OThe history of a Dutch past tense marker
Remco KnooihuizenOscar Strik
35th TABU-dagGroningen, 12 June 2014
DUTCH VERBAL INFLECTION
› Past-tense formation in Dutch:
› weak — maken, maakte, gemaakt› strong — kijken, keek, gekeken
› Weak forms supposedly default or productive
› problematic concepts› not unambiguously true
OUR PREVIOUS WORK
› Three experiments
› past-tense formation of nonce verbs (re-run in Oct 2013)› acceptability judgment of strong/weak past forms› forced strong past forms of existing weak verbs
› Main conclusions
› more strong forms than expected (39%)› various constraints (stem vowel, consonants)› frequent use of o as strong past tense marker
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN TENSE
› Past-tense decision tree for Dutch
Is this a strong verb?
Does the stem end in a voiceless sound?
Does the stem contain the vowel ij?
Stick -te onto the stem to make a past tense
Stick -de onto the stem to make a past tense
Change the stem vowel to ee to make a past
Change the stem vowel to oo to make a past
WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?
› Frequent occurrence in Dutch strong in!ection, seemingly irrespectiveof stem vowel
› Past tense: Class II, IIIb› Perfect: Class II, IIIa, IIIb, IV› Classes II and III have high type frequencies
› Facilitates reanalysis as general-purpose past-tense marker
HISTORY LESSON 1: IE-SPREAD
› General-purpose past tense marker ie in Dutch (from Class VII)
› Levelling to ie in Class VII (reduplicating) in Pre-Dutch
› First spread to Class VI
› Middle Dutch period
› Examples:
› bakken ~ boek > biek > bakte› wassen ~ woes > wies > waste› wasschen ~ woesch > wiesch > waste› heffen ~ hoef > hief› scheppen ~ schoep > schiep
HISTORY LESSON 1: IE-SPREAD
› General-purpose past tense marker ie in Dutch (from Class VII)
› Also spread to Class IIIb
› Early Modern Dutch period (van den Berg 1957)
› Examples:
› sterven ~ starf > stierf› helpen ~ halp > hielp
HISTORY LESSON 2: OU-SPREAD
› General-purpose past tense marker ou in Luxembourgish (from Class II)
› All 12 (!) remaining strong verbs (Werner 1990, Nowak 2010)
› bleiwen ~ blouf ~ bliwwen ‘stay’› stiechen ~ stouch ~ gestach ‘sting’› kommen ~ koum ~ komm ‘come’› gesinn ~ gesouch ~ gesinn ‘see’› ginn ~ gouf ~ ginn ‘give’› leien ~ loug ~ geleen ‘lie’› setzen ~ souz ~ gesiess ‘sit’› stoen ~ stoung ~ gestanen ‘stand’› fanken ~ foung ~ gefaangen ‘catch’› goen ~ goung ~ gaang ‘go’› halen ~ houl ~ gehalen ‘hold’› hanken ~ houng ~ gehaangen ‘hang’
LESSONS FROM HISTORY
› General-purpose past tense markers have happened before
› Generally not good news
› Dutch ie-spread
› Class VI verbs with ie have become weak› Class VI is moribund anyway
› Luxembourgish ou-spread
› ‘ideale Analogie oder vergeblicher Rettungsversuch?’
› Reason to worry?
DOMAINS FOR O
› Pops up predominantly in non-neutral language use
› next-best option (our experiment)› taboo contexts (genoken, gepopen)› jocular language use (gesnopen, gerolen, verhozen)
› What is the role of non-serious language in language change?
LANGUAGE ON HOLIDAY
› Battus’ Opperlandse Taal- en Letterkunde
› Als iets leuk is, dan is het goed. En wat leuk is, mag iedereen zelf weten. Wat kan dat mag, en wat niet kan dat mag helemaal. (Battus 1981)
› suspension of rules (Daniëls, Onze Taal, 2014)
› defeatist work on jocular language use — why?
› The play spirit is so diverse and uninhibited that any attempt to !nd ‘underlying principles’ would be forcing it into a Procrustean bed. Yes, there are tendencies and devices that can be catalogued; but we can best enjoy the "owering of the play spirit by leaving it in its untrammeled, untidy state. (Read 1982)
LANGUAGE ON HOLIDAY
› Examples of jocular language use with rules
› smurf language
› is it a cork smurf or a smurf screw? (Peyo 1973)
› internet memes
› different names for Benedict Cumberbatch (McCulloch 2013)
› Bandicoot Cabbagepatch, Angler!sh Gigglesnort, Wimbledon Tennismatch, Boobytrap Crimpysnitch, *Umbrella Falafel
› syntax, semantics and pragmatics of Harry Potter spells (Diesing & McConnell-Ginet 2012)
FEATURES OF LANGUAGE PLAY
› linguistic form› patterning of forms› emphasis on exact wording› repetition
› semantics› indeterminate meaning› vital or important subject-matter› reference to an alternative reality› inversion of language/reality relation
› pragmatics› focus upon performance / speaker/writer› use in congregation / intimate interaction› creation of solidarity / antagonism
› no direct usefulness› preservation/inversion of social order› enjoyment and/or value
(Cook 2000)
JOCULAR VERB FORMS
› From what linguistic aspects do these forms derive their special status?
› morphological variation as a source of jocularity› non-standard forms grab attention› non-standard forms make speaker stand out
› Part of relation between ‘conspicuous’ linguistic form and subjectivity/emotion
› Interaction of jocularity with morphological rules/patterns
JOCULAR VERB FORMS
› Roughly three patterns for past tense in Dutch
› weak (voiced and voiceless)› strong with ee› strong with oo
› In jocular language use...
› standard in!ection will not do, because standard› for strong verbs, weak in!ection will not do, because ‘standard’
SOME FORMALISM FOR GOOD MEASURE
› To illustrate the point (grain of salt)
snappen+PERF . WEAKVERB STRONGIJ ICONICITY DUTCH
gesnapt .
gesnappen . * * *
gesnopen . * *
gesnepen . * *!
capito . *!
☞
SOME FORMALISM FOR GOOD MEASURE
› To illustrate the point (grain of salt)
snappen+PERF . FUN WEAKVERB STRONGIJ ICONICITY DUTCH
gesnapt . *!
gesnappen . * * *
gesnopen . * *
gesnepen . * *!
capito . *!
☞
SO... CONCLUSIONS?
› On Dutch verbal in!ection
› oo appears as a (sub-optimal) past tense marker› no immediate danger for strong verb system› oo restricted to domain of jocular language
› On jocular language use
› despite defeatism, there are linguistic and pragmatic rules› by removing default, different view on what is also possible in
language
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT?
› Remco Knooihuizen
› [email protected]› @remcoknooi› rug.academia.edu/RemcoKnooihuizen
› Oscar Strik
› [email protected]› @qwallath› rug.academia.edu/OscarStrik
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