Rhythmic Grammar: The Influence of Rhythm on Grammatical Variation and Change in English 9783110219265, 9783110186079

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Rhythmic Grammar

≥

Topics in English Linguistics 46

Editors

Elizabeth Closs Traugott Bernd Kortmann

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

Rhythmic Grammar The Influence of Rhythm on Grammatical Variation and Change in English

by

Julia Schlüter

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.

앝 Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines 앪 of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schlüter, Julia, 1973⫺ Rhythmic grammar : the influence of rhythm on grammatical variation and change in English / by Julia Schlüter. p. cm. ⫺ (Topics in English linguistics ; 46) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-11-018607-1 (acid-free paper) 1. English language ⫺ Rhythm. 2. English language ⫺ Grammar, Historical. 3. English language ⫺ Variation. I. Title. II. Series. PE1561.S34 2005 425⫺dc22 2005022034

ISBN 3-11-018607-1 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at ⬍http://dnb.ddb.de⬎. ” Copyright 2005 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 10785 Berlin All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Berlin. Printed in Germany.

The comforting view of language is that it is sedate, structured in an orderly manner, and reducible to rule. But in another view, it is at war with structure, which is to say that it is at war with itself. Dwight L. Bolinger (1972: 18)

Acknowledgements

While there is only one name on the cover, many people have contributed in their own particular ways to the realization of this book, which is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation, submitted to the University of Paderborn in April 2004. Above all, I am indebted to my supervisor Giinter Rohdenburg, whose support has been outstanding throughout this project. Without his exceptionally acute observation of linguistic phenomena and his selfless readiness to share ideas and insights, this book would never have been written. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Manfred Wettler, who took on the role of co-examiner and has brought in all his expertise and enthusiasm. The present book has benefitted immensely from the perceptive and sagacious comments supplied by Elizabeth Traugott, who has acted as a series-editor for this volume. She has been a most assiduous and considerate advisor and deserves my heartfelt thanks. I also thankfully acknowledge the efforts of an anonymous reviewer, which prevented me from getting lost in too much detail and redirected my attention to the essentials. There are many people to whom I owe my gratitude and sincere appreciation for their guidance and constructive comments. Special thanks are due to Donka Minkova and Thomas Berg, who have, on many occasions, helped me to form a clearer idea of things that occupied my mind. In the place of numerous others I would also like to mention Teresa Fanego, Janet Dean Fodor, Terttu Nevalainen, Martina Penke, Anette Rosenbach, Ricardo Bermudez-Otero and Fritz Pasierbsky, all of whom have engaged in helpful discussions of aspects of my work in personal intercourse and at various conferences. While working on this book, I had the privilege of being part of a research team headed by Giinter Rohdenburg. I thank my colleagues Eva Berlage, Britta Mondorf and Uwe Vosberg for the cooperative and stimulating atmosphere that made work in the office both productive and enjoyable. Thanks are further due to our student assistants, in particular Julia Hilker, Mareike Ibrom, Andreas Mankel, Andre Schaefer and Christian Voss, who helped with countless favours, large or small. Stefan Thomas Gries, Klaus Brinker and Heiko Schimmelpfennig proved to be just the experts I needed on statistical matters. Without Hendrik Schliiter's help, the figures in Chapter 6 would have remained quite unsightly. It goes without saying that - despite the great help I have received from so many colleagues and friends - the remaining blunders and inaccuracies are entirely my own doing.

Vlll

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge a grant from the Cusanuswerk that launched me on the present enterprise. Much appreciated as well is the funding received from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the project "Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English", where I was employed as a research assistant during most of the work that went into this volume. Further thanks are due to the University of Paderborn for travel funds enabling me to take part in international conferences, as well as to the University Library for substantial assistance in the acquisition of the corpus collection on which much of this work is based. The present book would not have seen the light of day without the encouragement and practical support provided by my family and friends. This is especially true of my parents, to whom I extend my deepest appreciation. My dearest thanks, finally, go to my husband Martin, whose loving care and faithful support have provided a never-failing source of motivation in the completion of this work. Martin, dieses Buch gehort dir. Paderborn, July 2005

Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations and symbols Chapter 1

1.1 1.2 1.3 Chapter 2

2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.2

Chapter 3

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Chapter 4

4.1 4.2 4.3

Vll Xli

Introduction The state of the art Aims and scope The structure of the argument

1 2 10 15

The Principle of Rhythmic Alternation introduced Outline The universality of rhythmic organization Isochrony types: stress timing vs. syllable timing Compensation strategies Functional explanations for rhythmic alternation Previous research on rhythmic influences on English grammar

17 17 22 24 28 32

Methodology Corpora and their limitations The phonology of written language Concordance software and search procedures Tests of statistical significance

43 43 50 55 56

Analysis of attributive structures Introduction Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English A-adjectives in PDE

60 60

35

67 79

x

Contents

4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4 4.4.5 4.4.6 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8

Mono- and disyllabic variants of past participles Drunk vs. drunken from ME to PDE Broke vs. broken from ME to PDE Struck vs. stricken from ME to PDE Knit vs. knitted from ME to PDE Lit vs. lighted from ME to PDE Summary A quite vs. quite a from EModE to PDE The order of coordinated colour adjectives in PDE Negated attributive adjectives in PDE Summary

Chapter 5

Analysis of verbal and adverbial structures Introduction Negated sentence adverbs in PDE Suffixed and suffixless adverbs Quick vs. quickly from EModE to PDE Slow vs. slowly from EModE to PDE Scarce vs. scarcely in PDE Marked and unmarked infinitives Infinitives dependent on active make in EModE and LModE Infinitives dependent on passive make from EModE to nineteenth-century English Infinitives dependent on passive bid in nineteenthcentury English Infinitives dependent on the marginal modal dare from EModE to PDE A-prefixation of -ing-forms A-prefixation of -ing-forms following set from EModEtoPDE A-prefixation of -ing-forms following go from EModEto PDE Summary

5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3 5.4.4 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.6

86 88 92

97 101 105 110 112 124 129 143 150 150 154 160 163 171 178 185 189 197 203 206 209 212 222 229

Contents

Chapter 6

6.1 6.2 6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 6.3 6.3.1 6.3.2 6.3.3 6.3.4 6.3.5 6.3.6 6.3.7 Chapter 7

7.1 7.2

Xl

237 237 238 239 246 252 257 260 265

Theoretical implications Introduction Optimality Theory Universal, violable and ranked constraints A critique of Optimality Theory OT approaches to language variation and change Spreading activation models Principles of neural action Networks in production and perception Implications of the alternation of activation and recovery Interactivity between levels Limits to interactivity Language variation and change in a neuro- and psycholinguistic perspective Limitations of interactive activation models

292 301

Conclusion Synopsis Outlook

307 307 321

271 277 285

Appendix

329

Notes

331

References Primary sources (corpora) Secondary sources

351 351 353

Index

384

Abbreviations and symbols

* * ** *** ? [] BNC BNCwridom 1 CSR df ECF EEPF EModE EPD HC LModE ME n.a. n.s. NCF NP NSR OE OED OT

P

PDE S.o. SSR s.th. V

x

unacceptable example significant (p ::; 0.05) highly significant (p::; 0.01) very highly significant (p ::; 0.001) example of questionable acceptability prosodic boundaries primary stress (e.g. introduction) secondary stress (e.g. introduction) British National Corpus British National Corpus written domain 1 (imaginative prose) Compound Stress Rule degree(s) of freedom Eighteenth-Century Fiction database Early English Prose Fiction database Early Modem English (1500-1700) English Prose Drama database Helsinki Corpus Late Modem English (1700-1800) Middle English (1100-1500) not applicable (for significance tests) not significant (for significance tests) Nineteenth-Century Fiction database noun phrase Nuclear Stress Rule Old English (700-1100) Oxford English Dictionary Optimality Theory error probability Present-Day English someone Stress Shift Rule something verb stress mark (in metrical grids)

Chapter 1 Introduction

To date, English is probably the most studied and best described language in the world. Many awe-inspiring university grammars have been preoccupied with the description of its structures, beginning with A Grammar of Contemporary English (Quirk et al. 1972), its successor, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Quirk et al. 1985), more recently, the Longman Grammar ofSpoken and Written English (Biber et al. 1999) and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston and Pullum 2002). One might expect that there is not much more that can be said about the grammar of a single language. However, as the quotation from Bolinger (1972: 18) prefacing the present work suggests, it is erroneous to believe that we will ever manage to cast a grammar into a stable and orderly set of rules. Without indulging too much in the war metaphor, it is true that a language integrates a myriad of conflicting forces and is constantly seeking compromises between them. Thus, what the above grammars describe as grammatical rules is at best a momentary balance between these forces, and what they describe as tendencies is the outcome of a complicated interplay of forces, the analysis of which can provide valuable insights into the essence of language. Most comprehensive grammars - as the name grammar suggests - focus on and are organized around aspects of grammatical structure; prosody and rhythm are only described summarily in an appendix but not adduced as an explanatory factor in grammatical descriptions (cf. Quirk et al. 1972; 1985) or, even worse, completely ignored (cf. Biber et al. 1999; Huddleston and Pullum 2002). In contrast, the present study foregrounds a phonological tendency, examines its defining characteristics and then sets about exploring its influence on the grammar of English. This tendency is known as the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, and is the fundamental maxim according to which the rhythmic structure of English as well as other natural languages is organized. The present discussion is exemplary in a number of respects: it concentrates exclusively on the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, which has been alleged to be the most important phonological influence on grammar (cf. Rohdenburg 1997: 106), although many phonological constraints would deserve to be subjected to a systematic study doing justice to their contributions to the grammar of English. And it picks out only a few phenomena, which are proposed as representative examples of an as yet inestimable quantity of similar cases, although the preference

2

Introduction

for rhythmic alternation is presumably ubiquitous in the structure of the language. Such an enterprise is by no means new in the study of English. There have been a number of monographs dedicated to the study of rhythm in English, notably Fijn van Draat ([ 191 0] 1967) on rhythm in English prose, Stroheker (1913) with a focus on the language of the EModE authors Marlowe and Kyd, and Bihl (1916) on Chaucer's and Gower's late ME,l These remarkable works however date from the early years of the twentieth century and are based on manually selected examples with no claim to completeness. In the meantime, descriptive linguistic research has revolutionized its methodological repertoire. The accessibility of modem computerreadable mega-corpora has opened up new dimensions in the collection of data. Above and beyond qualitative statements, this enables linguists to make empirically founded quantitative statements about the variable aspects of a grammar. Moreover, linguistic theory has developed innovative models inspired by research on the human brain, which has also made significant advances in the recent past. The present book is unprecedented in its contents of detailed and extensive data analyses bearing on the interface of rhythm and morphosyntax. The insights gained from empirical studies complement the descriptive work accomplished by contemporary grammars and combine it with an evaluation of the explanatory potential of modem linguistic theory. The work capitalizes on the fact that a living language is not only a product of a set of rules with a predetermined output. The numerous domains in which a grammar is variable tell us much more about the forces at work in its core. Variation is to be found not only in synchrony, but also and to an even larger extent in the diachronic change undergone by a language. Thus, the historical dimension of the present work is an indispensable component, only limited by the availability of appropriate corpora.

1.1.

The state of the art

Since the present book deals with the influence exerted by a phonological factor on the grammar of a language, it has connections bearing on a variety of recurrent themes in linguistics. Some of these issues will be spotlighted in this section as a background to the following chapters. Since it is however impossible to do full justice to the state of the art in a few pages, the following remarks can at best be suggestive. They merely serve to situate the present work in a larger context and to open up different perspectives on the findings that will be described in subsequent chapters.

The state afthe art

3

For the sake of exposition, this section tackles the state of the art from two opposite angles. Though these appear to be diametrically opposed, there are of course many intermediate positions defended in present-day linguistic research that manage to integrate the assets of both approaches (cf. e.g. Jackendoff 1997; 2002). The present survey revolves around two central issues: the architecture of the grammar of a language, which can be taken to be fully modular or fully interactive, and the sort of data that should be used in linguistics to gain insights into this architecture. For a start, the present book will be concerned throughout with the relationship between two different kinds of representations, namely phonological and morphosyntactic ones. In other words, the focus of the discussion will be on the 'interface' of two traditionally distinguished 'modules' (though, for reasons that will become clear, neither the term interface nor the term module seems particularly adequate). The subject matter can thus be viewed as a contribution to the highly controversial debate going on in cognitive psychology about the Modularity of Mind (cf. Fodor 1983: 37). In linguistics, the idea of modularity is strongly associated with formal theories of grammar of the Chomskyan school (cf., for instance, Chomsky 1964: 9; 1995: 2), though it is also common in psycholinguistic models of language processing (cf. Garrett 1975: 176; Levelt 1989: 9). Despite fundamental differences in orientation, but in accordance with Fodorian ideas, all of these conceptions share the notions of modularity, Le. the division of language into specialized components, autonomy, i.e. the relative independence of the processes going on in one module with regard to those going on in other modules, and seriality, i.e. the assumption that the output of anterior modules serves as the input to posterior modules, without a reverse flow of information. Thus, the modules are relatively isolated units and impermeable to the processes taking place in the others. Specifically, most linguistic and psycholinguistic production models assume that syntactic operations precede phonological ones. This ordering conforms to widely shared intuitions about speech planning and has substantial empirical evidence in its favour (cf. also Bock 1982: 35; 1987: 119; Vogel and Kenesei 1990: 339). The reverse direction of influence, from phonological to grammatical structure, is intuitively less obvious and more or less incompatible with these models. 2 In Chomskyan linguistics in particular, a concentration on syntax as the only creative (generative) module of a grammar has culminated in a maxim according to which phonology is no more than an interpretive component, assigning a phonological structure to a ready-made string of morphemes that is the output of the syntactic component (cf. Chomsky 1964: 9, 65; 1965: 141; Chomsky and Halle 1968: 7; Selkirk 1984: 410; Chomsky 1995: 229). Thus, syntax is assumed to have the exclusive power to determine the well-formedness of a sen-

4

Introduction

tence; its output is definitive and unmodifiable. 3 In the face of potential counterevidence, a lot of ink has been spilt on safeguarding the fundamental tenet of a phonology-free syntax, Le. the assumption that phonological representations have no influence whatsoever on syntactic processes (cf. in particular Zwicky 1969; 1985; Zwicky and Pullum 1986: 71; Pullum and Zwicky 1988: 255). Attempts by generative linguists to accommodate any contrary findings have had recourse to lexical specifications (e.g. Langendoen 1982: 108-11 0) or to output filters (e.g. Vogel and Kenesei 1990: 351; Halle and Idsardi 1995: 423-424). Such tours de force have however been argued to obliterate powerful generalizations and to undermine the foundations of the entire syntactocentric conception (cf. lackendoff 1997: 16; 2000: 22-23). Recent trends in linguistic theory have recognized the need for the simultaneous presence of different types of information (semantic, syntactic, morphological, phonological) and discarded sequential input-output conceptions in favour of more interactive conceptions. 4 To the present day, it is unclear exactly how a model of language apt to accommodate a direction of influence from phonology to syntax should be envisaged. This is certainly due in part to the longstanding lack of interest in phenomena that are incompatible with the maxims of linguistic and psycholinguistic theory. As a result, the extent of interactions between the modules has never been systematically investigated - a clear case of theoretical preconceptions getting in the way of an adequate recognition of empirical phenomena. The empirical research that has nevertheless been realized independently of the dominant theoretical paradigms has more often than not failed to bring its findings to bear on theoretical tenets. For a more detailed survey, see section 2.2. This is not to deny that certain branches of theoretical linguistics as well as of psycholinguistics have produced models that do away with the traditional segregation of linguistic processes into modules. For this reason, these models will turn out to be of particular interest in the present context. The original generative model in theoretical linguistics has partly given way to a radical re-formulation known as Optimality Theory, which is the exact opposite of a modular conception with heavily constrained interfaces (see section 6.2). Furthermore, a restricted group of cognitive linguists (e.g. McClelland and Rumelhart 1981; Dell and Reich 1981; Rumelhart, Hinton, and McClelland 1986; McClelland 1987; Berg 1998; Lamb 1999) have for almost two decades been cultivating a neurolinguistic type of models known as spreading activation models, which are based on highly interactive networks not divided into anything comparable to modules. These theories make interesting predictions with regard to the output of the grammars they conceptualize, but an empirical verification of the

The state ofthe art

5

claims derivable from them on the basis of naturalistic data is still pending (see section 6.3). An obstacle to the fruitful integration of these research paradigms is provided by the fact that they adhere to fundamentally different approaches to the human language capacity. Jackendoff (2002: 34) distinguishes a "theory of competence", dealing with the data structures in the language user's mind, a "theory of performance", dealing with the use of these data structures in language production and perception, and a "theory of neural instantiation", dealing with the realizations of data structures, storage and assembly processes in the brain. Although these divisions are mainly methodological in nature, there is little cross-talk between the subdisciplines (cf. Jackendoff 2002: 34). This state of affairs is exacerbated by substantial disagreement about the procedures that should be applied to promote insights into the language faculty. Should the structure of the human brain, for instance, constrain the hypothesis space that we exploit when analyzing grammar? Can linguistic competence be elucidated by making introspective judgements about the grammaticality of artificially constructed utterances? What role has to be attributed to quantitative usage data and their contingencies with situations of language use? Finally, should language change be taken into consideration in the construction of a grammar, and how should it be integrated? Linguistic research within the generative paradigm usually adheres to a methodological maxim introduced by Chomsky (1965: 4), according to which linguistic competence, i.e. the ideal speaker-hearer's abstract knowledge of his or her language, should be the prime object of study, rather than his or her performance in concrete situations, which is error-prone and thus not representative of linguistic competence. A logical consequence of this reduction of language to an idealized, perfect system is the refusal to accept probabilitistic tendencies in language use as worthwhile objects of study. Linguistic competence is typically conceived of as a set of rules that are algebraic, not statistical, and that are independent of place and time (cf. Zwicky and Pullum 1986: 66). As a result of this focus on abstract competence, linguistic research has in the wake of the Chomskyan revolution turned away from quantitative empirical methods and concentrated on introspection as the appropriate means of gaining insights into the system of a language. This position has not found much acclaim beyond the generative school (cf. Wasow and Arnold 2003: 150; Wasow 2002: 132-134). The most serious criticism that it has incurred has to do with the fact that if actual language data are relegated to performance and therefore considered irrelevant for linguistic theory, linguistic theory cannot make any testable predictions about language use. It has been pointed out that in linguistics, there is no

