Rosenbach Anette. Genitive Variation in English: Conceptual Factors in Synchronic and Diachronic Studies

Mouton de Gruyter, 2002. — 374 p. — (Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] 42). — ISBN 3110173700, 9783110173703.The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.The structure of the i-genitive and the o/-genitive: some theoretical preliminaries
The constructions
The nature of the relational markers
The nature of the grammatical relation between possessor and possessum
A functional account
A formal account: DP-analysis
Terminology revisited
Grammatical variation
The study of variation in linguistics: brief historical outline
Extending the concept of variation to (morpho)syntax
The problem of'sameness'
Further methodological problems
Establishing the alternation between the ^-genitive and the ¿»/-genitive as a case of grammatical variation
Why "grammatical" variation?
Establishing a criterion of 'sameness' for the s-genitive and the of-genitive
Categorical versus choice contexts
Genitive functions/meanings
Pronominal versus full NP possessors
Definiteness and reference tracking for whole possessive NP
Grammatical function of the possessor
Comparable versus non-comparable contexts
Grammatical function of the possessor: specifying versus classifying genitives
Structural equivalence viii Table of contents
Standard versus non-Standard forms
Factors known to influence the choice between the s-genitive and the ¿»/-genitive
Implications for the empirical investigation
Factors: Animacy, topicality, and possessive relation
Animacy
The notion of animacy
Previous studies
Topicality
The notion of topicality
Previous studies
Possessive relation
Taxonomies and previous studies
Interaction of factors
Animacy and topicality
Animacy and possession
Topicality and possessive relation: possessors as anchors and reference points
The concept of individuation
Implications for empirical research
Summary and discussion
"Variation" versus "choice"
Variation-based approaches
Formal approaches
Generative grammar
Optimality Theory
Sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics
Choice-based approaches
Functionalism
Markedness, naturalness, and iconicity
Markedness
Naturalness
Iconicity
Grammaticalization
Cognitive linguistics
Towards a choice-based approach of the genitive variation: outline of approach to grammatical variation in the present study
Modern English data: experimental study
Why using an experimental design?
Deriving predictions in a choice-based approach: iconic and natural principles
Linear sequencing: the serial position of the possessor (factors: animacy and topicality)
Operational definitions
Animacy
Topicality
Predictions
The principle of conceptual distance (factor: possessive relation)
Operational definition
PredictionsResearch questions for the present study
Experimental study
Experimental design
Subjects
Procedure: questionnaire elicitation
Conditions and items
Refined predictions
Analysis and results
Synchronic state of affairs
Animacy, topicality, and possessive relation
Interaction of factorsChange-in-progress
Animacy, topicality, and possessive relation
Interaction of factorsComparing British and American English
Synchronic state of affairs
Change-in-progress
Summary and general discussion
Historical development of the genitive variation
Old English: prenominai versus postnominal genitive
Middle English: the gradual decline of the i-genitive
Early Modern English: no further change?
Against all odds? The revival of the i-genitive in early Modern English
Corpus analysis (1400 - 1630): methodological preliminaries
Analysis and results: the revival of the i-genitive (1400 - 1630)Interpretation: Why the revival of the ¿-genitive is surprising - or is it?
The role of the factors animacy, topicality, and possessive relation in the revival of the s-genitive
Animacy
Topciality
Possessive relations
Interaction of factors: topicality and possessive relations within [+animate] contexts
Preference structure for the i-genitive (1400 - 1630)
The revival of the i-genitive and the structural change of POSS 's from inflection to clitic and determiner
From inflection to clitic: what happened
Excursion: the i-less genitive and elliptic genitives
How the structural change of POSS 's from inflection to clitic is accounted for
Collapse of the genitive paradigm
Looking at the NP as a whole (I): deflexion and loss of NP-internal agreement
The /iw-genitive: causal, contributory or no role at all in the development of POSS 's towards clitic?
Looking at the NP as a whole (II): of words and phrases
The development towards phrasal compounding
Gradience in the i-genitive: from determiners to compounds?
From inflection to determiner: the new grammatical
function of the i-genitive as a determiner
The i-genitive as a semantic-pragmatic anchoring device
Descriptive and partitive genitives
The Topic Schema and the Ais-genitive revisited
The development of adnominal possessive constructions in other West-Germanic languagesGeneral summary Table of contents xi
A diachronic scenario: the extension of the s-genitive from
late Middle to Modern English - economically-driven language change?
Notions of economy in linguistics
Speaker versus hearer economy
Cognitive economy and grammatical variation
The role of cognitive economy in language change
"Economy" in the present study
The explanandum: the diachronic extension of the s-genitive from late Middle English to Modern English
Preference structure: late Middle/early Modem English to
Present-day English
The role of cognitive economy in the diachronic extension of the ¿-genitive
Synchronic user-optimality
Automatization
Analogical/metaphorical extension
Grammaticalization at work?
Grammaticalization as automatization
Grammaticalization in the traditional sense
Possible other factors involved in the diachronic extension of the i-genitive
Stylistic factors
Premodification versus postmodification
Summary and conclusion
Appendix
Experimental study
Corpus analysis (1400 - 1630)
NotesName index
Subject index