{"title":"The Phonology of Mid Vowels in Germanic Languages","authors":"Andrew Kostakis","doi":"10.1017/s1470542724000023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542724000023","url":null,"abstract":"In phonological theory there are multiple ways to represent mid vowels. SPE conventions maintain that they are non-[high] and non-[low]. Conversely, frameworks like Element Theory argue that mid vowels are simultaneously [high] and [low]. This article examines eight processes (and groups of processes) within the Germanic language family, which strongly indicate their specification as simultaneously [high] and [low]. That specification is manifest from developments that tease out the [high] and [low] features of a single mid vowel into separate [high] and [low] elements of sound (e.g., [e] > [ja]). It also falls out from changes in which separate [high] and [low] segments coalesce into a single mid vowel (e.g., [au] > [o]).","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140613444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"(Den) eneste måten – When the Prenominal Determiner Can Be Omitted from Norwegian Double Definite Phrases","authors":"Yvonne van Baal","doi":"10.1017/s1470542724000011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542724000011","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Norwegian, like Swedish and Faroese, exhibits double definiteness: modified definite phrases normally contain both a prenominal determiner and a suffixed definite article on the noun. However, exceptions—phrases with only the determiner or only the suffixed article—can be found. This article investigates adjectives which do not need to be preceded by the prenominal determiner in Norwegian. Corpus data and acceptability judgments are used to describe these exceptions and to propose a syntactic analysis. The study shows that there are three types of adjectives in Norwegian: regular ones that require double definiteness, exceptional adjectives that allow determiner omission, and quantifier adjectives that never occur with a determiner. I argue that phrases with exceptional adjectives can be accounted for by the same movement that is proposed for determiner-less phrases in Icelandic and Northern Swedish (Julien 2002, 2005). Finally, the article presents a brief exploration of the patterns of variation in omission versus presence of the determiner, including historical and dialectal variation.</p>","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"235 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140324908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pronominal Adverbs in German: A Grammaticalization Account","authors":"Karin Pittner","doi":"10.1017/s1470542723000090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542723000090","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pronominal adverbs in German, which consist of <span>da</span> ‘there’, <span>hier</span> ‘here’, or <span>wo</span> ‘where’ as first element and a preposition as second element, like <span>davor</span> ‘before’, <span>hierbei</span> ‘hereby’, <span>worin</span> ‘wherein’, have often been explained by a movement of the first element out of the complement position of the preposition. This article points out some of the problems of movement analyses and presents an alternative account based on the diachronic development of pronominal adverbs. It is argued that the pattern after which pronominal adverbs are formed can be traced back to the univerbation of two adverbs with spatial meaning. This is accompanied by processes often associated with grammaticalization, such as semantic bleaching, phonological reduction, and a loss of separability in the standard variety. Some of the reduced forms are obligatory in phrasemes and particle verbs, thus constituting a split which can occur during grammaticalization. The reduction of the first element of pronominal adverbs and a doubling of the first element can be seen as part of a grammaticalization cycle.</p>","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139422260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Processing Factors Constrain Word-Order Variation in German: The Trouble with Third Constructions","authors":"Claudia Felser, Sina Bosch","doi":"10.1017/s1470542723000107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542723000107","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A subset of German control verbs allows for the discontinuous linearization of their infinitival complements, a word-order pattern known as the “third construction” pattern. Compared to alternative word-order options (notably, extraposition), third constructions are very rare in present-day German. Here we ask whether the third construction pattern’s low occurrence frequency can be accounted for by processing factors. We report the results from a self-paced reading task and a production priming task investigating whether third constructions are difficult to comprehend, difficult to produce, or both. Our results show that the third construction pattern’s local structural ambiguity impedes comprehension, and that the pattern is also resistant to priming. We conclude that this word-order pattern is an example of a “latent” construction that is grammatically licensed but strongly dispreferred in language use because easier-to-process word-order variants are available.</p>","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139420651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What the Schwartzes Told Me about Allomorph Priority","authors":"Noam Faust","doi":"10.1017/s1470542723000089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542723000089","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In Standard Yiddish, <span>-s</span> and <span>-ən</span> are used as default allomorphs for plural word formation. It is argued here that the choice is left to the phonology, with <span>-s</span> acting as a default within a default. This status is used to explain the exclusive use of <span>-s</span> in the pluralization of proper names, which are claimed to be formed with no sensitivity to the phonological form of the base.</p>","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139420731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Present Participle with Wērden and Wēsen in Middle Low German: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Structure and Meaning","authors":"Sarah Ihden","doi":"10.1017/s1470542722000204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542722000204","url":null,"abstract":"A comprehensive description of the combination of the finite auxiliary verbs <jats:italic>wērden</jats:italic> ‘become’/<jats:italic>wēsen</jats:italic> ‘be’ and a present participle in Middle Low German is still a strong desideratum. This study presents a corpus-based analysis of the aforementioned phenomenon with a special focus on its grammatical structure and its different meanings. In particular, it focuses on a wide range of temporal and aspectual meanings, depending on the auxiliary verb, its tense and mood. Moreover, the relationship between the semantics of the main verb and the meaning of the whole construction is investigated. Finally, the competition with alternative verbal complex constructions expressing the same meaning is also explored. The analysis is carried out on the basis of Middle Low German texts from different times, language areas, and genres.","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"48 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138514332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prospective Aspect and Current Relevance: A Case Study of the German Prospective Stehen vor NP Light Verb Construction","authors":"Jens Fleischhauer","doi":"10.1017/s1470542722000198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542722000198","url":null,"abstract":"The paper presents a detailed corpus-based analysis of the German prospective <jats:italic>stehen vor</jats:italic> NP light verb construction. The starting point of the analysis is the claim that the construction is restricted to change-of-state nouns in the NP-internal position (Fleischhauer & Gamerschlag 2019, Fleischhauer et al. 2019). Based on corpus data, I demonstrate that although the construction shows a strong preference for such nouns, other semantic types of nouns (such as state nouns or process nouns) occur in the construction as well. I argue that process nouns in particular require contextual support to be licensed within the construction. In the paper, I present an analysis of the prospective light verb construction in terms of current relevance. This analysis accounts for the observed preference for change-of-state NP-internal nouns as well as for the need to provide contextual support for process nouns. The notion <jats:italic>current relevance</jats:italic> is frequently employed in the analysis of the perfect aspect; the current paper represents the first attempt to extend this notion to the prospective aspect.*","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138514333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Approaches to Aspect: The Case of the Dutch Prepositional Progressive","authors":"Maarten Bogaards","doi":"10.1017/s1470542722000174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1470542722000174","url":null,"abstract":"Progressive constructions in Germanic are usually studied as progressive constructions—that is, exclusively so. I characterize this as a top-down approach to aspect, which, I argue, harbors the risk of overlooking relevant language-specific structures that are similar in form and meaning. This paper, therefore, advocates taking a bottom-up approach. Based on a case study of the prepositional progressive in Dutch (<jats:italic>aan het</jats:italic>-progressive), I claim that this approach is of added empirical and theoretical value. Drawing on construction-based theories, the relevant patterns—dubbed <jats:italic>situational constructions</jats:italic>—are analyzed in terms of horizontal constructional links.*","PeriodicalId":42927,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Germanic Linguistics","volume":"65 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138514324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}