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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfihn 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 o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back o f the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell A Knvell Infoimition Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/5214)600 THE SYNCHRONY AND DIACHRONY OF ENGLISH IMPERSONAL VERBS: A STUDY IN SYNTACTIC AND LEXICAL CHANGE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Hyeree Kim, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Brian D. Joseph, Adviser Professor Arnold M. Zwicky ( Adviser Professor Alan K. Brown Department of Linguistics UMI Number: 9639268 UMI Microfomi 9639268 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition Is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright by Hyeree Kim 1996 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines syntactic constructions involving English impersonal verbs from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The constructions in question are impersonal, causative and personal constructions which are further subdivided into nine types. In addition, the construction with the dummy pronoun it and the Subject Equi-NP Deletion and Subject Raising constructions involving these impersonal verbs are examined. The basic method of this investigation is a particularistic approach by which each verb is separately examined, for only such an approach can provide us with the actual syntactic facts of these constructions in each synchronic stage, and these facts in turn allow for a true explanation of the diachronic changes involved. Eleven (in Old English) to thirteen (in Middle English) impersonal verbs in five semantic groups which have survived until Modem English are examined. I find that the syntactic types of impersonal verbs are heterogeneous across the verbs in each synchronic stage. From this fact, it can be said that each verb has a different history and the relevant syntactic changes are gradual. These findings cause problems for some generative accounts which pursue overarching cross-lexical generalizations. Yet, some main tendencies are also observed. Between Old English and Middle English there is little change with the causative construction; but more varieties of personal subtypes are observed over time. By contrast, the impersonal construction becomes lost and dies out by the sixteenth century. The Prototypical Subject Requirement constraint is proposed as a trigger for such changes. Even though many previous works have treated a dative Experiencer as an object, the dative Experiencer in the impersonal construction with two noun phrases is found to have syntactic properties typical of subjects. Such subjecthood of the Experiencer, though not prototypical, is a forerunner of the subsequent change toward personal constructions. When a verb takes a dative Experiencer and a clausal complement, the patterns for the introduction of a Dummy-Construction are explored, since such an introduction is not cross-lexical. This study proposes two syntactic conditions as requirements for a verb to develop a Dummy-Construction. The development of Subject Equi and Subject Raising constructions are also investigated, as well as an apparently idiosyncratic construction involving seem. All these individual changes are explained by reference to the same underlying causation, namely the Prototypical Subject Requirement constraint. To support the claim that this language-specific constraint is a well-motivated underlying force for English, independent evidence is provided. Moreover, this study shows that the mechanism of Reanalysis also played an important role in the development of the constructions involving English impersonal verbs by introducing an innovative construction that rivals the old one, which had the potential for multiple analyses, and eventually leads to the demise of the old structure in competition. ui Dedicated to my parents IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Brian Joseph, my adviser, who has been always available when I needed him, inspired me with new thoughts, and encouraged me in every way possible from the beginning to the end of this dissertation. He made me realize what a true linguist ought to be. I could not have finished this dissertation without his constant assistance. I would also like to thank my committee. Arnold Zwicky has helped me greatly to see the big pictures of my work with insightful points in various places of my dissertation, and Alan Brown was invaluable in helping me with the interpretations of Old and Middle English data. I owe my sincerest thanks to them all. Thanks are also due to Cynthia Allen who has agreed to become a consultant for this dissertation and has given me a long list of helpful comments. I have benefited so much from her not only in terms of pointing out some mistakes in my dissertation but also from her recent publication on the same topic published in 1995. Her work’s influence is especially evident in the shaping of my chapter 7. My gratitude to the aforementioned never implies any responsibility on their part for the contents of this work or their complete agreement with it. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for any errors in this study. I am grateful to other faculty members in OSU who have taught me, exposed me to areas other than historical linguistics and broadened my views in linguistics: M. Beckman, P. Culicover, D. Dowty, M. Geis, D. Odden, D. Winford. I am especially indebted to R. Kasper, R. Levine, C. Pollard for their invaluable comments on some of my former papers related to syntactic analyses. Without them all I would be more ignorant in other fields in linguistics than I am now. I owe special thanks to my colleagues and friends in OSU: M. Bradshaw, N. Cipollone, K. Golde, S. Keiser, P. Pappas, R. Polletto, N. Mutonyi, F. Parkinson, H. Sydorenko. Many of them have kindly helped me whenever I have come to them with English and computer questions. I am also grateful to all the other colleagues who, though 1 do not name them all, made my stay in Columbus very pleasant and made me feel at home. Gratitude is also due to my Korean friends for helping me in uncountable ways: Hee-Rhak Chae, Chan Chung, Young Hee Chung, Gwang-Yoon Go, Sun-Ah Jun, Hyeonseok Kang, Woosoon Kang, No-Ju Kim, Ki-Suk Lee, Sook-Hyang Lee, Yongkyoon No, Bun Jung Yoo and Jae-Hak Yoon. 1 cannot forget to thank my former teachers in Korea. Professors Suk-Jin Chang, Bahng-Hahn Kim, Chungmin Lee, Hyun-Bok Lee, Yang-Soo Moon, Hyung-Dahl Park and Back-In Sung have constantly encouraged me during my stay in America. Thanks also go to senior Korean linguists in Korea, America and England who have been in touch with me and showed me warm hearts in many occasions: Jongho Jun, Young-Chul Jun, Seungho Nam, Young-Bae Park, Jaemog Song, Jae-Hoon Yeon. Finally, I would like to thank my parents who have waited for and assisted me with great patience. I would like to dedicate this work to them. VI VITA August 29, 1963......................................Born - Choongmu, Korea 1986 B.A., Seoul National University 1988 M.A., Seoul National University 1990 — 1991........................................... Graduate Research Associate, The Ohio State University 1991— 1996.............................................Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS 1. Kim, Hyeree. Subcategorization inheritance in Old English P-V compounds. Journal o f Linguistics, (in press) 2. Kim, Hyeree. Subjecthood in impersonal constructions. Proceedings of the 22nd Meeting of Chicago Linguistic Society (in press) (1996) 3. Kim, Hyeree. On the genitive of the Anglo-Saxon poem Deor. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 96.4. (1995) 4. Kim, Hyeree. History of the dummy pronoun it in English. The History of English (Seoul, Korea) 1. (1995) 5. Kim, Hyeree. Review of English Auxiliaries by A. R. Warner. Diachronica 12:2. (1995) 6. Kim, Hyeree. Divergence of syntactic frames and diachronic change. Ohio State University Working Papers in Linguistics #46. (1995) 7. Kim, Hyeree. A Study for the Establishment of Korean Lexicon-based Grammar: within the Formalism