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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 38:2 (2021) ► pp.259–301

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The word order of negation in the history of Basque

A linguistic and sociolinguistic approach

ORCiD logo with link | University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
Published online: 1 February 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.19024.sal
Abstract
This article investigates word order changes in negated periphrastic constructions in the history of Basque. A number of linguistic variables are argued to correlate with these changes: the negative particle ez is increasingly focalized in main clauses, the innovative pattern negative particle – auxiliary verb – main verb allows for more syntactic flexibility than the conservative one, and the word order changes do not progress at equal rates in all clause subtypes. Genre issues are also considered, including the hypothesis that the loss of the conservative order main verb – negative particle – auxiliary verb of main clauses occurs first in texts close to oral language. Moreover, it is argued that eastern dialects are more innovative than western dialects and that efforts towards standardization of the language have slowed down this case of word order change.
Résumé
Cette contribution examine les changements de l’ordre des mots subis par des constructions négatives périphrastiques dans l’histoire du basque. On soutient que plusieurs variables linguistiques sont liées à ces changements: la particule négative ez est focalisée de manière croissante dans les propositions principales, l’innovation syntaxique particule négative – verbe auxiliaire – verbe principal des propositions indépendantes est plus flexible que l’ordre plus ancien, et les changements d’ordre des mots ne progressent pas de la même façon dans toutes les sous-classes de proposition subordonnée. On prend également en compte des questions philologiques, notamment l’hypothèse que la disparition de l’ordre des mots d’origine verbe principal – particule négative – verbe auxiliaire se produit d’abord dans des textes proches de la langue parlée. D’ailleurs, on montre que les dialectes orientaux sont plus innovateurs que les dialectes occidentaux, et que les efforts de standardisation de la langue ont ralenti les changements en question.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Beitrag untersucht in der Geschichte des Baskischen Veränderungen in der Wortstellung von verneinten, periphrastischen Konstruktionen. Etliche linguistische Variablen hängen offenbar mit diesen Veränderungen zusammen: Die Verneinungspartikel ez wird in Hauptsätzen zunehmend fokussiert, das neuartige Muster Verneinungspartikel – Hilfsverb – Hauptverb ist flexibler als das ursprüngliche, und die Wortstellungsänderungen erfolgen bei verschiedenen Nebensatzarten auf unterschiedliche Art. Auch philologische Fragen werden berücksichtigt, einschließlich der Hypothese, der Schwund der konservativen Reihenfolge Hauptverb – Verneinungspartikel – Hilfsverb trete zuerst in Texten auf, die eher mündliche Sprache wiedergeben. Des Weiteren wird argumentiert, östliche Dialekte seien innovativer als westliche, und Bestrebungen zur Standardisierung der Sprache hätten zudem diese Wortstellungsänderung gebremst.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Literature, scope and aims of the study
    • 1.1Standard negation in present-day Basque
    • 1.2Standard negation in historic and prehistoric Basque
  • 2.A brief description of the corpus
  • 3.Discussion of the data: Variables which affect the word order of negation
    • 3.1Linguistic variables
      • 3.1.1Variable #1: Constituent focalization
      • 3.1.2Variable #2: “disruption” of negative constructions
      • 3.1.3Variable #3: Clause subtype
    • 3.2Sociolinguistic variables
      • 3.2.1Variable #4: Text type
      • 3.2.2Variable #5: Time
      • 3.2.3Variable #6: Dialect
      • 3.2.4Variable #7: Efforts of standardization
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Non-standard abbreviations
  • References
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