6

Introduction

way around quantitative empirical data, which have the power to support or contradict claims that derive from linguistic theory, and theory should strive to reflect the processes of language production and perception at least to some degree (cf. Labov 1969: 759; Anttila 1997: 63; Hudson 1997: 105). In effect, a linguistic theory is informative only insofar as it is applicable to data on language use and falsifiable on the basis of such data (cf. Guy 1991: 20; Berg 1998: 10). There are also important theoretical reservations with regard to the competence-performance divide. The equation of categorical rules with competence and of variable tendencies with performance has in many cases turned out to be an obstacle to linguistic research rather than an asset. For a start, a very practical problem of delimitation is pointed out by Anttila (2002: 210) and Wasow and Arnold (2003: 148-149): there can be no discrete borderline between categorical constraints and statistical tendencies since the same principle can have the status of a categorical constraint in one language or in one domain of grammar, but that of a mere tendency in another. If the one was attributed to competence and the other to performance, a cross-linguistic generalization would be lost. The same can be the case within a single language undergoing change: a principle that was formerly only a preference can subsequently become a rule, or a former rule can turn into a mere preference. Ascribing one state to competence and the other to performance would force us to postulate the unmotivated and sudden emergence or loss of a rule of competence. Many authors from different backgrounds agree that it would be desirable for linguistic theory to integrate non-categorical preferences in a systematic way and thus to be able to predict variable frequencies. 5 A stronger claim is made by authors like Berg (1997: 672,695) and Guy (1997a: 140), who argue that grammar is variable in essence and that reducing grammar to its invariable parts might leave us with a mutilated, if not disappearingly small object of study. The separation between competence and performance in formal grammar is not only a question of the data linguistic theory should be based on; it also limits the range of explanations that can be adduced for linguistic phenomena. In formal grammars, functional explanations making reference to performance factors are not permitted. However, there is reason to assume that language is the way it is largely because it is a function of the human cognitive, auditory and articulatory apparatus. Furthermore, it is subject to external factors such as style, register, addressee, gender, age, socio-economic status, language contact, etc. If such functional factors are disregarded, it has been argued, a massive explanatory potential is lost (cf. Bickerton 1971: 483, 487; Lindblom, MacNeilage, and Studdert-Kennedy 1984: 201). Stampe (1979: 43) puts this most pointedly as follows: "the conditions of the use of language (performance) are responsible for the

The state ofthe art

7

nature of language." Though these conditions may be grounded in performance, they are implemented by grammatical means. Therefore, the acquisition of a language and its linguistic description must include the language-specific ways in which the grammar incorporates these factors (cf. Kiparsky 1982: 115; Guy 1997a: 129). Coming back to the present book, its title anticipates the attitude that will be taken with regard to the tenets of formal grammar. For one thing, the discussion will be concerned throughout with the impingement of a phonological preference on morphosyntax, which indicates that the argument is based on a non-modular, non-autonomous and non-serial conception of grammar. For another, the book investigates grammatical variation and change, a subject that speaks for itself on the issue of which linguistic phenomena should be of interest to study. Some fundamental assumptions underlying the following discussion have to be clarified in advance. For this purpose, the basic premises of the functionalist school of linguistics will be adopted. Unlike generative grammar, this paradigm has never developed into a formalized, comprehensive theory of language. The most consistent research paradigm with a decidedly functionalist orientation is the framework known as Natural Linguistics (with its branches of Natural Phonology and Natural Morphology). The outstanding (though relatively little appreciated) exponents of this paradigm are works like Stampe (1979), DressIer et al. (1987) and Wurzel (1987; cf. also the references in section 4.2). However, neither Natural Linguistics nor functionalism in general prejudges the precise shape of a model of grammar in the way that either generative linguistics, Optimality Theory or spreading activation models do. It rather defines the scope of the phenomena and motivations that a theory of grammar should consider. The functional view of linguistics can be characterized, in accordance with Croft (1995: 490, 509) and Kirby (1999: 13), in the following way. 'Functional' considerations are those relating to the concrete conditions of language use in communicative situations. Many of these can ultimately be reduced to pressures of language processing in real time, where processing refers both to the encoding of a communicative intention into a string of articulated sounds (production) and to the decoding of an acoustic wave as a corresponding message (perception). These considerations boil down to a maximal facilitation of language use for the speaker and hearer (cf. Mayerthaler 1987: 27). While it is commonly agreed that such functional factors determine many facts of linguistic behaviour, such as language use, change and acquisition, the central assumption of functional linguistics, in contradistinction to formal linguistics, is that extra-linguistic factors can also impact on linguistic structures proper, such as syntax or morphology (cf. also Kiparsky 1982: 88, 115). Thus, rather than mere descriptions, func-

8

Introduction

tional linguistics proposes explanations of linguistic patterns (cf. Berg 1995: 186). This view has ramifications for a number of positions that are assumed with regard to the relationship between (internalized) grammars and (external) facts of usage. For one thing, Universal Grammar equals in large parts the complete set of functional constraints and motivations. In other words, there is no need to assume a particularly rich genetic endowment specific to the language faculty since the outward conditions of language use suffice to explain similarities between human languages. However, since functional constraints derive from very diverse sources and have as many different teleologies (e.g. the simplification of language production, the improvement of its perceptibility or the facilitation of its acquisition), the requirements they impose on language are not consistent with one another. This gives rise to interactions and conflicts between constraints, even though each one may be thoroughly functionally motivated (cf. also Stampe 1979: 21; DressIer et al. 1987: 7-8; Kiparsky 1982: 117; 1988: 377-378). The functional approach to grammar is therefore decidedly multifactorial, including such factors as semantic and pragmatic tendencies, stylistic and sociolinguistic considerations, processing strategies, frequency effects and, crucially, phonological influences such as the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. As is indicated by the existence of interlinguistic variability, Universal Grammar underdetermines the shape taken by individual grammars. In a similar way, a single grammar may incorporate different solutions to the conflicts between constraints on language processing, which surface as intralinguistic variation. Variation within a grammar results from different more or less optimal grammatical coding strategies that compete with each other (cf. Croft 1995: 514). A grammar represents no more than a momentary balance between multiple competing functional forces and is inherently variable. An individual speaker may occasionally produce a deviant solution to the permanent state of conflict, where the term deviant merely means 'deviating from the probabilistic mean'. Such a conception invalidates the formal distinction between competence and performance, since competence itself is assumed to be probabilistic in essence and performance directly mirrors this aspect of competence. This implies that performance is no longer downgraded to a peripheral issue but becomes the central object of linguistic investigation (cf. Croft 1995: 511; Wasow and Arnold 2003: 148). This also means that factors that lack the status of an obligatory rule but represent statistically stable tendencies can nevertheless represent linguistic universals and are worthy to be described as part of a speaker's competence (cf. Kirby 1999: 5). What has been said so far should suffice to make it clear that these factors, which will be referred to

The state afthe art

9

in the present work as determinants of grammatical variation, are considered to be extremely important in the description of a grammar, though they may be violated in favour of other factors in the non-deterministic framework of functional linguistics. Functionally motivated constraints (or determinants) determine the direction not only of the deviations from currently valid rules of a grammar in performance errors and in language acquisition, but also the direction of language change (cf. Stampe 1979: xix-xx; cf. also DressIer et al. 1987: 3). As is widely accepted (cf. e.g. Samuels 1972b: 3, 138, 177), variability is a precondition for change. Language change selects from among the variants present in a synchronic system and the choices are multiply conditioned by a set of interacting factors. Since nonoptimal states entail a pressure for change aiming at a better satisfaction of the violated constraint or constraints, alternative structures may be adopted into the grammar (cf. Ritt 2004: 113). However, language change is not deterministic: a given function can be fulfilled by a variety of different processes (cf. Kiparsky 1988: 384). Nor does it lead to an overall improvement of the grammar: improvements on one dimension inevitably lead to deteriorations on another, and the social functions of language enforce contrasts between group members and outsiders through the maintenance of linguistic differences (cf. Ritt 2004: 112-114). In brief, the competing forces bunched up in a grammar and its inherent indeterminacy amount to an inbuilt mechanism for generating changes (cf. Croft 1995: 524). Both synchronic variation and diachronic change can thus be investigated within the same theoretical framework of functional linguistics. Since functionally motivated factors are, by hypothesis, universal, they can be expected to exert their influence at all synchronic stages in the course of the evolution of a language and to guide diachronic language change. The Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is no exception here. It has been assumed to emanate directly from more general principles shaping the most diverse aspects of rhythmic behaviour, of which it is only the linguistic manifestation (cf. Hayes 1984: 59; Myers 1997: 147; for more details, see sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.4). Though the pressure exerted by the preference for rhythmic alternation is thus presumably universal and constant, it can be expected to be implemented in different ways, which are specific both to a particular language as well as to a particular state in its history. The exemplification in the present study is limited to English and to a diachronic span from about 1500 to the present day. Therefore, research into other languages and their histories promises to yield complementary insights into the efficacy of rhythm in grammatical variation and change.

10

1.2.

Introduction

Aims and scope

The following chapters pursue a number of interrelated objectives that arise from the state of the art outlined above. They constitute a progression from empirical findings to their theoretical implications. However, the present work is conceived primarily as a contribution to the grammatical description of earlier and present-day forms of English - a fact that is mirrored in the greater weight given to the empirical studies in comparison to theoretical considerations. The empirical analyses aim to demonstrate that the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation generalizes across a large and varied set of grammatical phenomena in the past and present of the English language. It accounts for and ties together the distribution of morphological and syntactic variants of different kinds, so that it should be assigned an appropriate place in any comprehensive grammatical description. The theoretical objectives go beyond the critique of current linguistic theories, but present new hypotheses and develop a relatively comprehensive model on the basis of the empirical findings. The individual objectives can be spelled out as follows. In a first step, the rhythmic determinant at the centre of the discussion, known as the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, will be introduced and characterized from a number of different perspectives. Since this principle is frequently described as a linguistic universal, its cross-linguistic relevance will be made explicit as far as the literature on the subject permits. The main part of the work is concerned with an elucidation of the effect of this principle on the grammar of English on the basis of appropriate corpus analyses. At the outset, this includes a clarification of the methodological premises that will be applied. In combination with a survey of similar findings culled from the secondary literature, the range of phenomena that will be selected for investigation is designed to constitute a representative, though certainly not complete overview of phenomena that testify to the effects of rhythm. The study of these phenomena probes into domains of English grammar that have so far either not received the attention they deserve or resisted an analysis, partly on account of the dominant theoretical paradigms that ruled out influences exerted by 'posterior' representations on 'anterior' ones. The overriding aim is to show that if we take the rhythmic aspects of the phenomena into account, a generalization with a large explanatory potential can be formulated in terms of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. By integrating this factor, we will arrive at accounts that can fill out the blanks left open by the current standard grammars of English. Incidentally, this amounts to an empirically

Aims and scope

11

founded refutation of the widespread assumption that grammar and phonology represent separate modules and interact in a serial fashion without a reverse direction of influence. - Depending on the phenomenon under consideration, this descriptive work will in most cases include a diachronic dimension. This will serve to address the question of whether and to what extent the evolution of grammatical structures has been guided by rhythmic preferences. A related issue is whether there is any evidence that the rhythmic character of the English language has changed in the course of its history. - Though the focus is on the impact of rhythm, all of the analyses purport to present a comprehensive and realistic picture of the phenomena under investigation. Variable domains of a grammar are naturally susceptible to other determinants besides rhythm. Thus, all studies will bring into play a range of factors that may, depending on the case, produce synergies or antagonisms with the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. The empirical work also aims to furnish further insights into the nature of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation itself. A hypothesis will be formulated as to whether this phonological factor plays the same role in spoken and written language use. Furthermore, the studies will help to clarify what combinations of syllables can pass as alternating, and to define the domain of the principle in terms of syntactic or prosodic units. - To accomplish these aims, not only qualitative, but also quantitative insights will be essential. Therefore, the analyses will be based on corpora of naturalistic language use, from which representative datasets will be compiled. The complete evaluation of these data permits quantified statements in terms of higher or lower, growing or declining frequencies of use. The quantitative assessment of the influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation in different domains of the grammar will also make it possible to delimit its scope: are all domains of the grammar similarly permeable to rhythmic constraints, and if not, what can be said about the line of demarcation between permeable and impermeable domains? This leads on to the theoretical questions that the present work seeks to address. - Having obtained crucial evidence on the nature of the grammarphonology connection, some of the current models of language will be evaluated that allow for interactions between these traditionally distinct 'modules'. The models that will come under scrutiny are, first, Optimality Theory, and second, a neurolinguistic spreading activation model. - Since the latter model accords best with the empirical facts (and also seems preferable for independent reasons), it will be enlarged upon and

12

Introduction

developed further so as to accommodate the results gained in the empirical part. In addition to the integration of rhythmic influences on grammar, this should take account of the limitations of the influence of alternating rhythm, of the interactions with other determinants, and of a mechanism for grammatical variability and change. It should also contribute an answer to the question of whether we can distinguish an internal structure of the grammar or whether a grammar should bee seen as an amorphous mass, given that there are no modules in the traditional sense. Eventually, we aim to end up with a model apt to unify as many of our corpus-based findings as possible in a plausible overarching model. All in all, the aims thus encompass empirical as well as theoretical aspects, synchronic as well as diachronic analyses, a potential linguistic universal and implications for linguistic theory-building. Before we enter into the discussion, we will therefore have to delimit the precise scope of the present book by clarifying what it will do and what it will not do. As stated above, the book builds on descriptions of English grammar available to date and seeks to endow them with a greater descriptive and explanatory adequacy. It will propose adjustments and refinements to the work accomplished by the standard university grammars and by the current state of research as reflected in articles and monographs on the grammar of English past and present. Thus, the focus is on morphological and syntactic phenomena rather than on an in-depth study of the prosody and rhythm of the language. Like its time-honoured predecessors (Fijn van Draat ([ 191 0] 1967, 1912a, 1912b; Stroheker 1913; Bihl 1916; Franz [1939] 1986), the present work makes use of a comparatively basic inventory of rhythmic rules. While the alternation between stressed and unstressed syllables is fundamental to its concerns, the book does not propose to contribute any substantial new insights to the debate on issues such as sentence-level prosody or the foot structure of English. The remarkable advances achieved recently in branches of theoretical phonology such as metrical stress theory will certainly add further perspectives to the work begun in this book. For present purposes, however, a relatively unsophisticated version of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation will be adopted. In effect, this offers the advantage of keeping the amount of detail required for a description of the grammatical phenomena investigated at a maniable degree of complexity. While the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is often represented as a universal of rhythmic organization, extending to other languages and even to extra-linguistic behaviour (cf. section 2.1.1), the focus will exclusively be on the English language, which, by hypothesis, integrates the principle in a language-specific way. The task of studying the influence of the prin-

Aims and scope

13

ciple in other languages, while being a promising avenue for further research, is left to others. Furthermore, the focus of the work will be on the "common core" of English (Denison 1998: 95), in other words, the written standard language as used by the educated classes that were and are engaged in the publication of widely read texts. The restriction to written sources is unavoidable when dealing with the past, and the largest collections of texts that have survived are unsurprisingly those of the works of authors belonging to the literary standard. It would doubtless be interesting to analyze corpora of nonstandard usage (both earlier and current) or contemporary spoken language, but the corresponding databases are comparatively small or only under construction. All that can be done in the present work is an occasional analysis of a rather small spoken corpus, and a comparison between non-dramatic prose and dramatic prose, which, by hypothesis, represents a type of 'written-to-be-spoken' language that is to some degree representative of the spoken usage of its time. The existence of relevant effects in nonstandard forms of English is not being contested; the contrary is the case. Extending the analysis of phonological effects to the more oral registers would certainly be a worthwhile task for future linguistic research. For the analysis of phonological influences on grammar, those domains of the grammar will prove to be of particular interest that exhibit variability or liability to change. Interestingly, earlier stages of the English language were not subject to standardization tendencies to the same degree as the language is now, due to factors like schooling, mass communication and mobility. Therefore, earlier forms of English, like modem nonstandard dialects, involve a considerably greater degree of grammatical variability than standard Present-Day English. What is more, varieties that have undergone relatively little standardization are generally more open to all kinds of natural phonological preferences, including the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation (cf. van Marle 1997: 29). The present study exploits this fact in its strong historical orientation, which is only limited by the availability of sufficiently large corpora. Thus, the studies to be presented reach back into the Late Modem English period (LModE; 1700-1800) and the Early Modem English period (EModE; 1500-1700), with an occasional excursus into the Middle English era (ME; 1100-1500), where the density of the available data however leaves much to be desired. As for PresentDay English (PDE), it is true that many formerly variable domains of grammar have become fixed in one way or the other. However, this means neither that there is no more scope for variation (which is part of the essence of language), nor that there is no evidence for rhythmic effects in the contemporary standard language. As far as corpus linguistic research is concerned, the loss of variability is compensated for by the immense reser-

14

Introduction

voir of electronic texts that have become available in the past few years. These texts can be put to use as computer-readable corpora and give us a handle even on low-frequency structures or on phenomena where variants are extremely rare. The domains of grammar that will be shown to be susceptible to phonological influences include, by definition, syntax and morphology. Both are, however, viewed as aspects of the processing of language, i.e. the creative processes in language production and perception, rather than the storage of linguistic information. As far as syntax is concerned, there is little dissent that new structures are assembled each time the processor outputs a sentence and that a new analysis is constructed each time a given sentence is perceived (except when dealing with a fixed phraseological collocation). As for morphology, the issue is more problematic. Following Dressier et at. (1987: 6), we will draw a line between inflectional morphology, which is located towards the "processing" end of the scale, near to syntax, and lexical morphology, which is located towards the "storage" end of the scale, near to the lexicon. For our purposes, the processing aspects of inflectional morphology are of greater interest since they overlap with syntactic processing and are dependent on syntactic relationships in the sentence (for a collection of relevant examples, cf. Plank 1984; 1985). This is not to deny the fact that phonological factors like rhythm have an influence on lexical morphology as well. On the contrary, even proponents of generative grammar acknowledge that the make-up of complex lexemes is permeable to phonological preferences and articulatory constraints (cf. e.g. Pullum and Zwicky 1988: 276). Such effects are, however, beyond the scope of the present study, which focuses on the creative processes taking place at the intersection between grammar and phonology in language processing. Except for a few pertinent remarks in the survey of previous research in section 2.2, rhythmic effects on lexical forms will therefore be left out of consideration. Detailed treatments of the constraints bearing on lexical morphology can be found in standard works on English word formation, e.g. Adams (1973), Bauer (1988) and Plag (1999). The determinant of grammatical variation foregrounded in the following chapters is assumed to play an equally fundamental role in language production and perception. Two detailed discussions of the arguments for this hypothesis and its potential limitations will be found in sections 2.1.4 and 6.3.2. Basically, the assumption is that production and perception are closely intertwined processes dependent on the same neural mechanisms, and that one cannot take place without the other. Consequently, whenever reference will be made to language processing, this is intended to include both production and perception.

