abstract: Despite the vast research on language carried out by the generative linguistics of Noam Chomsky and his followers since the 1950s, for theoretical reasons (mainly their attention to the mental abstraction of language structure rather than language as a performed product), historical linguistics from the start lay outside their research interest. This study is an attempt to bridge the gap between the formalism and theoretical constructs introduced by generative grammar, whose ultimate goal is to provide not only a description but also an explanation to linguistic phenomena, and historical linguistics, which studies the evolution of language over time. This main objective is met by providing a formal account of the changes hwæðer undergoes throughout the Old English (OE) period. This seemingly inconspicuous word presents itself as a case of particular investigative interest in that it reflects the different stages proclaimed by the theoretical assumptions implemented in the study, namely the economy principles responsible for what has become known as the CP cycle: the Head Preference Principle and the Late Merge Principle, whereby pronominal hwæðer would raise to the specifier position for topicalization purposes, then after frequent use in that position, it would be base-generated there under Late Merge, until later reanalysis as the head of the Complementizer Phrase (CP) under Head Preference. Thus, I set out to classify the diverse functions of OE hwæðer by identifying and analyzing all instances as recorded in the diachronic part of the Helsinki Corpus. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data have rendered the following results: 1) a fully satisfactory functional and chronological classification has been obtained by analyzing the data under investigation following a formal theoretical approach; and 2) a step-by-step historical analysis proves to be indispensable for understanding how language works at the abstract level from a historical point of view. This project is part of a growing body of research on language change which attempts to describe and explain the evolution of certain words as these change in form and function. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2013

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In this dissertation I provide an account of the distribution of Korean clause-typing markers from the perspective of a formal typological model, the Universal Spine Hypothesis (Wiltschko, 2014, 2017). Although Korean clause-typing markers have both syntactic properties (expressing force/mood, Chomsky 2000, 2001) and pragmatic properties (expressing speech styles, Sohn 1999), my investigation focuses on the morphosyntactic properties of clause-typing markers in single-layered and double-layered CPs. I detail their ability to transmit clause type, their compatibility with TAM elements, and their incompatibility with subordinators and speech act elements. My central claim is that, through an association with the linking spine (i.e., CP in generative grammar), clause-typing markers, including ta and e, construct Korean language-specific categories. Clause-typing markers interact with a syntactic domain encoding the common ground of speech participants, the grounding spine. My dissertation has two major findings. First, the morphophonological realization of C is obligatory in both finite and non-finite clauses. I therefore propose a Clause Complementation Parameter (CCP)—all clauses must have a complementizer, and a C must have a correspondent PF realization. This accounts for the expletive-like dummy complementizers e and ci which can fill the head of the three basic clause types. Second, functional elements selecting clause-typing markers support the existence of syntactic projections above the traditional CP. For instance, iterative ko and hearsay y in reiterated and hearsay utterances, respectively, must be associated with the syntactic domain above CP. I argue that along with polite yo and intonation, they construct Korean language-specific categories through their association with the three universal categorizers k: linking, k: grounding, and k: responding. This is formulated as [RespP [GroundP [LinkingP [AnchoringP …-ssPAST] -taDECL] -yHEARSAY] (-yoPOLITE) -↑]. Investigations of the distributions of periphrastic irrealis clause-typing markers and multifunctional clause-typing markers contribute to our understanding of the multifaceted nature of category C: the periphrastic irrealis markers show that C with T can restrict the person feature on the subject. The interpretations of multifunctional markers in different morphosyntactic contexts show that their properties emerge in two ways: through interaction with local elements in the domain or by virtue of their association with hierarchically distinct domains. Assuming the Universal Spine Hypothesis, I have accounted for the morphosyntactic properties of Korean clause-typing markers by proposing language-specific categories considering the functional layers. This dissertation offers a more complete account of Korean grammar but also will provide an explanation for cross-linguistic differences in encoding of clause-typing—Units of Languages change how C appears. / Graduate

The primary aim of this thesis is to map the syntactic and semantic nature, and the frequency of the Double Passive in Swedish. The results showed that the Double Passive is a control construction where the internal argument (OBJ) of the embedded verb is raised to subject of the s-passive matrix verb, and the verb of the infinitival complement co-occurs as an s-passive infinitive. In the thesis Lexical functional grammar (LFG) is used as a model for semantic and syntactic analysis. The analysis showed that when the AGENT in a Double Passive construction is suppressed, it creates an argument structure that triggers an equi verb to occur as a raising verb (cf. Ørsnes 2006:404). Overt agents within constructions containing the Double Passive showed an even lower frequency than the low frequencies documented in previous research of passive constructions by Silén (1997) and Laanemets (2010). The lower frequency is partly a result of the fact that agents in a Double Passive construction are suppressed twice. The results of a corpus study showed a frequency of 3.57 % of overt agents within constructions containing Double Passives. The complementizer att ‘to’ in the subordinated infinitive clause of a Double Passive is overtly expressed, partly depending on the degree of modality of the matrix verb (cf. Sundman 1983; Teleman 1999; Lagerwall 1999), and the degree of semantic bonding between the matrix verb and the complement (Givón 2001b). The data (matrix verbs) collected in the corpus study were analysed according to a categorising-system in SAG (Teleman et al. 1999) and in Givón (2001a) and Givón (2001b). The matrix verbs with strong nominal (lexical) properties, e.g. planera ‘plan’, showed a high frequency of co-occurrence with full infinitives, as compared to matrix verbs with largely grammatical meaning, e.g. avse ‘intend’. / Det primära syftet med denna uppsats är att kartlägga dubbelpassiv-konstruktionens syntaktiska och semantiska natur samt frekvens i det svenska språket. Resultaten visade att dubbelpassiven är en kontrollkonstruktion där det inbäddade verbets interna argument (OBJ) lyfts till positionen som det s-passiva matrisverbets subjekt, och där verbet i infinitivsatsen uttrycks som en s-passiv infinitiv. I uppsatsen används Lexical functional grammar (LFG) som modell för semantisk och syntaktisk analys. Analysen visade att då AGENTEN undertrycks, så skapas en argumentstruktur som får ett equi-verb att framträda som ett raising-verb (jmfr Ørsnes 2006:404). Explicita agenter, i konstruktioner med dubbelpassiver, visade en ännu lägre frekvens än den redan låga frekvens som dokumenterats i tidigare forskning om passiv-konstruktioner av Silén (1997) och Laanemets (2010). Den lägre frekvensen, är delvis ett resultat av faktumet att agenterna i en dubbelpassiv-konstruktion undertrycks två gånger. Resultaten av en korpusstudie visade att frekvensen av explicita agenter, i konstruktioner som innehåller dubbelpassiver, uppgick till 3.57 %. Komplementeraren "att" i den underordnade infinitivsatsen i en dubbelpassiv uttrycks explicit – delvis beroende på matrisverbens modala egenskaper (jmfr. Sundman 1983; Teleman 1999; Lagerwall 1999), samt beroende av grad av semantisk länkning mellan matrisverbet och komplementet (Givón 2001b). Den insamlade datan (matrisverb) i korpusstudien analyserades enligt ett kategoriseringssystem hämtat ur SAG (Teleman et al. 1999), Givón (2001a) och Givón (2001b). Matrisverb med starka nominella (lexikala) egenskaper, till exempel planera, visade en högre frekvens i förekomst med fullständiga infinitivsatser, i jämförelse med mer funktionella matrisverb som avse.