Alphabétisation

Linguistique

Traduction

Apprendre l’anglais

Contact

Determiner Phrases in Old and Modern French

—

by

boucherpaul
in ,

From NP to DP

Volume 1: The syntax and semantics of noun phrases

Editors
Martine Coene | University of Antwerp
Yves D’hulst | University of Leiden
Hardbound – Available
ISBN 9789027227768 (Eur) | EUR 130.00
ISBN 9781588113016 (USA) | USD 195.00

e-Book –ISBN 9789027296566 | EUR 130.00 | USD 195.00

This is the first of a two-volume selection of refereed and revised papers, originally presented at the international conference From NP to DP at the University of Antwerp. The papers address issues in the syntax and semantics of the noun phrase, in particular the so-called DP-hypothesis which takes noun phrases to be headed by a functional head D(eterminer). The major concerns can be grouped around 3 subthemes: the internal syntax of noun phrases, the syntax and semantics of bare nouns and indefinites and the expression of measurement in noun phrases. The wealth of data coming from over 40 different languages combined with a thorough introduction to the current issues in the field of NPs/DPs and some alternative syntactic and semantic analyses, provide a comprehensive reference work from both a descriptive and a theoretical point of view. The second volume is concerned exclusively with the expression of possession in noun phrases.
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 55] 2003.  vi, 359 pp.

Publishing status: Available

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
DOI logo

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.55

Table of Contents
  • Introduction: The syntax and semantics of noun phrases: Theoretical background
    Martine Coene and Yves D’hulst | pp. 1–33
  • Introduction: Case studies
    Martine Coene and Yves D’hulst | pp. 35–46
  • 1. Determiner Phrases in Old and Modern French
    Paul Boucher | pp. 47–69
  • 2. On pro-nouns and other “pronouns”
    Rose-Marie Déchaine and Martina Wiltschko | pp. 71–89
  • 3. Modification in the Balkan nominal expression: An account of the (A)NA : AN(A) order contrast
    Mila Dimitrova-Vulchanova | pp. 91–118
  • 4. Subnominal empty categories as subordinate topics
    Petra Sleeman | pp. 119–137
  • 5. ‘Transparent’ free relatives as a special instance of ‘standard’ free relatives
    Alexander Grosu | pp. 139–178
  • 6. Resolving number ambiguities in Sakha: Evidence for the Determiner Phrase as a processing domain
    Edith Kaan and Nadezhda Vinokurova | pp. 179–193
  • 7. Weak indefinites
    Greg N. Carlson | pp. 195–210
  • 8. Predicate–argument mismatches and the Adjectival Theory of indefinites
    Fred Landman | pp. 211–237
  • 9. Determinerless nouns: A parametric mapping theory
    Giuseppe Longobardi | pp. 239–254
  • 10. A Russellian interpretation of measure nouns
    Almerindo E. Ojeda | pp. 255–276
  • 11. Generalizing over quantitative and qualitative constructions
    Jenny Doetjes and Johan Rooryck | pp. 277–295
  • 12. On three types of movement within the Dutch nominal domain
    Norbert Corver | pp. 297–328
  • 13. Semi-lexical nouns, classifiers, and the interpretation(s) of the pseudopartitive construction
    Melita Stavrou | pp. 329–353
  • Index of languages | p. 355
  • Index of subjects | pp. 356–359

Determiner Phrases in Old and Modern French

pp. 47–69

Abstract

In this chapter I show how the syntax of Modern French DP (Déterminer Phrase) developed in a regular way from that of Old French DPs. We first see how the increasing use of Latin deictic pronouns attached to NPs eventually lead to destressing, then to loss of semantic content and finally to their reanalysis as definite articles. This evolution triggered a reanalysis of the extended nominal projection. The KP (Kase Phrase) of Latin had already become a DP by the end of the 9th century, the period of the earliest ectant Old French texts, where we see the ancestors of all the Modern French determiners already in use. In addition to the loss of case morphology, which is traditionally thought to lead to the rise of déterminer systems, I show, following Marchello-Nizia, that changes in stress lead to a reanalysis of both definite articles and demonstratives in Modern French. We now have a set of semi-affical articles which must accompany all referential NPs. This, I argue, is due to their reanalysis as agreement specifiers. Their adjunction to Agr is due to the loss of phonologically active number morphology in Modern French. This study therefore sheds light, not only on the process of language change, but also on the complex, interdependent factors which explain the syntax of Modern French DPs.

Retour à « Linguistique »

Commentaires

Laisser un commentaire