Prosody, Topicalization and
V2 in the History of English
and French
The decline of topicalization in English
and its prosodic motivation
Anthony Kroch and Beatrice Santorini
University of Pennsylvania
September 2010
Fourth Workshop on Prosody, Syntax and
Information Structure (WPSI4)
University of Delaware
1
2
English Data Sources
The history of topicalization in English
(Speyer 2008)
• Why does topicalization decline in Middle English
but not disappear? If the change a parametric one, it
should go to completion. Otherwise, topicalization, a
clear case of stylistic variation might be expected to
be stable in frequency over time.
• This question has an answer in the specific interaction
between parametric settings and stylistic variation in
the history of English.
3
•
Anthony Kroch and Ann Taylor. Penn-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of
Middle English, second edition. University of Pennsylvania, CDROM, second edition, 2000.
•
Ann Taylor, Anthony Warner, Susan Pintzuk, and Frank Beths.
York-Toronto-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Old English Prose. Oxford
Text Archive, first edition, 2003.
•
Anthony Kroch, Beatrice Santorini, and Lauren Delfs. PennHelsinki Parsed Corpus of Early Modern English. University of
Pennsylvania, CD-ROM, first edition, 2004.
•
Ann Taylor, Arja Nurmi, Anthony Warner, Susan Pintzuk, and
Terttu Nevalainen. Parsed Corpus of Early English
Correspondence. Oxford Text Archive, first edition, 2006.
4
Decline of direct object topicalization in English
An illustrative case in the New Testament
Matthew 13.28
12
10
% Topicalized
West Saxon Gospels
(1)! "# cwæ$ h%, "æt dyde unhold mann.
! !
West Saxon Gospels ca. 1000
(2)! And he seide to hem, An enemy hath do˜ this thing.
! !
Wycliffe Bible ca. 1380
8
6
Wycliffe Bible
4
2
0
OE (Early)
OE (Late)
1151-1250 1251-1350 1351-1420 1421-1500 1501-1569 1570-1639 1639-1710
Date
5
6
Evolution of PP preposing in English
50
Frequency of direct object topicalization
in modern spoken Dutch (Bouma 2008)
ORFELD
HFEEV
F OTR
DY
S SOTFU T
A C O RA
P UC
S OSRTPUUDY
H EOV
LD
96
Table 4.2:
Summary
of Vorfeld
occupation
of arguments.
of arguments.
occupation
of Vorfeld
4.2: Summary
Table
Prop estProp
(%) est (%)
Vorfeld Vorfeld
Argument
Argument
subject subject
direct object
direct object
indirectindirect
object object
yes
yes no
no
43 523 43 523
18 597 18 597
3 418 3 418
20 432 20 432
38
815
38 815
lo
lo pt
pt hi
hi
69.7
13.9
3.2
69.7
70.1
13.9
14.3
3.24.5
70.1
70.4
14.3
14.8
4.5
6.1
70.4
14.8
6.1
nominalnominal
prepositional
prepositional
verbal verbal
clausal clausal
NP, N , VNW
, MWU
proper
(whennames)
, MWUproper
, VNW(when
NP, N
PP, VZ PP, VZ
TI , OTI ,TI
AHI
, INF
, WW
, PPART
, WW, PPART
, INF
, AHI
, OTI
20
10
OE (Late)
1151-1250 1251-1350 1351-1420 1421-1500 1501-1569 1570-1639 1639-1710
Date
Table 4.3:
Classification
after part-of-speech
and syntactic
category.category.
and syntactic
after part-of-speech
4.3: Classification
Table
CGN labels
CGN labels
30
0
OE (Early)
+ OBJ
OBJ22 VC
Note: subject
SU , direct
OBJ 1 +
, indirect
=object
OBJ 2 +
. 2 VC.