The structure ofthe argument

15

Finally, the approach taken in the present work, though focus sed on a single determinant, is decidedly multifactorial. The factors that will be taken into consideration in addition to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation will, however, not be controlled for in their entirety. On the one hand, this would require an enormously complex descriptive apparatus, which would, however, remain piecemeal due to the lack of a complete inventory of the relevant factors. On the other, the present quantitative approach sets certain limits with regard to the feasibility of a comprehensive in-depth analysis of a large number of corpus examples. Therefore, unless stated otherwise, we start out from the assumption that the factors not controlled for lead to a certain amount of random oscillation in the data, but by and large cancel themselves out provided that the dataset is sufficiently large.

1.3.

The structure of the argument

The seven chapters of the present work are organized in a progression centring around the empirical main part, which is represented by Chapters 4 and 5. The present chapter has served to sketch the general background in which the present study is situated, to introduce the aims that it will pursue, to define its scope and limitations, and to explain some basic assumptions figuring in its background. The following two chapters have a more specific introductory character, although they already contain important hypotheses. Chapter 2 introduces the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, including its characterization as a potential linguistic universal, the current state of research on its implementation in different types of languages and in English in particular, and an examination of its causality and teleology. It also contains a summary of the findings described in the secondary literature that show an influence of the principle on grammatical variation and change in English. Chapter 3 prepares the corpus linguistic studies by introducing important facts and assumptions concerning the research methodology employed in the empirical main part. It provides an exposition of the database, the concordancing procedures and the statistical evaluation of the results. Furthermore, it discusses the potential problem presented by the fact that the database to be examined for phonological influences is mainly composed of written texts. Since it is not obvious that rhythm should play a role here, some notes of clarification will be in place. The two central chapters (Chapters 4 and 5) contain all the empirical substance of the present work. They outline 20 case studies that can be considered in their own right, independently of all others. All studies are provided with a survey of relevant insights culled from the secondary lit-

16

Introduction

erature and contribute some aspects to the aims defined in section 1.2: they exemplify different grammatical variation phenomena susceptible to rhythmic influences, they bring into play a range of other functional constraints, they quantify the relative contributions of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation in synchrony and mostly also in diachrony, and last not least, they end up with an account of the phenomena under discussion that exceeds the descriptive adequacy attained by prior grammatical descriptions. Taken together, Chapters 4 and 5 present a representative picture of the range and intensity of rhythmic influences on grammar. The phenomena surveyed are subdivided into attributive structures (Chapter 4) and other syntactic constructions involving adverbs as well as verbal structures (Chapter 5). As will be seen, attributive structures provide an extraordinary wealth of phenomena that are highly sensitive to rhythmic preferences. In addition, they display a set of characteristic avoidance strategies that modify their rhythmic structures so as to adapt them to an alternating pattern. These facts motivate their treatment in a separate chapter. In contrast, grammatical constructions outside of attributive structures, for instance adverbials and verbal constructions, while being likewise susceptible to effects of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, form less integrated wholes and their rhythmic structures are more diverse. Moreover, an adequate investigation of grammatical variation in these domains has to take into consideration numerous other influences that compete with rhythmic tendencies. Therefore, the discussion in Chapter 5 goes beyond that in Chapter 4 in several respects and takes it to a higher level. Chapter 6 concentrates on the implications of the empirical findings for a theory of language. It outlines the conception of the relationship between grammar and phonology as detailed in Optimality Theory (section 6.2) and evaluates it against the empirical evidence in the preceding chapter. In a second step, it expounds the basics of neurolinguistic spreading activation models and develops them further so as to accommodate the empirical findings under a unique theoretical conception (section 6.3). Chapter 7 contains a general conclusion that brings together the results with regard to the objectives set out in section 1.2. Finally, it provides an outlook that summarizes the questions that have remained open and suggests avenues for further research on the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, on phonological influences on grammar in general and on the neurological aspects of language.

Chapter 2 The Principle of Rhythmic Alternation introduced

The present chapter introduces the phonological preference that will be at the focus of the empirical and theoretical discussion of this work. The Principle of Rhythmic Alternation belongs to the domain of prosody, or suprasegmental phonology. Prosody is defined as including at least the following auditory aspects of speech: loudness/intensity/amplitude, duration/tempo, pitch/frequency/tone/FO patterns, and pause (cf. Lehiste 1970: 4; Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 4; Shattuck-Hufnagel 1996: 196; Warren 1999: 156). Therefore, the minimal domain of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is the syllable, not the individual sound. Prosody is open to influences from many disparate sources, such as syntax, semantics, pragmatics, focus, unit and utterance length, speaking rate, and segmental phonology (cf. Shattuck-Hufnagel 1996: 237; cf. also Warren 1999: 176). Furthermore, as will be seen below, it can exert an influence on the linguistic sub-systems it interacts with, in particular the grammatical components, syntax and morphology. The present discussion of prosodic features is restricted to a principle that is relatively basic and clearly circumscribed, namely the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. In section 2.1, this principle is elucidated in a general way from a variety of perspectives. Subsequently, section 2.2 reports on the present state of the research regarding effects the principle has on grammatical variation and change in English.

2.1.

Outline

The description of alternating stress contours has long been an issue in linguistic theory and has accordingly been dealt with under may different frameworks. Chomsky and Halle (1968: 78, 114-117), in their fundamental exposition of generative phonology, set up three rules (numbers 39, 107 and 108) that promote a separation of primary stress and secondary stress by intervening unstressed syllables. I Yet, the scope of these rules is restricted to the single word, and the authors admit that their account is insufficient to explain the emergence of rhythmic alternations in larger domains. To remedy this shortcoming of generative phonology, an extensive formalism has been developed to describe rhythmic regularities. This formalism is variously known as metrical stress theory, prosodic phonology,

18

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

or metrical phonology and considered to constitute one of the subcomponents of phonology, besides lexical phonology and autosegmental phonology (cf. Nespor and Voge11986: 302). While Chomsky and Halle (1968) resort to numerical indices to symbolize stress contours, later metrical stress theories develop graphic representations of prosodic relationships as their vehicle. In the literature, metrical trees, representing prosodic constituent structure, are used in combination with or as an alternative to metrical grids, representing rhythmic structure. 2 Though the concerns of metrical phonology are by no means central to the present discussion, the metrical grid convention will be borrowed occasionally to illustrate rhythmic relationships. The grid treats stress not as an inherent property of a syllable, but the particular stress level assigned to a syllable depends largely on its position in a sequence of syllables (cf. Kenstowicz 1994: 554). It defines preferred and dispreferred constellations (cf. Jackendoff 2002: 112). Therefore, the grid lends itself well to the abstract representation of rhythmic regularities. Selkirk (1984: 39-40) goes so far as to assume that metrical grids have some degree of psychological reality. Whether we wish to follow her thus far or not, grids can certainly help visualize the conditions and effects of the application of rhythmic stress rules. 3 The principal purpose of all metrical theories is to describe rhythmic properties of language. What we refer to as rhythm, "in speech as in other human activities, arises out of the periodic occurrence of some sort of movement, producing an expectation that the regularity of succession will continue" (Abercrombie 1967: 96).4 From this general impression of rhythmicity, metrical theories derive their fundamental tenet, the so-called Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, which has been given many, mostly congruent, formulations: 5 ... stressed and stressless syllables tend to alternate at rhythmically ideal disyllabic distances. Rhythmic alternation manifests itself by the avoidance of sequences of stressed syllables, as well as of long sequences of stressless syllables. (Kager 1989: 2, italics in the original) Whether the tendency for strong and weak syllables to alternate with one another is ultimately physiologically or psychologically conditioned, there is reason to believe that rhythmic alternation is a universal principle governing the rhythms of natural language. (Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 60)

In other words, an ideal rhythm alternates between maximally contrasting units, i.e. between stressed and unstressed syllables. In the shape of the metrical grid, this principle is reflected as in (1). On the left, a schematic representation is given, which is illustrated by an example on the right.

Outline

(1)

19

rhythmic alternation

x x x x x

(on any level of the grid)

x x x x x x x x xx x x x xx twenty people went to China

Each x mark on the bottom level represents a syllable. Each stressed syllable receives an extra mark on the second level. In the same vein, the initial syllables of people and China receive an additional mark on the third level, since they have higher stress levels than the numeral twenty and the verb went. The initial syllable of China, which occurs under the main sentence accent, is assigned the topmost mark. On all levels of the grid of this randomly chosen sentence, the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is implemented: two adjacent stress marks are regularly spaced out by one intervening stress mark on the next lower level. For the purposes of the present discussion, however, metrical grids that are elaborated only up to the second level will prove sufficient in most cases because the fundamental contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables will be focus sed on and prosodic relationships on higher levels can be neglected. Of course, the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation describes an idealized state; constellations deviating from this ideal are subjected to different optimization strategies, depending on their degree of deviation. Ternary patterns, involving one stressed syllable accompanied by two unstressed syllables, are usually tolerated, while quaternary patterns with three unstressed syllables are usually perceived as two binary patterns with an interpolated secondary stress, and unary patterns, lacking unstressed syllables, are highly marked exceptions (cf. Selkirk 1984: 11, 37; Nespor and Voge11986: 84; Kager 1989: 2),6 One type of infraction of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, absence of intervening unstressed syllables, is known as stress clash. In the metrical grid representation, a stress clash, exemplified here by the phrase three men, takes the following shape: (2)

stress clash x x (on any level x x of the grid)

x x x x three men

A stress clash is defined as a sequence of two stressed syllables which are not separated by any unstressed syllables on the next lower level (cf. Sel-

20

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

kirk 1984: 47; Giegerich 1985: 211; Kager 1995: 382). Like rhythmic alternation, a stress clash can be defined on any level of the metrical grid. The second major deviation from rhythmic alternation is referred to as stress lapse. The corresponding grid configurations are as follows: (3)

stress lapse a. x x x x x x

(on any level of the grid)

x x x x x x twenty machines

b. x x x x x x x

(on any level of the grid)

x x x x x x x seventy machines

Depending on the purpose of the analysis, a stress lapse may be defined more strictly as containing a sequence of two (cf. Plag 1999: 156), or less strictly as containing a sequence of three (cf. Selkirk 1984: 49; Giegerich 1985: 185; Nespor and Vogel 1989: 83; Kager 1995: 382) unstressed syllables in a sequence. There is agreement, however, that the avoidance of sequences of more than one unstressed syllable is a matter of degree: two unstressed syllables are avoided less strongly than three, which are in turn more acceptable than four, and so on. What is more, many authors (e.g. Schane 1979: 565; Nespor and Vogel 1989: 87; Kager 1995: 372) concur in the view that stress clashes are perceived as far more objectionable than stress lapses; while the latter are tolerated to a certain extent, the former almost categorically necessitate compensatory measures. Thus, sequences of the more prominent member of the pair stressed-unstressed are avoided more consistently than sequences of the less prominent one. At this point, the notion of foot deserves some comment. A foot, according to Abercrombie (1976: 131), consists of a stressed syllable plus a variable number of unstressed syllables that separate it from the next stressed syllable (cf. Abercrombie 1976: 131; Giegerich 1985: 268; see furthermore Nespor and Vogel 1986: 83). While the most widely used metre in English verse is the iamb,? linguists usually hold that the basic foot of English is the trochee (cf. AlIen and Hawkins 1978: 176; Dresher and Lahiri 1991: 283; Lahiri, Riad, and Jacobs 1999: 340; Lahiri 2001: 1356). The fact that disyllabic feet (whether iambic or trochaic) are the most common and trisyllabic feet are relatively marked is, however, uncontested and concurs with the notions of stress lapse expounded above. In languages like English, the significance of the foot is underlined by the fact that it

Outline

21

constitutes the major timing unit for speech (cf. Giegerich 1985: 268; see section 2.1.2 below). For the purposes of the present book, the question of the right- or leftheadedness of English feet is only of minor importance. In effect, the basic recognition that underpins this debate, viz. that two stressed syllables tend to be separated by an unstressed one, turns out to be fully sufficient for the following discussion. While the present work has little to contribute to the debate going on about the foot in English, it capitalizes on a distinction between two (and occasionally three) levels of stress. What may seem to be an undue simplification of insights into the rhythmic structure of English will in the end turn out to provide a maximally general account of the phenomena investigated in the empirical part. The terms rhythm, metre, foot and stress, which have figured prominently in this section, are also widely used in the study of the metrical language of verse. Indeed, poetic metre can be viewed as an elaboration and formalization of the rhythmic tendencies found in naturally occurring speech (cf. Kurylowicz [1970] 1975: 5; AlIen 1972: 73; Harding 1976: 17; Kelly and Bock 1988: 189), though in ordinary speech its execution is obviously not as conscious and accurate as in poetic language. s In poetry, just as in speech, binary feet (iambs and trochees) are the most favoured ones, followed at a considerable distance by ternary feet (anaprests and dactyls; cf. Saran 1907: 140). Since verse exploits the avoidance of stress clashes and lapses for artistic purposes and studies of poetic metre abound, metrical texts have been excluded from the databases investigated for effects of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation in the present work. 9 A few notes of clarification are in place with regard to the notion of stress. In contradistinction to accent, which belongs to the syntactic side and depends on the syntax and semantics of the sentence, stress merely refers to the morphological or lexical side. It denotes the relative prominence of a syllable and is equivalent to the potential location of an accent if an accent happens to be conferred (cf. Bolinger 1965c: 82-83; 1980b: 12; 1981: 24; 1986b: 40--41; Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 35; Warren 1999: 158). Stress has a number of phonetic correlates that conjointly influence perceived stress. Thus, a listener's judgement as to whether the noun permit or the verb permit is meant, depends on a combination of the following: (4)

phonetic correlates of stress a. pitch: permit

vs.

permit

b. duration: [p3:mlt] vs. [pgmI:t] c. loudness: PERmit vs. perMIT (adapted from Hayes 1995: 6; cf. also Saran 1907: 94-95)

22

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

While pitch is the most important cue, and loudness the least important one, for the perception of stress, all three are highly correlated in English: high pitch, long duration and amplified volume all involve a higher amount of (muscular) effort, so that speech rhythm can ultimately be described as a duality of tension and relaxation (cf. AlIen 1975: 78; Bolinger 1986a: 2122; see furthermore lones 1969: 245; Abercrombie 1967: 96; Ladefoged 1982: 225).10 In the following sections, we will consider some issues revolving around the role the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation plays in the structure of languages in general. This includes a discussion of the hypothesized universality of rhythm (section 2.1.1), a summary of the longstanding debate about different isochrony types (section 2.1.2), an overview of the strategies available to languages to compensate for infractions of the principle (section 2.1.3), and some remarks on the possible functional motivation of rhythmic alternation (section 2.1.4).

2.1.1.

