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The Role of Syntactic and Semantic Level in Middle-Irish Verbal Noun: This Paper Aims to Provide Some Insights Into the Interact

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The Role of Syntactic and Semantic Level in Middle-Irish Verbal Noun: This Paper Aims to Provide Some Insights Into the Interact The role of syntactic and semantic level in middle-Irish verbal noun: This paper aims to provide some insights into the interaction between the syntactic level and the semantic one, with special regards on the middle-Irish verbal noun The research concentrates on the syntactic and semantic functions of Verbal Noun in Irish. One of the more striking features of the Celtic languages is their lack of a category of infinitive comparable to that found in most other Indo-European languages. Instead, a nominalization is used, which is usually termed “Verbal Noun”. This Verbal Noun is a true noun: it is declined like other nominals and takes its argument in genitive case. One of the recurring issues in the literature on the Irish Verbal Noun has been whether or not the Verbal Noun is an infinitive. The answer to this question depends on which criteria are used. From a syntactic point of view, a Verbal Noun behaves like a verbal argument and it could assume a nominal function or a verbal function (in this sense it could be the verb of a subordinate clause): a. When a Verbal Noun functions as a noun, it could be syntactically subject, direct object, indirect object, governed by a preposition, noun of a nominal predicate. From a semantic point of view, the verbal noun can code two meanings: 1. an abstract meaning “action of Vx”, i.e. an entity with the traits [-animate], [-human]. For example: From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967), rigo 90-92: Ra iarfacht Dare do Mac Roth cid ask:IND.PERF.3.SG Dare:NOM.SG. to Mac Roth what dobretha imthecht fair ocus cid cause:IND.PRET.3.SG travel:ACC.SG his and what ’ma tánic around:REL. come:IND.PRET.3.SG. Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 140): Daire asked mac Roth what was the cause of his journey and why he had come. 2. a referential meaning “the author of Vx”, i.e. an entity with the traits [+animate], [+human], namely an agent noun. For example: From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967), rigo 147-150: Urthatar techta ó Meidb cosna Go:IND.PRET.3.PL messanger:NOM.PL from Medb:DAT.SG. to+the Manib arco tístaís co Crúachain Maines:DAT.PL in order that go:CONG.IMPF.3.PL to Cruachu:DAT.SG na secht Mani the seven Maines Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 142): “Messengers went from Medb to the Maines to bid them come to Cruachu, the seven Maines”. b. When a Verbal Noun functions as a verb, it is the verb of a subordinate clause. In this case these syntactic constructions are found: 1. verbal noun (nominative case) functions as predicate of a subjective clause. Frequently, in the main clause we find a nominal predicate. The subject of the verbal noun is co-referent to a prepositional phrase in the main clause, whose syntactic coding is due to the copula expression. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 355-356: Atbertatar dano ba samlaid Say:IND.PRET.3PL then be:IND.PRET.3.SG so bad choir a thecht. be:IND.FUT.II.3.SG suitable:NOM.SG his go:NOM.SG Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 147): They said that they should go thus. 2. verbal noun (accusative case) functions as predicate of a objective clause. In this case, the verbal noun is governed by a verbum dicendi. The subject of the verbal noun is not expressed, because it is co-referent to the indirect object of the main clause, whose coding is due to the verbum dicendi. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 3660-3661: Acus ra raid ris taidecht do legeis. and say: IND.PERF.3PL to them come: ACC.SG for cure:DAT.SG Chethirn meic Fintain Cethern mac Fintain Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 236): and [Laeg] told him to come and cure Cethern mac Fintain 3. do+ verbal noun (dative case) functions as predicate of a subjective clause. In all our occurrences, the subject of the verbal noun is raising and it is in nominative case. In this case the subject coding is due to the copula expression in the main clause From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 3146-3149: Dámbad bés eóin ar lúamain do if+be:IND.FUT.II.3.SG habit bird:GEN.PL in:PREPflight to thecht tri chorpaib dóene go:DAT.SG through body:DAT.PL human being:GEN.PL Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 223): If it were usual for birds in flight to pass through men’s bodies [...]. 