= OBJ
indirect
1 VC, object
+ OBJ
= OBJ 1 VC
, direct=object
= SUobject
Note:=subject
Category
Category
% Preposed
96
40
names)
7
SSUB
CP, WHSUB
, WHQ , ,WHREL
REL , SVAN
SSUB , ,SV
1 , SV 1
SVAN ,, SMAIN
, REL, ,SMAIN
WHQ , ,WHREL
CP, WHSUB
8
Correlation between frequencies of object topicalization
and of V2 in Middle English texts (Wallenberg 2007)
Evolution of adverb fronting in English
90
75
% Preposed
temporal adverbs
60
45
locative adverbs
30
15
0
OE (Early)
OE (Late)
1151-1250 1251-1350 1351-1420 1421-1500 1501-1569 1570-1639 1639-1710
Date
9
10
Distribution of subject types in a corpus of
topicalized and non-topicalized sentences
in Modern English natural speech
(Prince/Ward corpus)
Clash avoidance
• The type of topicalization that declines:
"
!
"
! did.
(1) The newspaper
John
read; the novel
Mary
personal pronoun
140
46.4%
"
!
(Compare: The newspaper
read John.)
demonstrative pronoun
20
6.6%
full noun phrase
142
47%
Subject type in sentences with in situ objects
• The type of topicalization that doesn’t:
personal pronoun
181
90.5%
"
!
"
!
(2) The newspaper
I read;
the novel
I didn’t.
demonstrative pronoun
2
1%
full noun phrase
17
8.5%
Subject type in sentences with topicalized objects
11
12
Accent placement and topicalization frequencies in
translating German topicalized arguments into English
Translating German topicalized arguments into
English in three modern German novels
[by Böll, Dürrenmatt and Grass]
Topicalized to topicalized:
G: Mahlkes Haupt bedeckte dieser Hut besonders peinlich.
E: On Mahlke’s head this hat made a particularly painful
impression.
topicalization in
the English
translation
Topicalized to non-topicalized:
2nd accent on
the German
subject
0
0
no topicalization
in the English
G: Zu den sechs kamen noch drei weitere.
E: Three others joined these six in the afternoon.
accent elsewhere
31
31
25
25
100
100
13
14
Repairing clashes
Selkirk (1984) introduces a silent grid position into
sentences with adjacent accents. This option turns out
to be freely available in SV(O) sentences like (1) but
not in OSV sentences like (2):
Experiments on clash avoidance in
German and English (Speyer 2008)
" !
(1) Rick likes them
!
"
(2) Rick
they
like
15
!
!
"
!
Rick ! likes them
"
!
Rick
! they
like
16
Clash and non-clash environments in German
Clash and non-clash environments in English
(1)! a. SV:! Pitt bastelt gerne (aber Bert brüllt gerne)
!
P tinkers gladly but B shouts gladly
! b. SO/OS: ...!dass Pitt Blau mag (und Bert Gelb)
!
that P blue likes and B yellow
(1)! a. SV:! Pitt tinkers easily (but Bert shouts easily)
! b. OS: Blue Pitt likes (and yellow Bert)
(2)! a. SV:! Pitt tinkers easily (but Bert not so easily)
! b. SO:!Pitt likes blue (and Bert yellow)
(2)! a. SV:! Pitt bastelt gerne (aber Bert nicht gerne)
!
P tinkers gladly but B not
! b. SO/OS:!Pitt mag Blau (und Bert Gelb)
!
P likes blue and B yellow
17
Effect of clash avoidance on the insertion of
pauses into read sentences in German (n=80)
18
Effect of clash avoidance on the insertion of
pauses into read OSV sentences in English (n=60)
225
245
200
220
pause length
pause length vs a1a2
175
pause length
pause length vs os
195
170
150
145
125
120
100
95
75
70
50
45
25
0
20
A1A2
A1a2
a1A2
-5
a1a2
A = accented!
1 = first constituent (S,O or V)
a = unaccented! 2 = second constituent
OS
Os
oS
os
O,S = accented! o,s = unaccented
19
20
Effect of clash avoidance on the insertion of
pauses into read SVO sentences in English (n=60)
Differential effect of clash on pause length
in English OSV and SV sentences
245
190
225
200
pause length
pause length vs sv
175
127
150
70% of SV
123
125
49% of OS
100
63
75
50
25
0
0
SV
Sv
sV
OS
os
SV
sv
0
sv
NB: German shows no effect in such cases.