The universality of rhythmic organization

There is widespread agreement in the literature that the Princifle of Rhythmic Alternation holds true across most, if not all, languages. 1 The explanations adduced for this are decidedly functional in nature and partly overlapping, but vary largely. Thus, various authors assume that rhythmic alternation is physiologically or psychologically conditioned (cf. CouperKuhlen 1986: 60), due to the tension-relaxation dichotomy of our respiratory muscle system (cf. Lehiste 1970: 99,106-110; cf. also Bolinger 1964: 843), based on cycles of activation and inhibition phases (cf. Lenneberg 1967: 109; Fraisse 1974: 22-23, 46), due to a rhythm generator emitting signals at regular intervals (cf. Fowler 1977: 12-14), or inborn and observable in new-borns as intonated proto-rhythms (cf. Fridman 1980: 91). Many accounts go beyond the mere linguistic domain and relate rhythmic alternation to extra-linguistic rhythms (e.g. Martin 1972: 487; Fraisse 1974: 169-171; AlIen 1975: 79; Harding 1976: 1-16; Selkirk 1984: 11,37; MacKay 1987: 93; Kelly and Bock 1988: 390; lackendoff 2000: 7). Thus, all kinds of recurrent behaviour tend to fall into regular rhythms, and repetitive events tend to be interpreted as rhythmic sequences. The examples that are adduced include, to name just a few, finger tapping, typewriting, hammering, handwriting, piano playing, Morse code, marching, dance, the dripping of a tap and the ticking of a clock. The similarity of linguistic and extra-linguistic rhythms extends to the principles of hierarchical organisation and equal subdivision of intervals that are characteristic of the metrical grid (as illustrated in example (1) above; cf. Keele 1986: 35). Experimental

Outline

23

findings show that rhythms are not informationally encapsulated, i.e. one can hardly engage in simultaneous activities with divergent rhythms (unless the rhythms are in a hierarchical relationship with each other; cf. Keele 1986: 35; lackendoff 2000: 7, 21). This is additional evidence for Keele's (1986: 33-34; 1987: 484) conclusion that timing for language and non-language domains is controlled by a particular core region of the brain cortex and that one and the same interval timer is responsible for rhythmic performance on linguistic and extra-linguistic tasks. The regular emission of timing pulses may also be made responsible for the compensatory relationship between lengthened and shortened intervals (cf. Fraisse 1974: 22; Fowler 1977: 12-14; Wing 1980: 470-474; Keele 1986: 34). In addition to rhythmic preferences for production, perception has been shown to equalize time intervals between repeated events even if they vary to some degree (cf. AlIen 1975: 76-77). In contrast, more notable differences tend to be exaggerated, which results in a perceptively enhanced rhythmic structuring of sequences of events (cf. Fraisse 1974: 111). The similarities between language-internal and -external rhythmic organization are underpinned by quantitative data. Lenneberg (1967: 109119) and Lehiste (1970: 7-8, 155) find similar average numbers (about 6) and maximum numbers (about 8) of beats per second for the production of syllables and non-linguistic voluntary movements (e.g. finger taps) and relate both to neurological rhythms (for slightly diverging numbers, see Fraisse 1974: 46). Beyond the maximum frequency, neural reactions have been shown to occur on every second beat, and at even higher frequencies on every third (cf. Fraisse 1974: 46). Intervals between stressed syllables separated by intervening unstressed ones are longer, but also have parallels in other behavioural domains (cf. AlIen 1975: 76-77). In general, the perception of rhythms has certain limits: events produced at a frequency of below 150 or 200 milliseconds become indistiguishable, whereas events occuring at intervals of above 1500 or 2000 milliseconds are no longer perceived as part of a rhythmic group. Similarly, rhythmic groups generally cannot extend beyond a total duration of 4 or 5 seconds (cf. Fraisse 1974: 78-79). The perception of recurring groups consisting of stressed and unstressed elements also has parallels in extra-linguistic performance. It has been shown (cf. Fraisse 1974: 74, 78) that subjects tend to impose rhythms consisting of two or three, rarely four, elements even in cases where no objective correlates of that grouping are present. Furthermore, Fraisse (1974: 82) finds that elements that stand out from the others in terms of increased loudness, pitch or duration tend to be perceived as the first or last in a group. More precisely, loudness and pitch lead to the element being perceived as initial, whereas duration leads to it being perceived as final (cf.

24

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

also Alien 1975: 77; Plank 1998: 216). This result has been framed in terms of the Iambic/Trochaic Law, proposed by Hayes (1995: 80): sequences of beats alternating in loudness are universally perceived as trochees, whereas sequences of beats alternating in duration are perceived as iambs. Given these results, language - being produced and perceived by humans - appears to be governed by the same rhythmic constraints as other human motor and perceptual behaviour (cf. Alien 1975: 82). Therefore, it may be tempting to treat principles of rhythmic well-formedness such as the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation as nothing more than the linguistic manifestation of more general principles of behaviour and to relegate their study to general cognitive and behavioural sciences (cf. Hayes 1984: 59). There are, however, at least two considerations that argue for a linguistic investigation of rhythmic effects. For one thing, although they may be due to performance universals, cross-linguistic differences like the distinction between stress- and syllable-timed languages (cf. section 2.1.2) suggest that they have been incorporated into the phonologies of individual languages in different ways (cf. Alien 1975: 83; Dauer 1983: 60). For another, the recognition of alternating rhythm as a determinant not only in the phonology of a language, but also in its morphology and syntax permits numerous generalizations and considerably simplifies the task of describing grammatical regularities and tendencies, as will be shown in the empirical main part of the present study (Chapters 4 and 5).

2.1.2.

Isochrony types: stress timing vs. syllable timing

In this section, a longstanding debate concerning a rhythmic typology of languages will be outlined. These notions are in apparent contradiction to the hypothesized universality of linguistic rhythm, but recent research has been able to reconcile the discrepancies up to a certain point. The distinction between different rhythmic types is based on the fact that all human speech is divided into temporal intervals that have a tendency to be of equal length, i.e. to be isochronous. Precisely what has to be considered as an isochronous interval varies from language to language. Following Pike (1945: 34-36), stress- and syllable-based timing units have to be distinguished. In syllable-timed languages such as French, Spanish, Telugu and Yoruba, the basic timing units are syllables, which are of about constant duration. Consequently, the duration of a phrase is more or less proportionate to the number of syllables it contains. Languages of the second type distinguished by Pike, including English, German, Polish, Russian and Arabic, are known as stress-timed languages. Their basic timing units

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25

are feet, so that the intervals between stresses are approximately equidistant, independently of the number of intervening unstressed syllables. That means that the duration of syllables is compensatorily adjusted: sequences of unstressed syllables are crushed together, while stressed syllables that are not flanked by unstressed ones are drawn out (cf. also Abercrombie 1967: 97; Grabe and Low 2002: 515-516)Y The English language is generally considered as a prototypical member of the stress-timed class (cf. Pike 1945: 34; Martin 1972: 494, 496; Quirk et al. 1985: 1588; Grabe and Low 2002: 523). As a consequence, in a sentence like (5a), which contains no stressless syllables, each syllable by itself functions as a timing unit, which results in a syllable-timed rhythm. Intervening unstressed syllables borrow length from the stressed ones, so that a sentence like (5b) is less than twice as long as (5a) (cf. Bolinger 1986a: 40; 1986b: 37; 1981: 18). (5)

a. Gets out dirt plain soap can't reach. b. Takes away the dirt that common soaps can never reach.

Unambiguous evidence in favour of stress timing in the literature is somewhat scarce (cf. also Ritt 2004: 143). In a series of experiments, Alien (1972) reveals that subjects choose stressed syllables rather than unstressed ones as locations for beats in naturalistic English speech, a result which supports the prevalence of the interval between two stressed syllables as a timing unit. Ramus, Nespor and Mehler (1999: 267) report findings to the effect that new-born children are able to discriminate rhythmic types. Lehiste (1977: 258) and Auer and Uhmann (1988: 241) provide evidence to show that isochrony is primarily a perceptual phenomenon: only on the condition that intervals differ by at least 30 to 50 milliseconds are listeners able to discriminate different durations; differences below that threshold are perceived as non-existent. In the extra-linguistic domain, it has been shown that listeners tend to perceive minimally different intervals as equal, while at the same time maximizing more substantial differences (cf. Fraisse 1974: 111). This predisposition proves stronger for speech than for nonspeech stimuli, so that isochrony appears to be a specifically phonological artefact rather than a phonetic fact (cf. Fraisse 1974: 74, 77; Auer and Uhmann 1988: 244). Isochrony in production is regarded with scepticism by most researchers who conduct experimental tests (see Bolinger 1965b: 167-168; Lehiste 1977: 256; cf. also Bolinger 1981: 18; Ramus, Nespor and Mehler 1999: 267; Grabe and Low 2002: 516-517). Exact measurements rather revealed that the duration of stress groups in languages like English depends to a large extent on factors like syllable structure, nearness to initial or final

26

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

position, contraction, syntactic relationships, relative semantic importance as well as on the number of intervening unstressed syllables. Bolinger (1986b: 43; cf. also Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 51-52) arrives at a stance which, while being disillusioned with regard to absolute isochrony, is all the more realistic: "full syllables are longer before other full syllables and shorter before reduced syllables, and this produces a sort of even beat when there are not too many reduced syllables one after another." Current research discards the categorical dichotomy of stress- vs. syllable-timed languages and replaces it with a one-dimensional, scalar orientation (cf. Dauer 1983: 55-60; Auer and Uhmann 1988: 219,244-251).13 A gradient of isochrony is proposed, with prototypical stress- and syllabletimed languages at either extreme of the continuum. The isochrony type is a product of the patterning of certain phonological properties, the most important ones being: - a sharp contrast in the phonetic properties of stressed and unstressed syllables, the former usually being heavy and the latter light (cf. also Bolinger 1981: 2; Vennemann 1988: 30), - lexical determination of stress placement in words, - more compensatory lengthening of stressed syllables in stress clashes, and more compensatory shortening, vowel reduction, and temporal compression of unstressed syllables. English is located fairly close to the stress-timing extreme and displays these characteristics to a high degree. Since stress-timing languages are particularly sensitive to stress clashes (cf. Auer and Uhmann 1988: 251252), English can be expected to exhibit strong avoidance effects, which will be investigated in the empirical part of the present book. The observation that timing properties of languages can vary along a continuum should, however, serve as a caveat against unjustified generalizations from English to other languages. Apart from typological evidence, a range of language-internal considerations compel us to recognize that the rhythmic typology has to be a scalar rather than categorical one. Language acquisition research suggests that all children start out with a syllable-timed rhythm (cf. AlIen and Hawkins 1978: 174; Grabe, Post, and Watson 1999: 1204; cf. also Dauer 1983: 59; Auer and Uhmann 1988: 254) or with a rhythm intermediate between prototypical stress- and syllable timing (cf. Levitt and Wang 1991: 242-245), and that only afterwards, English-speaking children acquire the processes of lengthening and shortening syllables to achieve stress isochrony. There is also evidence that in special uses (such as emphatic speech or countingout rhymes), a stress-timed language like German can nevertheless be syllable-counting (cf. Auer and Uhmann 1988: 254). A strong argument for

Outline

27

the gradient character of the distinction can be derived from the finding that geographical varieties or different historical stages of one and the same language can be stress- or syllable-timed to varying degrees (cf. Dauer 1983: 59; Auer and Uhmann 1988: 254). Low, Grabe, and Nolan (2000; cf. also Grabe and Low 2002: 531), for instance, demonstrate that Singapore English is more syllable-timed, while British English is more stress-timed. Markus (1994: 187-198) advocates the hypothesis that English has developed its extreme stress-timing character only step by step. Following this author, while ME was basically syllable-timed, a characteristic adopted as a consequence of Norman-French influence, EModE formed a period of transition, establishing the modem, stress-timing character, and the language became more sensitive to the requirement of rhythmic alternation. At the same time, under the influence of schooling and grammar, the grammatical flexibility of the language was reduced and many options were semantically or grammatically functionalized (cf. also Stroheker 1913: 2; Franz ([1939] 1986: 588-589). The unstressed word endings, partially preserved in ME, were phonetically eroded and lost, and the English lexicon displayed a powerful pull towards monosyllabicity (cf. Bolinger 1965b: 179). In the face of these changes, speakers ran into increasing difficulties when trying to maintain an alternating rhythm. As a way out of this conflict, the reduction of all unstressed syllables, particularly of function words, was introduced as an option. Vowel length and secondary stress were, however, preserved in many lexemes (e.g. openly [:n] , emperour [AU], captain [er]; cf. Strang 1970: 118-119; Baugh and Cable 1993: 234; Dobson 1968: 445; Gorlach 1991: 73).14 The development of reduced vowels was not nearly as far advanced in EModE as it is in PDE and correlated with the register level (cf. also McCully 2002: 335). Thus, in the EModE period, the rhythmic character of the English language was undergoing a change towards an extreme stress-timing type, reinforced by the evolution of a set of reduced vowel phonemes characteristic of PDE (described in Bolinger 1981: 3; 1986a: 347, 357; 1986b: 40; cf. also Dauer 1983: 57). While the present study will not investigate the rhythmic characteristics of ME, a restriction which is mainly due to the unavailability of sufficiently large corpora of non-metrical prose, one of its main tenets will be that effects of the even spacing of stresses are clearly observable in English prose from EModE onwards. The rhythmic typology introduced in this section makes no claims about the role played by the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation in rhythmically different languages, but it leads us to expect certain differences in the treatment of stress clashes and lapses. If rhythmic alternation is a universal

28

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

tendency, then its effects should be visible across languages, even though they may be parameterized in different ways.

2.1.3.

Compensation strategies

Nespor and Vogel (1989: 70; cf. also Selkirk 1984: 41) affirm that stressand syllable-timed languages vary in the ways stress clashes and lapses are defined and the compensation strategies they employ to repair violations of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. In the following discussion, a survey of three sets of strategies available in English will be given: - manipulation of syllable durations, - manipulation of the placement of stresses, and - extra-phonological (e.g. grammatical) avoidance strategies. One set of strategies consists in the manipulation of syllable durations. As suggested by the rhythmic typology introduced above, this procedure is barred in extreme syllable-timed languages, but typical of stress-timing languages. In stress lapses, sequences of unstressed syllables are compressed to fit into the interval allocated to each timing unit. Thus, the interval between the first two stressed syllables in sentences (6a--e) ideally takes the same amount of time, irrespective of the number of unstressed syllables it contains (Kelly and Bock 1988: 189; cf. also lones 1969: 237).

(6)

a. Thefact started the argument. b. The factor started the argument. c. The factory started the argument.

This strategy is known as polysyllabic shortening. As is the case with isochrony, empirical evidence for polysyllabic shortening is hard to come by. While Fowler (1977: 33) and Beckman et al. (1990: 7) find robust evidence, Bolinger (1965b: 164-171) and MacKay (1987: 105) remain pessimistic. The analogous means of compensation for a stress clash is generally assumed to be the introduction of a pause between the two clashing syllables or the lengthening of the first syllable (cf. Fijn van Draat 1967: 9-10; Martin 1972: 490; Bolinger 1965b: 139, 168-170; 1981: 17-18; Giegerich 1985: 15; Nespor and Vogel 1989: 79). However, Cooper and Eady (1986: 373) and Beckman et al. (1990: 7) find no or little objectively measurable evidence for either pause or lengthening. The second set of strategies, available to both stress- and syllable-timed languages, is the manipulation of the placement of stresses. To illustrate the effects produced by these strategies, a number of English stress rules

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29

will be introduced. It should, however, be noted that these rules are not considered here, as they were originally conceived, as procedures transforming an input constellation into an output constellation. Rather, they present a convenient means of comparing stress constellations in citation forms and in rhythmically defined contexts and are not necessarily claimed to have a real existence as derivational rules. In stress lapse, Beat Addition (or Beat Insertion) applies to interrupt a series of three or more unstressed syllables (cf. Kager 1995: 385; Levelt 1989: 299; Nespor and Vogel 1989: 76, 85, 100). The illustration in (7) takes up the example given in (3). (7)

Beat Addition x x x x x x x x seventy machines

~

x x x x xxxxx seventy machines

In the opposite case of stress clash, two types of strategy are applicable. One is Beat Deletion (see Bolinger 1965b: 172; Kager 1995: 385; Hayes 1995: 36-37; Levelt 1989: 299; Nespor and Vogel 1989: 76, 100), exemplified in (8). (8)

Beat Deletion x

x x

x x

x x

x

five men

x

five men

The second and more interesting compensatory process is the Stress Shift Rule, variously known as the Thirteen-Men Rule, Iambic Reversal or Stress Retraction. 15 Stress shift is made possible by the fact that in words with final stress and a preceding stressable syllable, the stress can be shifted leftwards if the word is followed by another stressed syllable. 16 Consider the following grid representation. (9)

Stress Shift Rule x

x

x

x x x fifteen men

~

x x x x x x fifteen men

30

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

As suggested by the example, stress shift occurs particularly often in premodifier + noun combinations. Since it is always the weaker of two clashing stresses that shifts, in the unmarked case, the premodifier is affected by the stress shift (cf. Kager 1995: 386). Examples of stress-shifting premodifiers, all of which have final stress in their so-called citation forms, are adjectives like overhead, robust, prefixed items like misspelt, untied, compounds like clear-cut, far-away, half-asleep, and prenominally used nouns like afternoon, farewell, Chinese, Tennessee, New York (cf. Bolinger 1965b: 141-145; 1986a: 60). In earlier forms of English, prior to the pervasive phonological reduction of unstressed syllables, relatively more items were liable to shift their stress, e.g. absurd, insane, express, extreme, diverse, complete, supreme, antique,forlorn etc. (see Jespersen 1972: 97; Ekwall 1975: 9; Kiparsky 1975: 594-595; cf. also Stroheker 1913: 94-99). Similarly, stress shifts can occur within syntactically close-knit units, such as adverb + adjective combinations, when they premodify nouns. (10) Stress Shift Rule x x x x x x x x remarkably few

x x x x men

~

x x x x x x x x x x x x remarkably few men

Note that contrastive focus may interfere with the Stress Shift Rule. In the above example, if contrastive focus occurs onfew, the stress may not shift (cf. Selkirk 1984: 280). Once again, objective evidence for stress shift is scant. Cooper and Eady (1986: 383) and Beckman et al. (1990: 7) find no or only a weak acoustically measurable difference between shifted and unshifted conditions. In a similar vein, Kelly (1989: 701-707) and Grabe, Warren, and Nolan (1994: 103) show that articulation contributes little to the impression of stress shift; if anything, final stress is not converted into initial stress, but only levelled. However, according to these authors, it is perception that accounts for the impression of stress shift, but only under the condition that the potentially stress-shifting item is heard in a context favouring stress shift. As was the case with isochrony, the oft-repeated English Stress Shift Rule seems to be, after all, primarily a perceptual phenomenon. Yet, Grabe, Warren, and Nolan (1994: 112) can prove that the (weak) acoustic correlates of stress shift can be used by listeners to identify the syntactic function of potential stress-shift items even before the following words are encountered (e.g. Chinese fan with stress shift, 'fan from China', vs. Chinesefim with compound stress, 'fan of the Chinese language').

