Oblique Subjects in Germanic: Their Status, History and Reconstruction

Jóhanna Barðdal

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2023

Oblique Subjects in Germanic

Their Status, History and Reconstruction

Jóhanna Barðdal

Volume 21 in the series Studies in Language Change [SLC]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111078014

Overview
Contents

About this book

Pulling together the threads of forty years of research on oblique subjects in the Germanic languages, this book introduces a novel approach to grammatical relations, based on a definition of subject as the first argument of the argument structure. New data are presented from Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Swedish and Old Danish, as well as from Icelandic, Faroese and German. This includes alternating Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat predicates, where either argument, the dative or the nominative, takes on subject behavior. The subject concept is modeled with the formalism of Construction Grammar, both synchronically and for the purpose of reconstructing grammatical relations for Proto-Germanic.

Author / Editor information

Jóhanna Barðdal, Ghent University, Belgium.

Reviews

"Jóhanna Barðdal has done it again. In this book, she takes on a topic one might think has been fully explored — subjecthood in Germanic languages — and discovers that, unexpectedly, the pattern of Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat alternating predicates is widespread throughout the Indo-European languages. In elucidating this pattern, she refines a theoretical approach to subject and she makes a compelling case for reconstructing alternating predicates (at least) to Proto-Germanic."

Spike Gildea, University of Oregon

"In this monograph, a landmark in research on syntactic reconstruction and oblique subjects, Jóhanna Barðdal presents an impressive array of new data and arguments, demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt that oblique subjects can be found in older stages of all Germanic languages and hence must be considered to have been a feature of Proto-Germanic. She convincingly argues that syntactic reconstruction is not only theoretically possible but also empirically feasible. Furthermore, she shows that contrary to common belief, Modern German also has oblique subjects, in addition to Icelandic and Faroese where their existence has long been recognized."　

Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson, University of Iceland

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 What is a subject? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
3 Alternating Dat-Nom / Nom-Dat predicates Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
4 Oblique subjects in Early Germanic: Gothic, Old / Middle High German, Old / Middle English, Old Saxon, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Swedish and Old Danish Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
5 Reconstructing oblique subjects for Proto- Germanic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
6 Modern German: An anomaly? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
7 Synthesis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
Name Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
Language Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	387

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Researchers in Historical Linguistics, Germanic Languages, Construction Gammar, Argument Structure
Pages
- Front matter: 14
- Main content: 389
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 43
- Tables: 20
Keywords: Historical Linguistics; Germanic Linguistics; Construction Grammar; Argument Structure; Grammatical Relations; Oblique Subjects

eBook

Published: September 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111078014

Hardcover

Published: September 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111077840