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<p> The goal of this dissertation is to address the question of the Verb Second status of Old French as well as its decline by examining the interaction of syntax and Information Structure (IS) in the Left Periphery from the 13th century through the 16th century. Old French (OFr) has long been considered to be a Verb Second (V2) language, due to the overwhelming tendency for the finite verb to occur as the second constituent in matrix clauses, the hallmark of V2. Recently, the V2 analysis OFr has been called into question, due to the relatively high rate of clauses with more than one preverbal constituent (V>2). During this same period, our understanding of what V2 is has evolved in such a way as to place less emphasis on the number of preverbal constituents, and more on the theoretical underpinnings of the clause structure. </p><p> The results, obtained using a methodology for the annotation of IS in a corpus created for this project, support the V2 analysis of 13th century French, both in terms of its syntax and its IS. From a descriptively syntactic stance much of decline of V2 occurs between the 13th and 14th centuries (e.g. the rise in V>2 clauses, the decline in postverbal subjects). However, in examining the IS changes, we find that key aspects of the V2 grammar (e.g. V to C movement, EPP) are robust into the 15th century. </p><p> Ultimately, we find that examining Old French syntax through the lens of IS provides new insight into the interaction between IS and syntax in language change, especially with respect to both the manner and the timeline of the decline of V2 in the history of French.</p>

<p> This thesis focuses on the infinitive among Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban speakers, in contrast with Mexicans. Most grammars describe as ungrammatical some types of optative clauses in Caribbean Spanish (Bosque &amp; Guti&eacute;rrez-Rexach, 2009): (4) a. *Nosotros estamos buscando otras alternativas, pero el director dice &eacute;l tener ya todo seteao. We are looking for other alternatives, but the director says he to-have [inf] already everything checked. We are looking for other alternatives, but the director says he has already checked everything. (5) a. *Eso te pasa por t&uacute; ir demasiado r&aacute;pido. That you [acus] happens because [-Q] you [nom] to-go [inf] too fast. That happens to you because of your going too fast. </p><p> Therefore, a variation phenomenon is produced (Silva-Corval&aacute;n, 2001): (4) b. Nosotros estamos buscando otras alternativas, pero el director dice que tiene ya todo seteao. We are looking for other alternatives, but the director says he has already everything checked. </p><p> We are looking for other alternatives, but the director says he has already checked everything (5) b. Eso te pasa porque vas demasiado r&aacute;pido. That you [acus] happens because you [nom] go [ind] too fast That happens to you because you go too fast This project sharpens a specific look to clauses such as (4) and (5) on the basis of mood microvariation concerning the infinitive/indicative optionality, related to linguistic variables: subject type, person features, prepositions, subject specificity, subject co-references, topic-actor subject, and declaration features; and sociolinguistic variables: Caribbean sub-variety, age, and education level. Debates have arisen when studying subjunctive/infinitive optionality (Aponte, 2008; Kempchinsky, 2007; Morales, 1986, 1999). Less attention has been given to indicative/infinitive variation. This work proposes the application of procedural meaning hypothesis (Terkourafi, 2011) to explain that Caribbean speakers choose infinitive clauses because their grammar has a syntax-pragmatics micro-parameter. Using GoldVarb2001, phenomena such as (4) and (5) are analyzed from a query answered by 72 Carribeans, and 24 Mexicans; and 125 interviews. Caribbeans prefer the infinitive with first person singular, non-specific, and topic-actor subjects. This hierarchy demonstrates that Caribbean Spanish has its own structural configurations which privilege the syntactic-pragmatic interface.</p>

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Trilingualism is a relatively new research field, which has often been studied within the framework established for bilingualism. Although there are overlaps, researchers have consistently pointed out that the dynamics in trilingualism pose greater variations than in bilingualism with an effect on language maintenance. However, the precise nature of this process is still unclear. The aim of this thesis is to examine and describe trilingual families' language practices, with a view to adding to the understanding of the sociocultural and linguistic factors that influence parents whether or not to use their native languages with their children. This study, based on a multi-step survey, was conducted in three phases. First an exploratory pilot study was carried out by interviewing five parents of trilingual families, which helped to develop the interview schedule. The second phase focused on semistructured interviews of parents in 35 trilingual families living in England, before moving to Germany to conduct the third phase by interviewing the parents of a further 35 families. The participants were encouraged to comment on their own language and cultural practices with their children at home and in the wider community. It was found that influences on parents' language choices with their children were multifactorial. Trilingual families in which each parent spoke one different native language other than the community language were highly motivated in England (77%) and Germany (82%) to pass on their native languages and the associated cultural values to their children. This was partly related to the effectiveness of the OPOl (One Parent One language) and the support from grandparents. In contrast, parents who spoke two or more native languages tended to use only one of them with their children partly because the OPOl was impractical or the beginning of school made it harder to use their additional native languages. Finally, multilingual schools in Germany were usually chosen for English only, even if it was not a native language for the parents. Thus, the research findings underscore the complexity of the relationship between linguistic and sociocultural factors that influence trilingual families' language practices.

Thesis (M.A.)--Abilene Christian University, 1987. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-119).

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Matthew Ciscel. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-63). Abstract available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-106). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.