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31

Nespor and Vogel (1989: 96-112) discern an interdependence between the rhythmic type of a language and the remedial strategies it employs. The increased flexibility of syllable durations characterizing stress-timed languages goes along with a heightened sensitivity to stress clashes. Since stress-timed languages like English tend to have reduced syllables in unstressed positions, these may be perceived as contributing insufficient substance to separate two strong stresses. In contrast to syllable-timed languages, English is likely to apply stress shift in cases like the following, although the probability of application decreases with the growing number of intervening unstressed syllables (cf. Giegerich 1985: 212; cf. also Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 61; Hayes 1995: 371). (11) stress shift

x x x x x x x x xx x twenty-seven men

x

x ~

x

x x x xxxx x twenty-seven men

In sum, there is not as much difference in the prosodic organization of stress- and syllable-timed languages as one might believe. In particular, the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, which is the most important law of grid well-formedness, and the rules that conspire to manipulate the placement of stresses have frequently been assumed to be part of the set of linguistic universals. As a consequence of its stress-timing character, English can, however, be expected to be highly susceptible to stress clashes and to draw on all possible means to circumvent them. What has been said so far about remedies for infractions of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is, however, no more than a prologue to the focus of the present work. The third, and for our purposes most interesting, set of compensation strategies, which is available to all languages and language types, involves extra-phonological stress clash avoidance. As will be argued, dispreferred prosodic constellations such as stress clashes can be avoided at higher levels of the grammar, e.g. by selecting alternative morphological or syntactic devices. Some relevant examples from the secondary literature are summarized in section 2.2, and Chapter 4 as well as Chapter 5 furnish ample empirical data on a variety of additional phenomena.

32

2.1.4.

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

Functional explanations for rhythmic alternation

The functional perspective employed in this work implies that phonological tendencies are not isolated from their phonetic correlates. Accordingly, the following section will present explanations for the preference for an alternating rhythm in terms of articulatory and auditory phonetics as well as from more general neurophysiological and cognitive principles. Care will have to be taken to avoid the teleological fallacy, pointed out by Ohala (1990: 266; 1992: 342) and Haspelmath (1999a: 188): if we actually find phenomena of language variation and change that seem to enforce contrasts between adjacent syllables, it is not enough to recognize their usefulness in maximizing the efficacy of communication. Rather, we will have to track down their articulatory and auditory correlates and/or try to relate them to the neurocognitive basis of language. Yet, even though linguistic structure and change involve no volitional element with a purpose to change language in a way to make it more adequate to its function, the evolution of language is at least partly "Lamarckian" (Haspelmath 1999a: 193): it may be influenced by the intentionality of the language users who choose in an intelligent (though not necessarily conscious) way from the variants at their disposal and may pass acquired features on to others learning the language. Several functional considerations provide an avenue for explaining the prevalence of alternating patterns in language. On the one hand, functional accounts frequently draw a distinction between processes playing a role in language production and those playing a role in language perception. Accordingly, production is subject to the speaker-oriented principle of minimization of articulatory effort, while perception complies with the listeneroriented principle of minimization of perceptual confusion. On this view, language production derives no advantage from alternating structural patterns, but rather tends to reduce contrasts between adjacent elements. The opposite force maintaining contrasts is language perception, which functions most efficiently and is least error-prone if the incoming speech signal preserves sufficient contrast to avoid confusion. This conflict necessitates a trade-off between production-oriented and perception-oriented processing preferences (cf. Lindblom, MacNeilage, and Studdert-Kennedy 1984: 191193; DressIer et al. 1987: 12; McCalla 1980: 1-2; Haspelmath 1999a: 180; Boersma 1998: 2; McCarthy 2002: 220). On this account, the contrastenforcing potential of perceptual principles is limited to an indirect influence on the actualization of speech, which presupposes that a speaker continuously monitors how clear he or she must be in a particular speech situation for the listener to be able to understand, and expends the necessary articulatory effort (cf. DressIer et al. 1987: 12; Myers 1997: 132).17

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33

On the other hand, there is some evidence that speakers may be pursuing less altruistic goals when they fall into alternating patterns. In his booklength study of the psychology of rhythm, Fraisse (1974: 10-11) maintains that there is a fundamental correspondence between executed and perceived rhythms. While Fraisse is unable to decide if the ability to produce rhythms derives from the ability to perceive them, or whether the perception of rhythms is dependent on the ability to tune into them actively, he alleges that the compelling nature of rhythm has to do with the fact that perception and production happen in synchrony. As a result, rhythm engages the entire human being in one harmonious activity. Furthermore, it may be assumed that lack of contrast between adjacent elements in the speech signal can lead to encoding problems in the production system, where the avoidance of confusion is also an issue. This presupposes a certain degree of contrast between elements that have to be produced in a sequence (cf. Berg 1998: 79; Frisch 2004: 354). Thus, Berg (2004: 1089-1095) is able to show on the basis of various sources of evidence (language structures, change, use, acquisition and breakdown) that at different levels of linguistic structure, elements that stand in a syntagmatic relationship tend to contrast maximally if they are adjacent or separated at short distances. At larger distances, however, the processor exhibits a tendency to fall back on similar elements again. Moreover, he finds that if confusion occurs (as, for example, in slips of the tongue), elements that share relatively many properties tend to be exchanged one for another (cf. Berg 2004: 1062). More specifically, findings described in Cutler (1980: 186) show that beyond the compensation strategies resorted to in normal usage, speech errors such as syllable omission and addition and errors of stress placement testify to an underlying striving for stress isochrony in speech production. Thus, the maintenance of a regular rhythm seems to facilitate language production. Taken together, these findings - maximal similarity or identity at distance 0, maximal contrast at distance 1 and return to similarity at greater distances - lead us to expect a predominance of alternating patterns in language. On this view, then, the maintenance of contrasts between neighbouring units is not only a matter of perceptibility, but also and to the same extent one of producibility. In section 6.3.3, language processing will be investigated from a neurolinguistic point of view. As will be seen, there are also neurophysiological arguments that can be marshalled as possible causes underlying the preference for alternating patterns. These likewise speak in favour of a double motivation of rhythmic alternation, grounded both in language production and perception. The accounts adduced so far have in common that they consider rhythmic alternation as a function of the articulatory and auditory processing of language. In addition, rhythm has also been argued to fulfil certain func-

34

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

tions in the communicative process. Since language is a cognitive faculty exerted with a particular intention in mind, the functions of rhythm in discourse can also be marshalled as teleological explanations for the existence of the phenomenon (the "Lamarckian" account). Some approaches of this kind can be found in the literature. AlIen (1975: 84) attributes to speech rhythm no more than an auxiliary function, arguing that it does not carry much linguistic information. Indeed, in a communication system as complex as language, one could expect the numerous requirements imposed on the speech signal to obliterate the underlying rhythm. As Bolinger (1981: 33) puts it, "There is not a great deal one can do intentionally in the heat of putting a sentence together to pick words that will make the metrical feet more or less even, but what happens unintentionally testifies to some kind of underlying rhythmic tendency." Thus, Bolinger argues, automatic activities are universally more efficiently performed when they are rhythmic because rhythmic performance requires fewer computation and memory capacities than irregular or random sequences (cf. also Lenneberg 1967: 108; Bolinger 1986a: 63; Auer and Uhmann 1988: 215). Similarly, rhythmic language can be memorized more easily than unrhythmic language since it involves a recurrence of similar structures. These lend themselves readily to an integration into the memory, which relies on an organization of individual elements into structures (cf. Fraisse 1974: 175). The bulk of the teleological accounts of rhythm in language however foreground the facilitation of perception. First, there is evidence that listeners exploit the rhythmic properties of their language in order to segment speech into words (cf. McQueen, Otake, and Cutler 2001: 103-104). Second, many linguists (Abercrombie 1967: 97; Jones 1969: 245; Lehiste 1970: 119; Martin 1970; 1972: 496; MacKay 1987: 94; Kelly 1989: 706) maintain that listeners (especially if familiar with the language) have a large share in the imposition of rhythm. They can be shown to tune into the rhythm produced by speakers so as to be able to predict by means of identification with the speakers where the stresses will fall and to hear stresses even where their auditory correlates are absent. The benefits of this synchronization with speakers are twofold. On the one hand, listeners can be shown to pay more attention to stressed syllables and to slacken their attention during the intervening unstressed syllables, since the former are more informative in terms of phonetic, phonological and semantic measures (cf. Martin 1972: 488; Shields, McHugh, and Martin 1974: 251; MacKay 1987: 93-94). On the other hand, speakers can exploit the rhythmic pattern established by themselves and tuned into by their listeners in order to disrupt the listeners' expectations where a particular effect is intended (cf. Lehiste 1977: 488). For instance, the unclear reference of old in the sequence old

Previous research on rhythmic influences on English grammar

35

men and women can be disambiguated by introducing a pause after men to signal the presence of a syntactic boundary. In conclusion, the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation seems to be motivated by causal considerations and teleological advantages that facilitate language use both for the speaker and the hearer. Since this generalization applies to users of any natural language, it can be assumed to be a universal property of the language faculty. If we were prepared to follow Myers (1997: 147), who argues that this type of "phonetic functionalism" makes a treatment of functionally motivated and therefore universal phonological constraints within a grammatical description superfluous, we could stop the discussion at this point. Yet, the core thesis of this work is that so many areas of grammar are sensitive to phonological influences that we would overlook numerous important generalizations if we tried to formulate a grammar without reference to extra-linguistically inspired phonological principles. Without doubt, extra-linguistic factors, which are common to all natural languages, underdetermine linguistic structure. They merely limit the choice of grammatical techniques that are available to languages (cf. Dressier et al. 1987: 12), and the specific techniques adopted by a particular language merit investigation. Therefore, the claims made in this work are restricted to the English language and the ways it implements rhythmic alternation. Accordingly, the literature on rhythmic effects on grammatical variation and change surveyed in the following section as well as the case studies described in Chapters 4 and 5 are restricted to examples from English.

2.2.

Previous research on rhythmic influences on English grammar

The following survey of the relevant literature addressing influences of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation on the grammar of English can be no more than a representative selection. While the morphological and syntactic phenomena mentioned here may appear to be an extremely heterogeneous cross-section of the structural patterns of the language, they are all tied together by their sensitivity to rhythmic alternation. The tendency to keep stressed syllables apart has been adduced as an explanation in different research paradigms, three of which will be mentioned along with their contributions to the present debate. The discussion of those publications that focus on the phenomena to be investigated in the empirical part of this work will, however, be postponed to the exposition of the analyses in Chapters 4 and 5. Thus, the following survey is by no means exhaustive. A large number of examples can be culled from philological studies dating from the first half of the twentieth century. The prominent figures in

36

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

this research tradition are Fijn van Draat ([1910] 1967, 1912a, 1912b), Stroheker (1913; on Marlowe' sand Kyd' s language), Bihl (1916; on Chaucer's and Gower's language) and Franz ([1939] 1986). A number of later studies by Bolinger (e.g. 1965b, 1978, 1980a, 1981, 1986a) can be considered as continuations and refinements of this longstanding tradition. While some of these authors' suggestions have been taken up and subjected to closer scrutiny in the empirical part of this work, for most of the examples reported here quantitative tests are still at a premium. A further caveat refers to Stroheker and Bihl, who concentrate on language in the form of verse, but both imply throughout that the same means of achieving rhythmic alternation are exploited in the language in general. Many relevant findings cluster around the structure of noun phrases. For instance, in earlier forms of English, the place of the possessive adjective oscillated between Germanic pre-position and Romance post-position, but in some cases, rhythm overruled these syntactic tendencies (e.g. lady mine, but *lord mine; cf. Fijn van Draat 1912a; Stroheker 1913: 90-91; Franz 1986: 679). EModE also allowed possessive pronouns intervening between attributive adjectives and nouns, e.g. good my lord rather than my good lord, these my ears instead of later these ears of mine (cf. Stroheker 1913: 60; Franz 1986: 294, 678). In PDE, the use of the indefinite article as a buffer in exclamations like what a noise! (rather than *what noise!) has become obligatory (cf. Franz 1910: 158; 1986: 245). Names of months or seasons immediately followed by a noun are only unproblematic if they end in an unstressed syllable (e.g. April morning, December night, but ?May night, ?June morning; cf. Fijn van Draat 1912a: 49-50). Adjectival forms tend to be given a disyllabic pronunciation (e.g. cursed, blessed, learned, aged) or to be distinguished by an optional suffix (e.g. the material suffix -en in ashen, earthen, hempen, waxen; cf. Fijn van Draat 1912a: 40--47) when they precede nouns. Similarly, despite the overall tendency of English to evolve into an analytic language (cf. Markus 1988: 108), synthetic comparatives are well preserved in attributive uses due to their rhythmic advantage (cf. the oldest man vs. ?the most old mim; cf. Franz 1911: 209; 1986: 209-210; Stroheker 1913: 39, 47; Bihl 1916: 146, 149150; Rohr 1929: 26-27; Bo1inger 1965b: 153-154; 1981: 31; 1986a: 54). What is more, in certain cases, suffixed and suffixless comparatives (e.g. bet vs. bett(e)re, leng vs. lenger, less vs. lesser) alternated in earlier centuries, depending on the rhythmic environment (cf. Fijn van Draat 1912a: 53-54; Bih11916: 196-197; Rohr 1929: 93; Arnold 1970: 294). Another set of rhythm-sensitive items is provided by optional prepositions. Thus, in earlier forms of English, the prepositions of and to could be used to introduce the indirect objects of the verbs make, beg, do, pray, teach, tell, deny, send and give, if a stress clash buffer was necessary (cf.

Previous research on rhythmic irifluences on English grammar

37

Franz 1910: 157; Fijn van Draat 1912b: 536; Stroheker 1913: 81; Bihl 1916: 220-221). Furthermore, before it became obligatory, partitive ojwas more frequently used after monosyllabic unit words like pound, ounce, pair, yard, inch, but dispensable after disyllables like barrel, bushel, morsel, certain, etc. (Fijn van Draat 1912b: 523-525; Bihl 1916: 175; cf. Bolinger 1965b: 151). Oj also used to be variable and rhythm-dependent after the nouns name, half and side, the prepositions aside, alongside, inside and outside, and the verb beware; to was variable after the prepositions near, like and opposite. Finally, some prepositions had interchangeable and rhythmically distinct forms themselves, e.g. (up)on, (un)til, (un) to, (in) to, throughlthorough,jorth (oj), (in) despite oj(cf. Fijn van Draat 1912b: 529535; Stroheker 1913: 66-69). In the domain of pronouns, usage in earlier forms of English was less fixed than it is today. In EModE, simple personal pronouns could still be used in reflexive contexts if they suited the rhythm better than the newly established marked reflexive pronouns (cf. Stroheker 1913: 58; Bih1 1916: 152, 180-185; Franz 1986: 278). Rhythm has also been made responsible for the obligatory introduction of subject relative pronouns as buffers in EModE (consider the persistent stress clash in the ME example All but a squjer, highte Damian; cf. Stroheker 1913: 62; Bihl 1916: 191; Franz 1910: 158; 1986: 592). In the ME and EModE periods, the relative pronouns which, whose and whom could variably be preceded by the article the or followed by the subordinator that without a functional distinction, but with a rhythmic effect (cf. Stroheker 1913: 61; Bihl 1916: 188-194; Franz 1986: 301). Incidentally, numerous conjunctions could also take an additional subordinator that (e.g. though, after, but, ere, if, save, there, till; cf. Stroheker 1913: 69; Bihl 1916: 204-206; Franz 1910: 158; 1911: 209). With regard to PDE, it is argued that in questions with multiple interrogative pronouns, juxtaposition of the pronouns (which are usually stressed monosyllables) tends to be avoided due to the threat of successive stresses (e.g. I know they're taking something someplace. *But whitt where why?; better: But whitt, where and why?; cf. Bolinger 1978: 145). A final group of variation phenomena that have been brought into connection with rhythm comprises different types of affixation. For example, the presence or absence of the ge-ly-Ii-prefix in ME could be motivated by stress clash avoidance (cf. Bih11916: 103; cf. also Horn and Lehnert 1954: 1172; Pilch 1955; Higuchi 1998: 200). Similarly, the a-prefix in the past participle ago was exceptionally preserved due to the frequent occurrence of the form after monosyllabic nouns like years, months, weeks, days, etc. (cf. Franz 1912: 116). In EModE, the second person singular morpheme and the -ed-suffix had a syllabic and a syncopated variant that could be distributed in accordance with rhythm (e.g. thou thinkest vs. thou think'st;

