Preverbal subjects, information structure, and object clitic position in Old Occitan

Abstract

The position of object and adverbial clitics remains problematic in Old Occitan syntax (Wanner 2010). This paper analyzes clitic position specifically in affirmative main declaratives with overt preverbal subjects, in which clitics are either preverbal or postverbal with no apparent semantic distinction. Thus, the phrasesEn Constantiss’enanetandEn Constantis anet s’enare semantically equivalent, each meaning ‘Sir Constantine left’, whether the cliticss’en‘himself.from-there’ appear before or after the verbanet‘went’. Previous analyses have concluded that this variation is random (Mériz 1978) or due to regional or dialectal variation (Hinzelin 2007). Neither approach satisfactorily addresses the underlying grammar or the principles underlying the distribution of the variants. The present analysis draws on claims about the left periphery in medieval Romance (Benincà 2006) and reports empirical data from the troubadour biographies (vidasandrazos) and thevidaof Saint Douceline. Results from 470 subject–verb declaratives establish that the subject in subject–verb–clitic sequences is left-dislocated, albeit covertly so. This sequence is one of several instantiations of subject left dislocation in Old Occitan and usually signals topic shift.

‘E sí la hoïren tots’: sí and emphatic positive polarity in Old Catalan

“…Si/sí 2 has received significant attention in the Old Romance literature: it has been studied in regard to Old Portuguese (Martins 2013), Old Catalan and Old Spanish Hernanz 2013, 2008), Old Spanish (Rodríguez Molina 2014), Old Italian (Salvi 2002;Poletto and Zanuttini 2013;Wolfe 2015;Poletto 2005Poletto , 2014, Old Neapolitan (Ledgeway 2008), Old French (Marchello-Nizia 1985Fleischman 1991;Sitaridou 2003;Wolfe 2015;Wolfe 2018), and Old Occitan (Donaldson 2016).…”

“…Analyses of si within V2 grammars broadly fall into three groups: (i) those that connect it to topic continuity (Fleischman 1991;van Reenen and Schløsler 2000;Salvi 2002); (ii) those that take it to be a last resort strategy for the fulfilment of the V2 requirement (Poletto 2005;Ledgeway 2008;Poletto 2014;Wolfe 2015;Donaldson 2016); and (iii) those that link with the assertion of the clause (Marchello-Nizia 1985), in line with analyses proposed for sí in the Old Ibero-Romance languages.…”

Fronting in Old Spanish

“…Notice that left-peripheral subjects are also compatible with a fronted temporal or locative adverb (6c, 6d, 7f, 20 and 7g), which renders them compatible should the latter be focused. In line with Donaldson (2016), for Old Occitan, we consider that proclisis ensues when (i) spec-FocP is filled or (ii) a constituent has moved to a left-peripheral position. Even in the cases of clitic left dislocation (CLLD) contexts, if there is fronting of a focal constituent (i.e., assí 'thus'), there is proclisis and we consider the clitic to have moved at the left of Vᵒ, namely in Tᵒ.…”