S,V = accented! s,v = unaccented
21
Effect of clash avoidance on sentence formulation
in German (n=180)
Effect of clash avoidance on sentence formulation
in English (n=96)
100
100
90
80
90
Sentence reformulated
80
70
60
22
60
Material inserted
50
50
40
40
30
20
Unmarked order
30
Unmarked order
20
10
0
Sentence reformulated
70
10
No potential clash
0
Potential clash
23
No potential clash
Potential clash
24
Frequency of matrix clause topicalization and V2 in
sentences with full DP subjects in Middle and Early
Modern English
Distribution of contrastive topicalization by focus
(second accent) placement in Middle English
focus
position
distribution
of cases
focus on
subject
focus on
tensed verb
focus
elsewhere
N (total= 207)
113
29
65
% inversion
89
14
71
% of cases
55
14
31
time
period
sentence type
me1
me2
me3
me4 eme1 eme2 eme3
# sent. with DO
2855
1300
4615
2271
3229
3584
2544
# topicalized
219
69
145
66
67
82
28
% topicalized
7.7
5.3
3.1
2.9
2.1
2.3
1.1
# V2
162
34
89
46
35
27
4
% V2
74
49.3
61.4
70.2
52.2
32.9
14.3
25
Rate of V2 loss in English with topicalized
objects and PPs
26
Corrected frequency of matrix clause topicalization
and V2 in Middle and Early Modern English
80
70
topicalized objects
60
% V2
50
40
topicalized PPs
30
20
10
0
1151-1250
1251-1350
1351-1420
1421-1500
1501-1569
1570-1639
1639-1710
Date
27
time period
sentence type
me1
me2
me3
me4 eme1 eme2 eme3
# sent. with DO
2855
1300
4615
2271
3229
3584
2544
# topicalized
219
69
145
66
67
82
28
topicalization
rate
would have been
topicalized
7.7
5.3
3.1
2.9
2.1
2.3
1.1
219
100
354
174
248
275
195
actual rate of V2
74
49.3
61.4
70.2
52.2
32.9
14.3
corrected rate V2
74.0
34.0
25.1
26.4
14.1
9.8
2.1
28
Rate of V2 loss in English corrected for clash avoidance
80
70
The loss of topicalization and of V2
in the history of French
60
40
30
20
topicalized PPs
topicalized objects
corrected
10
0
1151-1250
1251-1350
1351-1420
1421-1500
1501-1569
1570-1639
1639-1710
Date
29
Decline of direct object topicalization in French,
excluding early Old French
French Data Sources
•
•
•
30
36
32
France Martineau, et. al. Corpus MCVF, (Projet Modéliser le
changement: les voies du français.) University of Ottawa, CDROM, 2009.
28
all subjects
% Topicalized
% V2
50
Anthony Kroch and Beatrice Santorini. Penn Supplement to the
Corpus MCVF. University of Pennsylvania, CD-ROM, 2010.
Total Corpus consists of:
24
20
16
12
8
1. Twelve Old French texts (1000 - 1300).
2. Six Middle French texts (1301 - 1500).
3. Three Early Modern French texts from (1501 - 1600).
all overt subjects
4
0
1101-1200
31
1201-1300
1301-1400
1401-1500
1501-1550
1551-1600
32
Object topicalization with V2 in Old
and Middle French
Object topicalization with V2 and pronoun
subjects in Old and Middle French
(1)!l'estreu
li tint sun uncle Guinemer
! the stirrup him held his uncle Guinemer
!
Roland 27.329
(1)!Espaigne vus durat
il en fiet
! Spain
you will-give he in fief
!
Roland, 36.446
(2)!messe e matines ad li reis escultet
! mass and matins has the king heard
!
Roland 11.139
(2)!chars avoient ils
assés
! meat had
they enough
!
Froissart, 135.569
(3)!si grand paour avoit que a pou qu'il ne mouroit
! so great fear he-had that at little that he ne died
!