4. do+ verbal noun (dative case) functions as predicate of an objective clause. The subject of the verbal noun is co-referent to that of the main clause and for this reason it is not expressed (Equi-Noun Phrase Deletion). When the subject of the verbal noun is not co-referent to that of the main clause, it is raising. But this is not a real raising (as, instead, Disterheft 1980 said1), 1 In Disterheft (1980: 19), for the definition of raising, she wrote: “When the structure of the sentence is such that main clause verb has no object nor is infinitive subject co-referent with a main clause NP, because this argument is in nominative case and not in accusative. In my analysis I prefer to call this phenomenon just “placing before”. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 1154: Ní chaemnactar eich roremra Non riuscire:IND.PRET.3PL cavallo:NOM.PL troppo.grasso:NOM.PL ind ríg in damrad do chomaitecht del re:GEN.SG il cervo:NOM.SG a andare insieme:NV Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 170): The king’s fat horses could not keep up with the deer. 5. do+ verbal noun (dative case) functions as predicate of a purpose clause. The subject of the verbal noun is never expressed because it is co-referent to that of the main clause. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 4026: Ní thic nech dá fortacht ná not+be:IND.PRES.3.SG nobody for+him helping or dá fórithin for+him succouring Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 247): and no one comes to aid or succour him. 6. Preposition+ verbal noun functions as predicate of a temporal clause. The subject of the verbal noun is never expressed because it is co-referent to that of the main clause, or it is co-referent to another argument of the main clause. infinitive subject may be raised to object of the finite verb. Infinitive subject consequently assumes all properties of finite verb object: object position and object case marking. [...] In a related process, infinitive subject may be directly raised to subject of the finite verb. The structural description of this sentence type is that an infinitive clause is embedded to a matrix verb (e.g. appears, seems, happens) which has no overt subject, as impersonal sentences”. In my analysis I found only one occurrence in which the raising, in Disterheft’s terms, appears. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967)rigo 507-509: “Ní hed sain ba Not+be:IND.PRES.3.SG this that be.IND.PRET.3.SG háil linni ém”, ar Medb, will with+us+ENF truly say:IND.PRET.3.SG Medb:NOM.SG “nech d’ fuligud nó d’ fordergard somebody:NOM.SG to wound:NV or to hurt:DAT.SG foirn ar tíchtain isin cóiced over+1.PL after arrival:DAT.SG in+the province:ACC.SG n-aneóil se .i. i cúiced Ulad. unknown this i.e. in province:ACC.SG Ulster:GEN.SG Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 151): “It is not that indeed that we would wish”, said Medb, “that anyone should wound us or shed our blood after we have come to this unknown province, the province of Ulster”. 7. ic + verbal noun with the verb “to be” expresses the progressive form of the verb, signified by the verbal noun. The subject is not expressed because it is co-referent to that of the main clause. From Táin Bó Cúalnge (1967) rigo 2281-2283: Roclos blosc béimnech a Hear.IND.PRET.PASS.3.SG noise.NOM.SG. pulsation.GEN.SG his chride re chlíab immar glimnaig heart.GEN.SG on chest.ACC.SG as bark.ACC.SG archon i fotha nó mar watch dog.GEN.SG in guard.DAT.SG or as leóman ic techta fo mathgamnaib. lion.ACC.SG near go.DAT.SG under bear.DAT.PL Cecile O’Rahilly (1967: 202): The loud beating of his heart against his ribs was heard like the baying of a bloodhound ... or like a lion attacking bears. The study moved from the hypothesis that the intermediate nature of the Verbal Noun is reflected on the syntactic and semantic level. In fact, it shows a syntactic behavior similar to finite clauses or noun phrases. My research would identify the syntactic contexts and the semantic features of the Verbal Noun and put these levels in relation, defining the syntactic and semantic use of these forms. REFERENCES: Akmajian, A., 1979, Linguitsics. An Introduction to Language and Communication, Cambridge (Mass), The MIT Press. Anderson, J., M., 2006, Modern Grammars of Case, Oxford - New York, Oxford University Press. Ball, M. - Fife, J., 1993, The Celtic Languages, London, Routledge. Bertinetto, P.M., 1986, Tempo, aspetto e azione nel verbo italiano, Firenze, Accademia della Crusca. Dahl, Ö., 2000, Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, Berlin/ New York, Mouton de Gruyter. Disterheft, D., 1980, The Syntactic Development of the Infinitive in Indo-European, Ohio, Columbus. Doyle, A., 2001, Irish, Muenchen, Lincom Europa. Foley, W.A. – Van Valin R.D., 1984, Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Gagnepain, J., 1963, La syntaxe du nom verbal dans les langues celtiques: Irlandais, Paris, Libraire C.
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