The change from pronoun to clitic to prefix and the rise of null subjects in spoken Swiss French Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Fonseca-Greber, Bonnibeth Beale Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 12:10:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289206 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Ann Arbor, Mi 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 THE CHANGE FROM PRONOUN TO CLITIC TO PREFIX AND THE RISE OF NULL SUBJECTS IN SPOKEN SWISS FRENCH by Bonnibeth Beale Fonseca-Greber Copyright © Bonnibeth Beale Fonseca-Greber 2000 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the INTERDISCIPLINARY PH.D. PROGRAM IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING (SLAT) In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2000 UMI Number: 9992079 Copyright 2000 by Fonseca-Greber, Bonnibeth Beale All rights reserved. (S) UMI UMI Microform 9992079 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by____ B_o_n_n __ ib__ e_t_h __ B_e_a_l_e __ F_o_n_s_e_c_a __ -_G_r_e_b_e_r ______ _ entitled The Change from Pronoun to Clitic to Prefix and the Rise of Null Subjects in Spoken Swiss French and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date f-f(-0 0 Date 9- f{ --t7z; Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. --------- 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Adrienne Lehrer. my Dissertation Director, for her steadfast support in seeing me through from the first formulation of this idea in her Typology and Universals course to its final form, despite her becoming Professor Emerita along the way. I greatly appreciate her advice in the early stages as to possible ways to approach the topic. Throughout the process, her suggestions have ultimately proved invaluable. Her de.\terity in helping me avoid administrative pitfalls has also been of crucial importance. I would like to thank Dr. Linda Waugh. who effectively co-directed the dissertation once she arrived from Cornell in Fall 1999. even though her official duties did not begin until Fall 2000. Her intellectual insights and knowledge of the topic, in terms of suggesting a suitable theoretical framework, as well as her generous and supportive mentoring have truly been a Godsend in bringing this dissertation to its ultimate completion. To her. 1 owe my deepest gratitude. I would also like to thank Dr. Mario Montalbetti for bringing to my attention his Overt Pronoun Constraint (OPC), which proved a crucial diagnostic in testing the hypothesis about E\ eryday Spoken Swiss French that I put forth in this dissertation. I am also indebted to him for his patience in guiding me through the terminological minefields of Generative Grammar. Finally. I would like to thank Dr. Jonathan Beck for his keen, editorial eye and for discussion of the fine points in the discrepancies between Spoken and Written French. Next, but equally important in a different way, 1 would like to thank a group without whom this study could have never come into being: the participants. Sans votis. SI-S/-^. cetie these n aurait jamais pii voir le jour. El c 'est done pour cela que je tiens a vous remercier vivement de voire collaboration et de voire patience avec « le petit appareil » omnipresent. Tout particulierement. je tiens a te remercier, SI. d'avoir accepte d'etre non seulement participant mais aussi collaborateur en recherche, celui qui traine le petit appareil parfout. qui explique les demarches et qui repond aux questions de S7-SI4. Others who have contributed directly to this effort at some point and whom I would like to thank are: Dr. H.D. Adamson and Dr. R. Troike, for methodological advice: Dr. E. Courtney and Dr. H. Park, for comments on an early draft of the OPC discussion; Dr. K. Geeslin, for early discussion of L2 learners' acquisition of the Pro-drop Parameter: Dr. J. Greenberg and Dr. M. Speas, for taking time to discuss my work during their visits to Tucson; Dr. C. Johnson, for on- site technical advice; Dr. S. Karimi. for comments on an earlier version of the Pro-drop diagnostic; Dr. T. Langendoen, for early discussion of the patterning of topics, subjects, and prefixes; Dr. A. Lawson, for his savvy technical advice on the intricacies of WordSmith; Dr. B. Py, for his insights into French and Spanish, and Dr. D. Nelson and Dr. T. Picarazzi for comments on Spanish and Italian, respectively; Dr. Y. Roberge and Dr. C. Silva-Corvalan, for taking time to discuss my work during the 1998 SESDEF-Carrefours conference at the University' of Toronto and the 1996 LASSO conference at Louisiana State University respectively; and last but not least. Dr. M. Wildner-Bassett, for her sage advice to follow one's heart when choosing a dissertation topic. Finally, very special thanks go to my family for their unwavering support and encouragement, both moral and material. Without them and their undying confidence in me, I do not know how I would have made it through the darkest hours of this dissertation. To my mother. Dr. Elizabeth Beale-Fonseca for stretching beyond her field of psychology' to be a willing sounding board for all sorts of linguistic intricacies, and my husband. Nicolas Greber for his native speaker intuitions, as well as to my father. Dr. James Fonseca for his love of language, even though he did not live to see the completion of this undertaking, I extend my most sincere and heartfelt thanks and appreciation. DEDICATION In loving memory of my father. James Fonseca. who. from my earliest memories, always shared with me his love and knowledge of languages and their intriguing curiosities. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 12 LIST OF TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS 13 ABSTRACT 14 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 16 1.1: The Controversies 17 1.2: Spoken French vs. Written French 23 1.3: Subject Clitics and Subject NPs 27 1.3.1: First Language (L1) Reference Grammars 27 1.3.2: Second Language (L2) Textbooks 32 1.4: Pragmatic Approaches to Spoken French 36 1.5: Syntactic Approaches 41 1.5.1: Generative Voices 41 1.5.2: Other Voices 50 1.6: Grammaticalization 52 1.7: Organization of the Dissertation 62 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 64 2.1: Data 64 2.1.1: Type of Talk 65 2.1.2: Region 66 2.1.3: Register 67 2.1.4: Speakers 67 2.1.5: Data Collection 74 2.1.6: Equipment 74 2.1.7: Location 74 2.1.8: Setting or Context 75 2.2: Transcription 79 2.2.1: Initial Transcription 79 2.2.2: Revised Transcription 79 2.2.3: Final Selection of Spoken Texts 80 2.3: Coding 81 2.3.1: Definition of Terms 81 2.3.2: Coding Categories 85 2.4: Analysis 88 2.4.1: Coded Notebook 88 2.4.2: WordSmith Tools 88 2.4.3: Percentages 89 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued CHAPTER 3 : THE SUBJECT CLITICS OF EVERYDAY SPOKEN SWISS FRENCH (ESSF) 91 3.1: Overview Of Subject Clitics In Ever>'day Spoken Swiss French 92 3.2; ISg ^ 99 3.3: 2Sg 102 3.4: 3Sg 104 3.4.1: //- 104 3.4.2: elle- 105 3.4.3: qa- 105 3.4.4: qui- 106 3.4.5: on- 110 3.5: IPl 112 3.6: 2P1 117 3.7: 3P1 119 3.7.1: ils- 119 3.7.2: elles- 122 3.8: Chapter Summary 125 CHAPTER 4 : ENVIRONMENTS OF COMPLETED (CATEGORICAL) CLITIC MORPHOLOGIZATION IN THE 1^\ 2^° AND 3"^° PERSON 126 4.1: Clitic Morphoiogization in the 1^' and 2"*^ Person 126 4.1.1: ISg.