD onwards), where subjects optionally move to the inflectional layer. Assuming the variationist acquisition model of language change developed in Yang (2000, 2002a,b), I present corpus evidence which confirms that it is only in the Late Latin period that TP-internal subjects fully establish themselves as a grammatical option.L’objectiu d’aquest article és proporcionar un suport addicional a un aspecte de l’anàlisi de l’estructura oracional del llatí clàssic i llatí tardà proposada a Danckaert (2017a), a saber, la diacronia de la posició del subjecte. D’acord amb la proposta rellevant, cal distingir una gramàtica anterior (‘Gramàtica A’, l’apogeu de la qual és aproximadament el període comprès entre el 200aC i el 200dC), en què no hi ha moviment-A per als subjectes, i una gramàtica posterior (‘Gramàtica B’, que sorgeix aproximadament el 50-100dC, i esdevé totalment productiva a partir del 200dC en endavant), on els subjectes es mouen opcionalment a la capa flexional. Assumint el model variacionista d’adquisició del canvi lingüístic desenvolupat a Yang (2000, 2002a,b), presento evidència de corpus que confirma que és només en el període del llatí tardà que els subjectes interns a l’ST s’estableixen plenament com una opció gramatical

Simple building blocks for improved soil fertility – Look and judge yourself

The guide describes in a practical way and in four steps how farmers can evaluate their soilfertility and soilmanagement: (1) Look to the field and (2) soilsurface, (3) dig a small pit and look and if interested, do (4) some small and simple additional tests such as pricker-test and counting earthworms The tool is relevant for all people that want to be aware of their soil and it can be used by farmers individually or in discussion with their adviser. With some experience doing these tests becomes second nature

Subject Placement in the History of Latin

The aim of this paper is to provide further support for one aspect of the analysis of Classical and Late Latin clause structure proposed in Danckaert (2017a), namely the diachrony of subject placement. According to the relevant proposal, one needs to distinguish an earlier grammar ('Grammar A', whose heyday is the period from ca. 200 BC until 200 AD), in which there is no A-movement for subjects, and a later grammar ('Grammar B', which is on the rise from ca. 50-100 AD, and fully productive from ca. 200 AD onwards), where subjects optionally move to the inflectional layer. Assuming the variationist acquisition model of language change developed in Yang (2000, 2002a,b), I present corpus evidence which confirms that it is only in the Late Latin period that TP-internal subjects fully establish themselves as a grammatical option.L'objectiu d'aquest article és proporcionar un suport addicional a un aspecte de l'anàlisi de l'estructura oracional del llatí clàssic i llatí tardà proposada a Danckaert (2017a), a saber, la diacronia de la posició del subjecte. D'acord amb la proposta rellevant, cal distingir una gramàtica anterior ('Gramàtica A', l'apogeu de la qual és aproximadament el període comprès entre el 200aC i el 200dC), en què no hi ha moviment-A per als subjectes, i una gramàtica posterior ('Gramàtica B', que sorgeix aproximadament el 50-100dC, i esdevé totalment productiva a partir del 200dC en endavant), on els subjectes es mouen opcionalment a la capa flexional. Assumint el model variacionista d'adquisició del canvi lingüístic desenvolupat a Yang (2000, 2002a,b), presento evidència de corpus que confirma que és només en el període del llatí tardà que els subjectes interns a l'ST s'estableixen plenament com una opció gramatical

How lexical merger can drive grammaticalization : third person pronouns from Latin to Old French

The aim of this paper is to elucidate the genesis of Romance third person personal pronouns deriving from Latin ILLE and IPSE, with special reference to the history of French. Drawing a parallel with the taxonomy of phonological mergers from Labov (1994), we argue that the Late Latin competition between ILLE and IPSE was resolved through a series of lexical mergers (i.e. the opposite of better known lexical splits). Concretely, we propose that strong personal pronouns (such as French lui) arose through merger of ILLE and IPSE, to the effect that the union of the feature sets of the latter two elements was transferred to the newly formed category. In contrast, weak pronouns (like French il) only retain the intersection of the feature sets of ILLE and IPSE. By creating new functional categories, lexical merger thus acts as a driving force behind grammaticalization