38

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

he loved vs. he lov'd; cf. Stroheker 1913: 39). As a final point, EModE still had numerous prefixes and suffixes that were semantically bleached and optional, so that the variation between the affixed and affixless forms could be exploited for rhythmic purposes (e.g. (be)gird, (be)wail, (com)plain, (con)join, maid(en) , morn(ing), mount(ain), import(ance), calm(y), ope(n), hap(pen), haste(n), threat(en); cf. Stroheker 1913: 24-39). The early descriptions from which these variants have been culled provide a plethora of further examples which cannot all be taken up here. A note of caution is, however, in place in connection with their claims. None of the phenomena that are argued to be sensitive to the preference for rhythmic alternation have been submitted to empirical tests. The authors quoted naturally adopt a somewhat limited perspective on the variation phenomena, whereas we would expect many of these to be co-determined by multiple extra-phonological factors. What is more, not all of the phenomena are easily amenable to a corpus-linguistic analysis. Some quantitative studies have been conducted in recent times, but come to disappointing results. Thus, while Franz (1911: 209; 1986: 597; cf. also Stein 1987: 408, 410; G6rlach 1991: 88-89) affirms that the choice of the third person singular inflection (-s vs. -eth) in EModE depends on whether the following syllable is stressed or unstressed, Bambas (1998: 66, 70) examines a corpus of EModE and concludes that this is the case only in verse, but not in prose. Furthermore, while Fijn van Draat (1967: 123-145; cf. also Stroheker 1913: 89) claims that the position of the adverb only depends partly on rhythm, Nevalainen (1987: 366, 375) checks this statement against the London-Lund Corpus, but finds that the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation has only little influence, while semantic scope marking seems to be a more influential determinant. Studies like the latter two are part of a research tradition that developed after the early research on linguistic variation and its determinants was brought to a halt by the growing popularity of formal linguistics. Corpusbased linguistics has relatively recently produced new, quantified results on the efficacy of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, a selection of which will be summarized in the ensuing discussion. Many analyses, in particular Minkova (1990; 1991), concentrate on the loss of unstressed final -e in ME, a process spanning many centuries and presenting different facets. Final schwa in nouns disappeared first where it was flanked by one or more unstressed syllable(s) (and also where it preceded a vowel or the grapheme , an effect attributable to the tendency to avoid hiatuses, e.g. for gold and for seoluere vs. for seoluer and for golde; cf. Minkova 1991: 63-68, 162). As one of the consequences, the nominal inflection -e was retained in late ME only in the attributive genitive of monosyllabic nouns, where it usually preceded a stressed syllable

Previous research on rhythmic influences on English grammar

39

(e.g. myn herte rote; cf. Minkova 1990: 326; 1991: 184). For the same reason, the weak adjectival inflection -e (in adjectives occurring attributively after the definite article, possessives and demonstratives) was preserved relatively long where it was of use as a stress clash buffer, e.g. in monosyllabic adjectives and in disyllabic adjectives with final stress (e.g. ]xet blake smoke vs. his berdwas blak; cf. Minkova 1990: 319-320; 1991: 178-187; cf. also Mosse 1952: 64; Samuels 1972a: 445). In contrast, attributive comparatives and superlatives containing an unstressed suffix lost their final -e particularly early, which may equally be attributed to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation (cf. Minkova 1990: 320; 1991: 178-179; cf. also Mustanoja 1960: 276; Samuels 1972a: 446). What is even more interesting, Minkova (1990: 328,330,331 footnote 6; 1991: 178, 186) argues that final -e eventually lost its grammatical function as an inflectional suffix and acquired an extra-grammatical stress buffer function. 18 As a result, it came to be used in weak adjectives that, etymologically, had no final -e, and also in strong adjectival forms where it was equally unjustified. In a comparable way, the verbal ending -e in the verbs have and be was maintained longer in ME where the verbs were used as main verbs, since here they occupied metrically strong positions and required a buffer intervening before the subsequent (frequently initially stressed) item. Inversely, -e was given up earlier in auxiliary uses, where have and be were relatively unstressed themselves (cf. Samuels 1972a: 446; cf. also Minkova 1990: 326; 1991: 184). Lutz (2002: 59-63) studies the distribution of the reflexive and emphatic form self and its variants selve and selven in a corpus of Chaucer's works and identifies a higher incidence of the disyllabic selven in versified language. On the basis of some representative examples from Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Cursor Mundi, she shows that selven is used mainly for metrical purposes, namely where its second syllable serves to separate two stressed syllables. In a corpus study, Estling (2000: 115-116) finds that variable of after all, half and both is relatively more frequent before demonstratives in nominal uses than before demonstratives in prenominal uses, and more frequent in demonstratives in prenominal uses than before the article the preceding nouns (e.g. all (oj) the kids < all (oj) these kids < all (oj) these). Though she does not relate these findings to speech rhythm, an interpretation along the lines of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation seems possible. The elements the, prenominal thislthatltheselthose and nominal thislthatltheselthose are associated with an increasing degree of rhythmic prominence (cf. lones 1969: 266), and the more prominent the stress clash with the preceding alllhalf/both, the higher is the probability of occurrence of of as a buffer (cf. also Franz 1912: 116).

40

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

Mondorf (2003: 274-279) provides quantitative evidence of the skewed distribution of synthetic and analytic comparatives in attributive and other positions. She distinguishes rhythmically critical and uncritical cases and confirms earlier authors' hunches that the use of non-finally stressed synthetic comparatives correlates with the rhythmically critical prenominal position. Gries (to appear) finds statistical evidence in the British section of the International Corpus ojEnglish of an avoidance of verb-particle sequences where the verb is monosyllabic and the particle monosyllabic or initially stressed (e.g. he didn't want me even to pick up the child). He argues that in such cases, the particle tends to be postposed to avoid the clash of two stressed syllables (e.g. he didn't want me even to pick the child up). Davis (1982: 22) is able to show that rhythm plays a role in the distribution of the syllabic and non-syllabic short forms of would. Thus, when would occurs in combination with the auxiliary have, which is unstressed, it shows a more marked propensity to be shortened to non-syllabic [d] than in other contexts, where the tendency to choose the syllabic form [gd] is stronger. The maintenance of an unstressed syllabic form in potential contexts for stress clashes is explained by the preference for alternating stresses. A third line of research focuses on lexical phonology and investigates the rhythmic structure of words. For instance, it has long been recognized that rhythmic alternation plays a role in stress patterns of plurisyllabic English words (e.g. Monongahela, monastery; cf. Schane 1979: 564-592) and in word formation, where affixation can lead to stress shifts in the roots (e.g. solid> solidity, compensate> compensatory; cf. Kelly 1988: 108; Kelly and Bock 1988: 389) or block certain derivations that would result in stress clashes (e.g. *corruptize, *securize, *dptize, *jirmize; cf. Raffelsiefen 1996; Plag 1999). It has been argued that rhythmic preferences have in the long run of linguistic evolution influenced the stress patterns of single lexemes so as to conform to the typical stress constellations in the language. Ideally, nouns and adjectives have initial stress and verbs have final stress, which makes them particularly fit for their typical positions in the sentence (see Bolinger 1986a: 54, 351; 1989: 224; cf. furthermore Ross 1970: 166, 168). Thus, stress patterns of loanwords have shown a tendency to assimilate to the native pattern of English (cf. Berg 1999; but see also Lahiri, Riad, and Jacobs 1999: 401). Some highly relevant findings on the influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation on the stress pattern of words have been contributed from a psycholinguistic approach. Kelly (1988: 111-115; 1989: 694-701) demonstrates that verbs are more likely than nouns to take syllabic inflec-

Previous research on rhythmic influences on English grammar

41

tions, e.g. the -ing-suffix, which is always syllabic, the -ed-suffix, which is syllabic after dentals, the -s-suffix, which is syllabic after sibilants, and the -en-suffix, which is always syllabic. By contrast, nouns only take the -ssuffix for the plural and the possessive, which is syllabic only after sibilants. Kelly calculates the overall probability of syllabic inflections in a written and spoken corpus at 16 to 19 percent for verbs and only 1 percent for nouns. As a consequence, verb stems are relatively more often followed by an unstressed syllabic inflection than nouns, a fact that biases disyllabic verb stems towards an iambic stress pattern and disyllabic noun stems towards a trochaic one. In a related study, Kelly and Bock (1988) show that the typical syntactic contexts of nouns and verbs push the balance in the same direction. The typical syntactic place of a noun is preceded by an unstressed and followed by a stressed syllable, whereas verbs are typically preceded by a stressed and followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g. the _ _ sleeps vs. the bOy _ _ the girl; cf. Kelly and Bock 1988: 391). As a consequence, the noun context predisposes a stress on the initial syllable of a disyllabic noun and the verb context predisposes a stress on the final syllable of a disyllabic verb. In an experiment, the authors also provide evidence that rhythmic alternation guides the assignment of stress to nonsense words unknown to the speaker. In a thoroughly functional vein, giving up the divisions between synchrony and diachrony and between performance constraints and the shape of the language system, Kelly and Bock (1988: 391) argue that "Over time, a word that consistently occupied a particular rhythmic context might come to reflect the pressures imposed by that context in its citation stress pattern." Thus, the structure of language can be understood as a diachronic adaptation to functional constraints on the phonetic actualization of speech. 19 This account explains the tendency for English nouns to have initial stress and for English verbs to have final stress and justifies the stress asymmetry in homographic noun-verb pairs of the type (a) rebel vs. (to) rebel, (a) permit vs. (to) permit, (a) convert vs. (to) convert, etc. 20 In a follow-up study to Kelly and Bock (1988), Berg (2000: 284-286) comes to the conclusion that adjectives, like nouns, occur about twenty times more often in a trochaic-biasing than in an iambic-biasing context. Hence, rhythm exerts the same pressures on them as on nouns, as a consequence of which they actually share with nouns the marked preference for initially stressed contours (cf. also the relevant remarks in the introduction to Chapter 4 below). In a nutshell, the secondary literature provides ample and multifarious suggestions for the efficacy of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation in the determination of grammatical variation and change in English. Quantified empirical data are, however, less abundant, and principled attempts to as-

42

The Principle ofRhythmic Alternation introduced

sess the sphere of influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation are entirely absent. Psycholinguistic approaches provide impressive evidence of the real-time effects of the principle and ideas as to how functional constraints such as the preference for alternating stressed and stressless syllables might be incorporated into the phonology of a language. Since English, while being an increasingly standardized language with a distinct trend towards monosyllabicity, has been identified as strongly stress-timed, it can be expected to hold an immense potential for conflict, and we may expect to unearth a large variety of phenomena testifYing to these clashing tendencies. The following chapters will explore this scenario by focusing on a representative set of grammatical phenomena that will allow us to explore and systematize the impingement of the preference for alternating stressed and unstressed syllables in the history and current state of English grammar. Before we can go about this task, the methodological array that will be used needs to be introduced, which will be done in Chapter 3.

Chapter 3 Methodology

Corpus linguistics is one of the fastest expanding fields in linguistics and has benefited immensely from the boom of information technologies, the availability of computer-readable corpora and the development of sophisticated concordance software (cf. McEnery and Wilson 2001: 24). What is more, English is to date the language for which the largest corpora have been compiled (cf. Kennedy 1998: 1), and a large number of English language corpora have been marshalled for the present research. These corpora are sketched in section 3.1 and further details are provided in the bibliography. Even though corpus linguistic approaches enjoy wide acceptance and popularity, certain caveats have to precede the exposition of the results. These concern in particular a discussion of whether and how phonological influences on a language can be successfully studied by looking at (mostly) written corpus material (section 3.2). The following section 3.3 briefly introduces the software that was used to generate the concordances and the way in which the search expressions were created. Section 3.4 explains how tests of significance were conducted for the data thus collected.

3.1.

Corpora and their limitations

A prototypical corpus, in McEnery and Wilson's (2001: 32) terms, is "a finite-sized body of machine-readable text, sampled in order to be maximally representative of the language variety under consideration." The British National Corpus (BNC), on which some of the following analyses are based, is a prototypical example of such a corpus and is the product of a joint project of Oxford University Press, the Longman Group, W. & R. Chambers, the British Library and the Universities of Oxford and Lancaster. With its size of 100 million words it belongs to the new generation of mega-corpora and is representative of present-day British English. The written part of the corpus makes up 90 percent (about 90 million words) and contains samples of texts dating from 1975 and after (with the exception of the imaginative prose section, which contains texts from 1960 onwards), assorted from different genres and stylistic levels (literary or technical vs. middle vs. low). The genres include imaginative prose, natural and pure science, applied science, social science, world affairs, commerce

44

Methodology

and finance, arts, belief and thought, and leisure. The spoken part, containing about 10 million words, is the largest currently available spoken corpus. It consists of a so-called context-governed section including lectures, tutorials, news reports, business interviews, sermons, political speeches, parliamentary debates, sports commentaries, broadcast phone-ins, etc., and of a so-called demographic section, which is assorted from transcribed recordings of informal conversations by 124 volunteers from different regions of the UK, of different socioeconomic groups and ages and balanced between male and female speakers (cf. Kennedy 1998: 50-52). The only other corpus expressly designed for linguistic purposes that is used in the present study is the diachronic part of the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts, compiled at the University of Helsinki between 1984 and 1991. This corpus contains a total of 1.6 million words covering three subperiods from OE (c. 750 to 1150; 413,250 words) through ME (1150 to 1500; 608,570 words) to EModE (1500 to 1710; 551,000 words) and includes (extracts from) legal and official documents, medical handbooks, philosophical and religious treatises, sermons, chronicles, biographies, fiction, romances, plays, editions of the Bible, travelogues, letters, diaries, etc. (for details on the composition of the corpus see Kyt6 1996). Needless to say, there are no spoken sources of any earlier stages of the English language. Some of the corpus analyses in Chapter 4 draw on the ME subperiod of the Helsinki Corpus, which is again subdivided into four sections: ME I: 1150 to 1250 with 113,010 words; ME 11: 1250 to 1350 with 97,480 words; ME Ill: 1350 to 1420 with 184,230 words; and ME IV: 1420 to 1500 with 213,850 words. Due to the moderate size of these subsections, the corpus has, however, only been searched as a whole, neglecting any changes that may have occurred over the three and a half centuries making up the ME section. A substantial part of the studies are based on a series of collections which provide an exceptionally dense coverage of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. The Early English Prose Fiction (EEPF), EighteenthCentury Fiction (ECF), Nineteenth-Century Fiction (NCF) and English Prose Drama (EPD) databases produced by Chadwyck-Healey constitute meticulously edited full-text collections of narrative prose and, in the latter case, of prose drama in computer-readable format. The EEPF collection contains 211 texts by 96 known and several anonymous British authors published between 1518 and 1700 and totals slightly less than 10 million words. The ECF collection comprises 96 texts by 32 different British authors that were all published between 1705 and 1780 and thus forms a sequel to the EEPF collection. However, the database includes two editions each of Samuel Richardson's novels Pamela (the first edition of 1740 and the sixth edition of 1742) and Clarissa (the first edition of 1748 and the

Corpora and their limitations

45

third edition of 1751), and both the Motte (1726) and Faulkner (1735) editions of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. To avoid a skewing of the results, only the earliest editions have been included in the counts. After exclusion of the three doublets, the total number of words runs to over 10 million. The NCF database rounds off the chronological series. It spans British prose writing from 1782 to 1903, holds works by 102 different authors with a total of almost 40 million words and is thus by far the largest of the three historical British prose corpora. Due to its considerable size, the NCF corpus has frequently been subdivided into two or three subperiods according to years of publication. On these occasions, the three minor works by Jane Austen (Lady Susan, Sanditon and The Watsons) that were published only in 1954 were assigned to the early part of the nineteenth century, where they properly belong. Occasionally, the EPD collection is used to buttress the findings from these three corpora. EPD consists of 1653 plays by 356 known British playwrights plus some anonymous works, with a gross total of over 27 million words. The plays were first performed between 1540 and 1922 and first published between 1540 and 1965. For the purpose of the analyses, the EPD was subdivided into three chronological sections paralleling the EEPF, ECF and NCF collections (i.e., 1540 to 1700 amounting to more than 7 million words, 1701 to 1780 amounting to almost 7 million words, 1781 to 1903 amounting to a good 13 million words).l Note, in this connection, that texts cannot be adequately typified by assigning them either to the category 'written' or to the category 'spoken'. Rather, genres have been argued to vary on a continuum from 'oral' to 'literate' (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 29).2 Considering that drama represents 'written-to-be-spoken' language, we may assume that by and large the dramatic genre will be less formal and closer to the actual spoken language of the day than the narrative literature featuring in the other three corpora. 3 The genre factor will be played out in three studies which take into consideration the degree of formality of the texts (see sections 4.5, 5.4.1 and 5.5.1), and some relevant remarks will be added in sections 4.4.2 and 4.4.3. In all other cases, the EPD collection is simply used to increase the number of examples culled from the prose corpora. Finally, three analyses in particular (described in sections 4.3, 4.6 and 5.3.3) require an extremely large database to yield statistically satisfactory results. For this purpose, an extensive corpus of newspapers has been exploited, including 40 years of British papers (The Daily Mail including The Mail on Sunday for 1993 to 2000 with 207 million words; The Daily Telegraph including The Sunday Telegraph for 1991 to 2000 with 371 million words; The Guardian including The Observer for 1990 to 2000 with 388 million words; The Times including The Sunday Times for 1990 to 2000

46

Methodology

with 478 million words). The overall number of words of the newspaper corpus approaches one and a half milliard, and this enormous size is its major asset. Otherwise, similar caveats apply as in the case of the fictional prose collections: the corpus cannot lay claim to being representative of present-day British English because, once again, it is limited to a single text type which may in addition be subject to an indeterminate degree of manipulation due to editorial policies and stylistic precepts. The complete bibliographical details of all corpora that serve as a basis for the present study are provided in the bibliography. Figure 1 gives the temporal distribution of the main texts and their respective sizes. As can easily be seen, the focus of the analyses is on EModE and LModE as well as PDE, for which the most substantial corpus material is available. As one might expect, it is also obvious that the density of coverage in terms of words per time unit increases exponentially from ME to PDE.

I I

British newspapers

1,444 million

BNC

100 million

EPD

27 million

NCF

39.7 million.

ECF EEPF Helsinki Corpus (ME)

10.3 million. 9.9 m i l l i o n . I :) million

1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100

year

Figure I.