CNNA 51.488
(3)!une chose! ont-ilz! ! ! asez! ! honneste
! one thing! have-they! enough honest
!
Commynes, 120.1634
33
34
Adverb preposing with V2 in Old
and Middle French
Object topicalization with V3 and pronoun
subjects in Middle French
(1)!Er
matin sedeit li emperere suz l&umbre
! yesterday morning sat
the emperor under the shade
!
Roland 29.363
(1)!aultre remyde je n&y
voy
! other remedy I not there see
!
XV Joies, 111v.1209
(2)!or est ele bien venue
! now is she welcome
!
Yvain 43.1440
(2)!deux chose je diray
de luy
! two things I will-say of him
!
Commynes, 38.478
(3)!ben l&entendit
il arcevesques Turpin
! well it understands the archebishop Turpin
!
Roland 96.1237
(3)!nul enfant il n&ot
onques eu de sa fenme
! no child he not-had ever
had of his wife
!
Froissart, 462.6477
35
36
Adverb preposing with V3 in Old
and Middle French
Frequency of V2 in main clauses with
topicalized XPs in Old French (no Somme)
(1)!unkes nuls hom ne vit tel ajustee.
! never no man not saw such joust
!
Roland 238.3299
XVS
XSV
(2)!premierement il devient taverniers
! first
he becomes innkeeper
!
Somme 47.306
XVS
XSV
(3)!doucement li oisel chantoient
! sweetly
the birds sang
!
Yvain 15.451
pronoun subject full DP subject
40 [.98]
146 [.97]
1
4
Topicalized objects
pronoun subject
40 [.67]
20
Topicalized PPs
full DP subject
286 [.78]
81
37
Frequency of V2 in main clauses with
topicalized XPs in Middle French
XVS
XSV
XVS
XSV
Frequency of V2 in main clauses with
topicalized XPs in Middle French
pronoun subject full DP subject
21[.45]
64 [.93]
26
5
Topicalized Objects
pronoun subject
58[.12]
438
Topicalized PPs
38
XVS
XSV
full DP subject
422 [.61]
274
XVS
XSV
39
pronoun subject full DP subject
[.45]
21[.45]
64 [.93]
26
5
Topicalized Objects
pronoun subject
[.12]
58[.12]
438
Topicalized PPs
full DP subject
422 [.61]
274
39
Decline of XP fronting in French
Evolution of V2 word order in French
0.6
1
0.54
adverbs and PPs
topicalized objects
0.9
0.48
0.8
0.42
0.7
0.3
Frequency V2
0.36
direct objects
0.24
0.18
0.12
0.6
topicalized adverbs
and PPs
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.06
0
<1100
0.1
1151-1200
1251-1300
Old French
1351-1400
1451-1500
Middle French
1551-1600
0
1101-1150 1151-1200 1201-1250 1251-1300 1301-1350 1351-1400 1401-1450 1451-1500 1501-1550 1551-1600
Modern French
Old French
Middle French
Modern French
40
Evolution of V2 word order in French in
sentences with full DP subjects
41
Corrected evolution of V2 word order in French
in sentences with full DP subjects
1
0.9
topicalized objects
0.9
0.81
0.8
0.63
topicalized adverbs
and PPs
0.6
Frequency V2
Frequency V2
0.7
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.54
0.36
0.27
0.18
0.1
0.09
1151-1200
Old French
1251-1300
1351-1400
1451-1500
Middle French
0
<1100
1551-1600
Modern French
topicalized adverbs
and PPs
0.45
0.2
0
<1100
topicalized objects
0.72
1151-1200
Old French
42
1251-1300
1351-1400
1451-1500
Middle French
1551-1600
Modern French
43
Evolution of V2 word order in French in
sentences with overt pronominal subjects
1
topicalized objects
0.9
0.8
Frequency V2
0.7
Finis
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
topicalized adverbs
and PPs
0.2
0.1
0
<1100
1151-1200
Old French
1251-1300
1351-1400
1451-1500
Middle French
1551-1600
Modern French
44
45