Categorial heterogenity: Old English determiners
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Date
2007
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Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Abstract
This paper examines the syntactic properties of two structures illustrated in (1) and (2):
1) his þone readan gim // his the red gem // ‘his red gem’ / (coblick,HomU_18_[BlHom_1]:9.125.121),
2) þæs his cwides // that his saying // ‘that saying’ / (coblick,LS_17.1_[MartinMor[BlHom_17]]:215.79.2742).
Example (1) features a possessive – determiner sequence, which is characterized by the obligatory occurrence of both an adjective and simple determiners of the paradigm se/seo/þæt (Mitchell 1985: §103-112). The reversed order (determiner – possessive) does not display such restrictions. In particular, the adjective is optional and compound determiners (þes/þeos/þis) are also licit in these sequences, as shown in example (2). The analysis proposed in this paper accounts for these facts by assuming that Old English determiners are not a homogeneous group because they combine both adjectival (specifier) and pronominal (head) properties.
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"Studia Anglica Posnaniensia", 2007, Vol. 3, s. 75-96