Corpus size in terms of numbers of words and chronology

Naturally, with the exception of a tenth of the BNC, all the data on which this study of phonological influences on grammar relies are written texts. The reasons for this possibly problematic fact are, firstly, the deficient scope of spoken corpora, and secondly, the total absence of spoken corpora for past periods of the evolution of English. Samuels (l972b: 4-6) calls attention to the fact that the spoken language can only be carefully reconstructed on the basis of the written form. If we want to infer earlier forms of spoken usage on the basis of written language, we are confronted with Labov' s (1994: 21) Historical Paradox: "The task of historical linguis-

Corpora and their limitations

47

tics is to explain the differences between the past and the present; but to the extent that the past was different from the present, there is no way of knowing how different it was." It is true that we are able to assess the relationship between written and spoken language in most cases of present-day writing. However, it has to be kept in mind that current habits in the matching of written and spoken representations of language cannot be projected into the past without critical consideration. Kiparsky's study of verse language is only one instance where changes of convention become apparent: the author (1975: 586) shows that recitation practices varied considerably between the early and late seventeenth century in accordance with the prevalent literary movements. For prose styles, there is little research on similar changes in writing or reading conventions. Since prose language is less subject to artistic (in particular, metrical) transformation, we may only assume tentatively that the relationship between spoken and written language has been more close in the relevant respects. A further point of insecurity is the possibility that texts from earlier centuries may have passed through various stages of revision, for instance by scribes, the authors themselves, or the editors. Since all of the corpus analyses to be presented below concern variable domains of grammar, it would be interesting to know if any disagreements cropped up in the process between these groups in the choice of grammatical variants. In the text types on which the corpus analyses are based, such effects are usually invisible. However, findings on the relationship between authors and scribes in the writing of fifteenth-century letters clearly show that authors generally impose the morphosyntax of the texts, while scribal influence manifests itself mainly in the phonological and graphological domains (cf. Bergs 2005: 80, 128). Similarly, journalists today are bound by the graphological conventions of the newspaper they are writing for, but morphosyntactic variability can be expected to mirror the relatively unconstrained choices of each individual contributor more liberally. Even if we choose to disregard possible discrepancies between the actual spoken usage of the authors and the written texts that have come down to us, the database employed in the present book still has substantiallimitations. One obvious disadvantage of using collections of literary texts as raw material for corpus analyses is the fact that these databases are by no means representative of the variety they are drawn from. The ChadwyckHealey collections have been compiled to represent the literary landscape of their epoch and their particular genre with a view to literary scholarship rather than linguistic research. As it turns out, female authors are severely underrepresented in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the ECF corpus, almost one forth of the running text (roughly 2,300,000 words) stems from four voluminous novels by Samuel Richardson. The selection

48

Methodology

of texts that enter our analyses is thus not motivated by aims such as linguistic representativity, but by their importance in literary history. In the event, this selection criterion is therefore utterly inappropriate for linguistic purposes. Furthermore, since all texts represent the printed literary standard language of their day, no major dialectal differences can be expected. Given the fact that, from 1500 onwards, texts were no longer localizable on the basis of their spelling and that the development of supralocal standards in grammar considerably antedated the eighteenth-century prescriptive grammars (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 13), we cannot expect EModE and LModE literary texts to supply any significant insights into the dialectal divisions of the times. Nor can we be confident that the grammar of spoken and written standards was identical for earlier forms of English (cf. Denison 1998: 95). Rather, we have to assume that written texts from earlier as well as present centuries testify to their authors' attempts to conform to a given standard and therefore contain hypercorrections as well as errors (cf. Labov 1994: 11). We are thus dealing with a more or less contrived usage that does not necessarily mirror the actual spoken usage of the authors. As a consequence, any grammatical changes discerned in the corpora have to be interpreted carefully: their time course may, depending on the type of change, anticipate or lag behind the time course of the change in the spoken language (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 29). What is more, apparent changes in grammar may at times be artefacts of changes in conventions of decorum (cf. Denison 1998: 95). Given the characteristics of the database as outlined above, it should be pointed out that many of the factors influencing language variation and change cannot be adequately researched. Though multifactorial in nature, the present approach can only take into consideration the variables that the database provides evidence of. Among these, the focus is placed on language-internal factors, with rhythm on the forefront, but phonotactics, constituent ordering, structural complexity, structural identity, semantics, frequency, grammatical fixation, system congruity, biuniqueness, iconicity, etc. equally playing an important role. Language-external factors such as dialect, spoken vs. written mode and text type of course have to be taken into consideration (cf. Labov 1994: 26), but since most of the following corpus analyses compare states of the system that are quite homogeneous in these respects, these variables are examined only sporadically. The task of a systematic study has successfully been addressed by others: Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg (2003: 83-201) provide exemplary analyses of fourteen grammatical changes that prove sensitive to the following system-external, i.e. sociolinguistic, factors:

Corpora and their limitations

-

49

Individuals adopt changes at different speeds, depending on their personal histories (e.g. generation, community, social mobility; cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 83-99). - Women are generally more active in promoting changes from above though their access to formal education (including the ability to read and write) used to be limited (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 111-131). - Changes can spread from the upper as well as the lower classes, and the directionality of a change determines its chances to become established as standard (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 133-154). In earlier centuries, London played a more important part in the supralocalization of changes than today, even if they did not originate in the capital. The regional variation was, however, superseded by social stratification effects (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 157-183). - Language users are able to accommodate their use of different registers to their interlocutors, but their ability to do so is constrained by their social class membership (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 185-200). Thus, it has to be acknowledged that the corpus analyses to be presented below neglect many of the factors that would have to be addressed in a comprehensive description of the grammatical phenomena considered. A final problem encountered by all work in historical linguistics, including corpus-based approaches, is the absence of negative evidence (cf. Labov 1994: 11). We do know what was possible in earlier forms of English from the attestations in the database, and we can even work out the frequencies of different options. But what was not possible can only be inferred from gaps in the distribution. While speakers of a modem language can provide us with judgements about the acceptability of unattested structures, no similar methodological patch is available for earlier stages of the same language. Although the database thus leaves much to be desired, the use of corpora still is the choice methodology in historical linguistics, and there are good reasons for this. First and foremost, a database of the kind used here provides a firm and objective basis on which actual developments can be traced in the course of centuries (cf. Labov 1994: 10-11). The data are free from distortions due to the Observer's Paradox and independent of a potentially biased personal intuition (cf. also Nevalainen and RaumolinBrunberg 2003: 28). Moreover, the literary collections marshalled for the corpus analyses present the enormous advantage of their unrivalled size. For the purposes of the present study, this asset outweighs their lack of representativity. In addition, all texts included in the databases are pains-

50

Methodology

takingly edited from the authentic first editions, so that with the appropriate provisos these databases constitute an excellent and indispensable source of evidence. Finally, insofar as the EEPF, ECF and NCF corpora invariably contain fictional prose writing, they are directly comparable with each other and also with the imaginative prose section of the BNC, a possibility which is often made use of in the following studies. 4 Yet, the generality of the descriptions of grammatical phenonema proposed in this book is limited by the restrictions and insufficiencies of the database. Two caveats have to be kept in mind in the interpretation of the data. One is that the primary sources can by no means be taken as representative of the entire language in use at their time; if anything, they represent the literary standard language. The other is that the relationship between the spoken and written codes remains obscure in many respects. The next section outlines some recent psycholinguistic findings suggesting that the processes involved in speaking and writing may after all not differ so much as to render extrapolations from written sources illicit.

3.2.

The phonology of written language

Given the topic of this book, the influence of a phonological factor on English grammar, the selection of corpora outlined above may at a first blush seem inappropriate, if not paradoxical. After all, the largest part of the data represents written language, and only one tenth of the BNC involves texts transcribed from spoken conversation or more formal speech. This raises the question of what role phonology plays in written language, or differently put, whether writers have access to the sound of what they write. A trivial remark is that just as reading is based on listening, writing is based on speaking. The question that needs to be answered is whether there is a fundamental difference between the processes of writing and speaking. If there is, one may wonder whether phonological preferences should be expected to play a greater part in one or the other mode. Speaking is arguably more subject to articulatory constraints, so that the psycho-physiological conditions described in section 2.1.4 could be assumed to be valid exclusively in oral speech production. On the other hand, the complicated processes involved in speaking usually take place under real-time pressures, which may result in a lack of planning and a loss of performative accuracy. In writing, by contrast, language users have generally more time to see their pre-planning through to the end before they set pen to paper, which gives them a greater chance of adjusting their production to linguistic preferences, phonological or other. In fact, if in experimental studies stress shift is so little measurable in speaking (cf. section 2.1.3 above), but

The phonology ofwritten language

51

manifest in listeners evaluating language production post hoc, the effectiveness of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation might be argued to depend on the time a language user has to implement it. 5 An extreme case of premeditated and rhythmically accomplished written language is the artificially contrived language of verse. Thus, we may hypothesize that phonological preferences require a sufficiently low rate of delivery to manifest themselves clearly. It seems possible, moreover, that the maximum speed at which a phonological preference can be implemented depends on the scope of the preference in question: influences on the morphological makeup of words can be considered to be restricted to a relatively low level of processing, while influences on the syntactic structure of phrases and sentences will be argued to span a larger distance and therefore to take more time. These ideas will be elaborated in more detail in section 6.3, introducing spreading-activation models which allow us to model speech production in real time. On impressionistic grounds, Sievers (1912: 80-81) argues that authors enganged in a writing process are implicitly aware of the prosodic aspects of their production, though they only possess insufficient means of encoding them in the resultant graphic representation. In addition, Sievers assumes that readers reconstruct these prosodic features, even in silent reading. Similarly, Slowiaczek and Clifton (1980: 573) and Rayner and Pollatsek (1989: 216, 443) report introspective judgements to the effect that in silent reading the majority of people hear their own inner voice pronouncing the words that their eyes perceive. Significantly, this "subvocal speech" does not seem to be delivered in a monotone, but includes prosodic aspects. The ideas expressed by these authors remain confined to mere speculation based on shared intuitions. In the remainder of this section, some relevant results of psycholinguistic research will be outlined that provide an insight into the relationship between the spoken and written modes of language processing. Since reliable evidence on the connection of speech and writing is as yet scarce and hard to come by, some suggestive results on the connection between hearing and reading will be adduced as well. Naucler (1983: 596-597) describes three hypothetically possible models of the relationship between a meaning that is to be expressed and its spoken and written form. The dependence model sketched in (1 a) assumes that the meaning is first encoded in (subvocal) speech, as in normal speaking, and the speech is then graphically coded as writing. The independence model in (1b) sees speaking and writing as two completely separate processes, directly related to the meaning. Finally, the interdependence model in (1 c) discerns a trilateral relationship insofar as both speech and writing have a direct link to the meaning they transport but are also interdependent.

52

(1)

Methodology

a. dependence Meaning

/

Speech

Writing

b. independence

c. interdependence

Meaning

~

Speech

Writing

Meaning /

~ ""'-

Speech

Writing

The cumulative evidence provided by Naucler (1978, 1983) and Berg (1997) suggests that the interdependence model is the one which comes closest to reality. Naucler (1978: 11-12) finds that exactly the same linguistic units, namely phonetic features, phonemes and morphemes, play a role both in speech and writing. In a later paper (Naucler 1983: 596-597), evidence from slips of the tongue, slips of the pen and aphasic errors leads her to limit these conclusions somewhat in favour of a restricted amount of interdependence between speech and writing. Accordingly, both processes share an underlying level which serves as a mediator and contains abstract phonetic, phonological or/and semantic information. Naucler finds that skilled writers can take a direct route from meaning to writing, just as practised readers can take a direct route in the reverse direction and dispense with phonological mediation. Berg (1997: 687, 691) comes to a parallel result on the basis of a collection of slips of the tongue and the pen: the representation underlying written language is impoverished as compared to the representation underlying spoken language, and the degree to which writers rely on phonology correlates negatively with their degree of writing experience. It may, however, be argued that if Berg finds a considerable independence of writing from the phonology of spoken language, this may simply be due to the fact that he uses a corpus of slips of the pen produced by himself, and that he is a practised writer. A more representative corpus might have led him to postulate a more direct relationship between speaking and writing. This is what can actually be concluded from Aitchison and Todd's (1982) study. The authors find (1982: 192-193) that while fast readers may by-pass an auditory image stage, in writing there is no evidence that the intermediate auditory stage is ever omitted. Evidence for the intermediate auditory stage in writing comes from slips of the pen, such as the confusion of homonyms (there spelled their, made spelled maid), phonetic spellings (searched spelled surched) and assimilation phenomena (linked to spelled linke to). In sum, speaking and writing seem to be interconnected by a more or less abstract shared phonological representation and to a degree that depends on the proficiency of the writer. Unfortunately, research on the psychology of writing is as yet little advanced. More insightful findings are available from the study of reading, and since the present work assumes

The phonology ofwritten language

53

that the functional constraints on the phonological form of language take effect in language perception as well, the psychology of reading allows for careful extrapolations bearing on the issue. Patterson and Coltheart (1987: 439-442; cf. also Brown and Besner 1987) make the case that phonological representations must play a role in silent reading because the comprehension of written language immediately and automatically activates all representations connected with a certain item, including not only orthographic, semantic and syntactic information, but also phonological information. A theory of reading would be overcomplicated if a specific representation (e.g. the phonological one) was to be excluded in a reading task because a decision about which representations are relevant in a particular situation and which are not would require an additional selection process involving a surplus of processing expense. In a similar way, the psycholinguists argue, readers pay more attention to their inner voice in difficult reading tasks than in easy tasks. The reason is that the phonological representation can be stored by a process of subvocal rehearsal. Thus, phonological information is maintained in a short-term memory that functions as an interface between orthographic input and parsing procedures, which is particularly useful in complex processing tasks (cf. also Baddeley, Vallar, and Wilson 1987). By extension, unpractised readers can be expected to have more recourse to the phonological form of the written text. The experimental results described in Treiman and Chafetz (1987) and Fodor (2002) suggest that phonological coding plays a paramount role in the comprehension of written language. In particular, Fodor (2002: 116129) provides compelling empirical evidence in favour of the hypothesis that in silent reading, the processor projects default prosodic contours on the incoming graphemic signal, which may demand time-consuming reanalyses when these expectations are thwarted. A series of experiments conducted by Bader (1998) on silent reading are especially relevant in the present context since they have an immediate bearing on the importance of rhythm. His findings can be illustrated with the following pairs of partially ambiguous sentences (cf. Bader 1998: 37): (2)

a. Zu mir hat Maria gesagt, dafJ man nur ihr Geld beschlagnahmt hatte. b. Zu mir hat Maria gesagt, dafJ man Qusschliefllich ihr Geld beschlagnahmt hatte. To me has Maria said that one only her (poss.) money confiscated had. 'Maria told me that only her money had been confiscated.'

54

(3)

Methodology

a. Zu mir hat Maria gesagt, daft man nur ihr Geld anvertraut hatte. b. Zu mir hat Maria gesagt, daft man tiusschliefllich ihr Geld anvertraut hatte. To me has Maria said that one only her (dative) money entrusted had. 'Maria told me that only she had been entrusted with money.'

The two focus particles nur and ausschlieftlich are semantically similar. The contrast between the examples in (2) and (3) is that the verb beschlagnahmen is monotransitive, while anvertrauen is ditransitive. Therefore, it is the main verb towards the end of the sentence which disambiguates the function of ihr: possessive determiner of the accusative object Geld in (2) or pronominal dative object in (3). Bader's study rests on the assumption that the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation determines the comprehension of temporarily ambiguous sentences in reading. Thus, Bader maintains, the tendency to adopt an alternating rhythm leads readers to expect the absence of stress on the pronoun ihr following the stressed monosyllable nur, but the presence of stress following the initially stressed trisyllable ausschlieftlich, which in turn leads to an interpretation of ihr as an (unstressed) possessive determiner after nur, but as a (stressed) dative object after ausschlieftlich. This parsing strategy leads to measurable garden path effects in sentences of types (2b) and (3a), which call for a time-consuming prosodic re-analysis. Bader (1998: 5) explains this as a corollary of the inner speech that is implicated in reading and that comprises both the inner voice we hear when reading and subvocalizations, i.e. muscle movements of the speech organs that tend to accompany reading. In sum, the evidence in favour of the relevance of phonological representations in reading is fairly convincing as far as it goes, and the more creative and presumably more cognitively demanding activity of writing can a fortiori be expected to involve phonological information at least to the same degree, even though psycholinguistic evidence is more ambiguous in this domain. In an interactive model of activation flow in language processing, this state of affairs is in fact the only conceivable one, considering that this framework predicts that if any unit in the system is activated, it unfailingly activates all connected units in turn. Plausibly, the (direct or indirect) connections between the pronounced and written representations of one and the same item are extremely strong. Therefore the present study rests on the premise that the processes involved in speaking and writing are largely parallel and that regularities detected in written corpora can safely be assumed to hold for spoken language as well. Though the currently available knowledge of these processes is far from satisfactory, the results

Concordance software and search procedures

55

of the corpus analyses suffice to buttress the thesis that phonological preferences do play a role in written texts. Even so, if larger spoken corpora were available, the empirical analyses should be re-done and the results compared. Potential differences might display a stronger effect of phonological tendencies either in spoken or in written language. The literature suggests that there may be individual differences in the importance of phonology in reading and writing (cf. also Fodor 2002: 129). These factors may be an additional determinant mediating the interaction between phonology and grammar, but have been left out of consideration in this study. It is unclear whether the fact that novelists, dramatists and journalists, who have authored most of the texts constituting the corpus, are professional writers influences the results in a way to mask phonological effects that might manifest themselves more strongly in the production of less pracised writers. Problems like these are a topic for further research (cf. the relevant remarks in the outlook, section 7.2).

3.3.

Concordance software and search procedures

The concordances from which the data of the present study are drawn have been produced using the Wordsmith Tools software, version 3.00.00, produced by Mike Scott for Oxford University Press. Thanks to the cooperation of Chadwyck-Healey Inc. and the work of several colleagues involved in the Paderborn research project, the historical databases (EEPF, ECF, NCF, EPD), the BNC and the British newspapers have been made accessible in a format compatible with Wordsmith Tools. Any corpus analysis involves a number of methodological problems that may lead to distortions of the results. As far as possible, these difficulties have been anticipated and obviated. The following measures have been taken: - For the historical corpora in particular, all conceivable spelling variants were ascertained, partly using the Wordlist function of Wordsmith Tools or the keyword browse indices of the Chadwyck-Healey software, partly drawing on the spellings listed in the OED 2 (1994). - Whenever a proximity search was carried out, a wider distance between search words and context words was allowed than would have been necessary in order to capture all examples separated by excess spaces or corpus-internal codes as are inserted, for example, in the texts of the Helsinki Corpus. - In the lists of concordance entries, care has been taken to exclude all examples deriving from poems, songs or other versified passages that are occasionally interspersed in the prose since these artificially metri-

56

Methodology

fied texts would distort the results with regard to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. If, in the historical corpora or the newspapers, the contexts of two hits showed exactly the same wording, possibly with some orthographic differences, the later of the two hits was discounted to avoid the inclusion of doublets that are merely due to word-by-word copying of one author by another. - In some cases, more recent texts quote sentences from earlier published works. This is particularly frequent in the newspapers. The BNC imaginative prose section includes a non-negligible list of rewrites of historical novels or novels that are set in earlier centuries. Both types tend to intentionally employ an antiquated language and thus to diverge from the usage of their respective periods. Whenever this was noticed, the examples concerned were excluded. All concordance entries were checked manually to ensure that the lists included only such examples as were relevant to the study. In cases where more than a single line of context was required to disambiguate the example, the corresponding functions of the retrieval software were exploited. While minor inadequacies cannot be completely excluded, it is hoped that these precautions are sufficient to render the analyses reliable and replicable. For economy of exposition, spelling variants, search expressions and excluded examples will usually not be specified for individual analyses. Suffice it to say that greatest care has been taken in every single study described in the empirical part of this book.

3.4.

Tests of statistical significance

The exposition of the results in Chapters 4 and 5 makes use of diagrammatic visualizations of statistical data that combine visual accessibility with information about the absolute numbers of examples on which the diagrams are based. These numbers represent tokens, not types, throughout the presentation. The distribution of the variants compared is generally given as percentages of the total number of occurrences in the category and corpus or corpus subsection under consideration. This way of presenting the results is the easiest to calculate and interpret. Moreover, it has been shown to reflect linguistic variation and change just as well as more sophisticated methods (cf. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg 2003: 214217). Distributions that look convincing to the eye need not necessarily be reliable if the absolute number of examples is too low, or vice versa, minor

Tests ofstatistical significance

57

deviations may be significant even though relative values differ by only a few percentage points because the sample size is so large as to license certain conclusions. To distinguish such cases, the chi-square test has been applied as a test of statistical significance to the central distinctions made in the diagrams, and its results accompany the discussion of the results in the form of endnotes. As far as the comparison between distributions of certain characteristics in different sets of examples is concerned, this test is the most commonly used not only in corpus linguistics. It compares the difference between the actual frequencies that are observed in the corpus and those that would be expected if no factor other than chance hat been operating to affect the frequencies. The closer the expected frequencies are to the observed frequencies, the more likely it is that the observed frequencies are a product of chance. By contrast, the greater the difference between the two, the more likely it is that the observed frequencies are influenced by some systematic factor (cf. McEnery and Wilson 2001: 84-85). The advantages of the chi-square test lie in the fact that it does not presuppose that the data are normally distributed (which is often not the case with linguistic data) and that it is relatively sensitive, at least when large sample sizes are concerned. With small sample sizes, the test becomes unreliable, so that in the present study it is not applicable if the expected frequency of a variant in a specific context falls below the critical value of five instances. In such cases, the conclusions drawn from the corpus analyses are at best suggestive, but the accumulation of evidence pointing in the same direction can be taken to lend credence even to statistically unsatisfactory results. A further advantage of the test is that it can be carried out using the chi-square function of the Excel calculation software. The results of the chi-square function of Excel were occasionally double-checked using the professional statistics software package SPSS and were identical in all cases. The chi-square test has been applied as a test of fit between the respective frequencies of n different grammatical variants in m different contexts. In the majority of the analyses, there are no more than two variants that play a role (n = 2), but there may be more than two contexts (m :::: 2). Unless stated otherwise, the chi-square tests compare the contexts pairwise. That means that the actual value A Vij obtained for one of the grammatical variants (variant i) in one of the contexts (context}) is compared to the value that would be expected if the variant was equally frequent in both contexts. The expected value EVij for each variant i in context} is the frequency we would predict if the context remained without an effect on the distribution of the variants under disucssion. It can be obtained by multiplying the total of both variants in context} by the percentage of the same

58

Methodology

variant in the total of both contexts. The chi-square value by means of the following formula:

(4)

v A"

(AVy _E~)2 2 __ ~~ L..J L..J i~l j~l

E~j

(j)

is calculated

(cf. Bortz 1993: 147-149)

In case more than two contexts are compared at a time, the calculation applies analogically, but the results of the formula have to be treated differently since a higher number of contexts leads to a higher number of degrees of freedom (dj). The adequate number of degrees of freedom is determined according to the following formula: (5)

df= (n -1)' (m - 1)

(cf. McEnery and Wilson 2001: 85)

This procedure makes it possible to verify the extent of the skewing between two (or more) different contexts. It is preferable to a more global procedure which would compare all contexts in one single application of the test, since it is sometimes the case that only one context deviates from all the others, while the others exhibit no significant differences. In a global chi-square calculation (frequently used in other quantitative studies), these distinctions would be unrecognizeable. Excel's chi-square function outputs the probability value p, which designates the probability with which the hypothesis that the distribution of the variants is dependent on the context is erroneous. Thus, a p value close to 0 means that a difference between the distributions in the context investigated and in the total is very significant, i.e. it is very unlikely to be due to chance; a value close to 1 means that it is almost certainly due to chance (cf. McEnery and Wilson 2001: 85). The interval between 1 and 0 is a continuum, but conventionally, a cut-off point is defined which is taken to be the difference between a 'significant' and an 'insignificant' result. In linguistics (as in most other fields) this is normally taken to be a value of p = 0.05; i.e. the probability with which the hypothesis is erroneously adopted is equal to or lower than 5 percent. Probability values of equal to or less than 0.05 (written as p :::; 0.05) are assumed to be 'significant', whereas those greater than 0.05 are not (cf. McEnery and Wilson 200 I: 85). Values of equal to or less than 0.01 are considered as 'highly significant', and such of equal to or less than 0.001 as 'very highly significant'. The endnotes giving the statistical test results contain three sets of data: first, the result of the chi-square test formula et), second, the number of degrees of freedom (dj), and third, the resultant error probability (P). In addition, significant p values are marked by one asterisk, highly significant

Tests ofstatistical significance

59

p values by two asterisks, and very highly significant p values by three asterisks. Cases where the chi-square test yields a p value that is not sig-

nificant are indicated by n.s.; such where it is not applicable due to the lack of examples in at least one of the contexts investigated are marked by n. a. At this point it needs to be said again that statistical significance is no safeguard against erroneous conclusions. Whether a distribution that passes the test of significance makes sense or not can only be decided by common sense and linguistic intuition. If large datasets are available, statistical significance is easily reached even if the skewing is too slight to be linguistically satisfying. On the other hand, conclusions drawn from small datasets can be insightful without reaching statistical significance. Despite the considerable collection of corpora that has been marshalled for the present work, the latter is the case in some of the analyses to be described below. In conclusion to this chapter, the reader should keep in mind a number of caveats that relate to all of the empirical analyses that follow. Sample sizes may sometimes turn out to be critical, the scarcity of spoken corpora and the total absence of spoken corpora for earlier centuries may turn out to limit the generalizability of some of the conclusions drawn from individual studies, the issue of the connection between spoken and written language is largely unresolved, the corpus searches themselves may be liable to oversights, and tests of statistical significance are useful, but may obscure rather than elucidate the linguistic significance of the findings. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the sheer amount of analogous results will lend plausibility to the conclusions reached. Having addressed these technical details, we now turn to the empirical studies of effects of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation on grammatical variation and change. The discussion will progress from attributive structures (Chapter 4), which represent a construction type that is particularly tightly knit, to a variety of verbal and adverbial structures, which are characterized by lower degrees of syntactic and prosodic integration (Chapter 5).

Chapter 4 Analysis of attributive structures

The Principle of Rhythmic Alternation has been shown to be a powerful determinant of grammatical variation and change in a number of previous studies (cf. section 2.2). What is more, we can expect the English language, being a prototypical stress-timed language, to provide a wealth of phenomena sensitive to the avoidance of stress lapses and, in particular, clashes (cf. section 2.1.2). The following two chapters are devoted to an investigation of the effects of the preference for rhythmic alternation at different synchronic stages of the English language and as a factor co-determining the direction of language development (cf. Bolinger 1965b: 139). As has been pointed out in section 2.2, there is evidence to suggest that the relative importance of the determinant may have been increasing since ME times as the English language more and more emancipated itself from the influence of the French superstratum and developed its stress-timing character. The fact that the following analyses largely focus on EModE and LModE as well as PDE, with only occasional detours into ME, should, however, not be taken as additional support for the thesis that OE and ME were not stress-timed languages. The present work provides evidence neither for nor against this thesis but rather restricts itself to those periods in the history of English for which appropriate and sufficiently large corpora are available. OE and ME corpora could of course have been used, but large portions of these older collections consist of verse. As this genre has, since the ME era, codified rhythm in the form of poetic metre, these sources do not represent adequate samples for analyses concerned with rhythm in naturalistic language use. Lass' (1997: 69) caveat against studying poetic language as a substitute for naturalistic data is particularly pertinent here.

4.1.

Introduction

In the present introduction, a few general points will be addressed. In the first place, a preliminary definition of the distinction between stressed and unstressed syllables and an indication of ways to distinguish them in a corpus will be provided. Secondly, the common core of the attributive structures grouped together in this first empirical chapter and the particular interest that qualifies them for a study of the Principle of Rhythmic Alter-

Introduction

61

nation will be elucidated. This will lead over to a first formulation of the main hypotheses that the present chapter serves to corroborate. Finally, the progression of the sections making up this chapter will be introduced and explained. Like in poetic metre, in most of the following analyses, a simple dichotomy between stressed and unstressed syllables was assumed and found to be sufficient. To implement this binary classification, a very simple scheme was adopted that largely adheres to the classification proposed in Kelly and Bock (1988: 392; cf. also Getty 2000: 42): in content words of the major lexical categories (nouns, verbs including modal auxiliaries, adjectives, adverbs), the syllable bearing primary lexical stress was considered stressed and all others unstressed. For the large number of studies revolving around attributive structures outlined in this chapter, this was usually satisfactory. Monosyllabic function words (determiners, pronouns, prepositions, contractible auxiliaries, the copula be, the negator not only when contractible) were in contrast generally considered unstressed, unless special conditions apply that will be introduced in Chapter 5. The more complex, plurisyllabic members of these categories were considered to bear stress on their strongest syllable (cf. Getty 2000: 42).1 In terms of the metrical grid convention introduced in section 2.1, we will thus be concerned only with the lowest metrical levels. In most representations these would be two levels: the syllable level, at which each syllable receives a mark, and the "basic beat level" in Selkirk's (1984: 19) terms, at which unstressed syllables are mark-less and stressed syllables receive a mark (which may be topped up by different column heights at the superior levels). Although the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation applies at all metrical levels (cf. section 2.1), a restriction to the lowest ones is common practice in studies of its effects, and there are good reasons for doing so. According to Selkirk (1984: 19), rhythmic alternation is most strictly obeyed at the basic beat level, which is why it will in the present work be informally referred to as the rhythmic level. While a binary division into stressed and unstressed syllables may seem overly simplistic in view of the complex prosodic structure of natural language, it will turn out to be an asset in the analysis of large corpora lacking prosodic annotations. On the one hand, rhythmic measures have to be applicable with a high degree of intersubjective certainty, which discourages any ad hoc stipulations about intermediate stress levels or higher-level prosody. On the other, the grammatical phenomena that will come under scrutiny will necessitate such an amount of descriptive detail that a finer differentiation of the rhythmic parameters would threaten to make the analyses inefficient and the results uninterpretable. What comes out all the more clearly is that even in this admittedly crude version, the alternation

62

Analysis ofattributive structures

between stressed and unstressed syllables has a considerable explanatory potential that helps to improve the accounts of many grammatical phenomena beyond what has so far been achieved. Before we turn our backs on the analysis of versified language for the remainder of this book, a quick glance at Tarlinskaya's (1984: 16,23) findings can help us focus our attention in the study of prose corpora. Tarlinskaya is able to demonstrate that attributive structures play a pivotal role in the construction of English verse lines. Adjectives in attributive function are often trochaic and occur tightly bound to the following nouns, which are usually initially stressed. As a consequence, the remaining parts of the verse line are arranged around the noun phrase and conformity with the poetic metre is achieved. If we take the idea seriously that the form of metrical texts is based on the phonological and prosodic characteristics of ordinary speech, which poetic language seeks to enhance and codify (cf. Kurylowicz 1975: 5; AlIen 1972: 73), we can expect noun phrases to be particularly critical structures in terms of the ideal of rhythmic alternation even in prose texts. In fact, Bolinger (1981: 35) observes that attributive structures have a tendency to form a tightly bound constituent with their nominal heads and to thereby lose some of their individuality as words. Strong additional support for the expectation that attributive structures will be a worthwhile object of study in the present context derives from a survey of the stress patterns of different types of content words in English. It is well-known that the majority of English nouns, whether native or loans, have their main stress on their initial syllable. A computation executed on the basis of Francis and Kucera's (1982) word lists, which provide the frequencies of word lemmas in a representative corpus of written English, can be adduced to substantiate this? The technical details of the calculation as well as the complete table on which it is based are given in the Appendix (table 3). Figures 2 and 3 summarize the results. Note that these data do not take into consideration the different lengths in terms of numbers of syllables of the nouns, adjectives and verbs. The focus is rather on the beginnings of words and on whether their initial syllables are stressed or unstressed. The data in figure 2 refer to types rather than tokens. They clearly show that nouns as well as adjectives and verbs are in their majority stressed on their initial syllables. This is most true of nouns, of which 78.8 percent (i.e. 788 out of the 1000 lemmas taken from the Francis and Kucera list) are initially stressed. 3 Crucially for our purposes, this entails that any material that precedes a noun in attributive position is very likely to cause a rhythmic problem if it carries a stress on its final syllable. The rhythmic situation becomes even more critical if we take into account the token frequency of nouns with the different stress patterns. This is done in figure 3,

Introduction

63

which refers to the same lemmas as the previous figure, but takes into consideration the frequency indices provided by Francis and Kucera. As a result, we obtain the likelihood with which a randomly selected token of a noun, adjective or verb in Francis and Kucera's database will be stressed on its first, second, third, etc. syllable. 4

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

.------------------~

primary stress on • first sy liable II1I1I second sy liable El third sy liable

o fourth sy liable

nouns

Figure 2.

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

verbs

The proportion of lemmas (type frequency) with different locations of the primary stress in the 1000 most frequent noun and verb lemmas and the 894 adjective lemmas in Francis and Kucera's (1982) word list

-,-------------------~

primary stress on • first sy liable II1I1I second sy liable II1I1I third sy llable

o fourth syllable

nouns

Figure 3.

adjectives

adjectives

verbs

The frequency of occurrence (token frequency) of nouns, adjectives and verbs according to the location of the primary stress in the 1000 most frequent noun and verb lemmas and the 894 adjective lemmas in Francis and Kucera's (1982) word list

64

Analysis ofattributive structures

In these data, the dominance of initial stress is reinforced for all three word classes. The figures warrant the conclusion that any token of a noun that we encounter in written language will be initially stressed in as much as 84.8 percent of the cases, which is equivalent to the proportion of threatening stress clashes if a stressed syllable immediately precedes it in attributive position. This is due to the fact that those nouns that are either monosyllabic or plurisyllabic and have their stress on the initial syllable belong to the most frequently occurring nouns in the English lexicon. In a corpus of spoken English, we would expect the preponderance of initially stressed nouns to be even more marked. The next question is what this prototypical stress pattern of nouns implies for elements premodifying nouns in an attributive structure. We can straightforwardly predict that any attributive material that carries stress on its final syllable (the one which immediately precedes the noun) is likely to cause problems in the implementation of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. Attributive material par excellence is provided by the adjective class. For this reason, stress location in adjectives is of considerable interest in this context. From table 3 in the Appendix we can deduce the probability with which adjectives bear final stress. For present purposes, this category includes monosyllabic adjectives. These figures run to 26.3 percent of the lemmas and a considerable 40.2 percent of all adjective tokens. This high proportion is accounted for by the high frequency of monosyllabic adjectives. Prototypical adjectives can of course occur in attributive as well as postnominal or predicative position (for an interesting exception, see section 4.3). This syntactic distinction makes an important difference in terms of rhythm and will therefore be capitalized on in all of the studies in this chapter. When used as attributes, we can now predict that, in view of the initial stress of most nouns, monosyllabic adjectives and adjectives with a final stress are likely to produce infractions of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation (e.g. a worse case, ?an ashamed girl). In contrast, when used in other, non-attributive positions, adjectives are typically followed by a pause or an unstressed function word (e.g. the case became worse, she was so ashamed that she blushed).5 Minkova (1990: 332; 1991: 180) suggests that this situation has been exacerbated in the history of English: she argues that English attributive structures have been tending towards dysrhythmy since ME times, a trend that she ascribes to the loss of inflectional schwas in attributive adjectives which rendered many high-frequency adjectives monosyllabic. Attributive structures can therefore be expected to provide the rhythmically most critical structures in the sentence and promise to be a particularly fruitful ground for the study of effects of rhythmic alternation. Thus, in all of the analyses that are to follow, attributive uses

Introduction

65

of adjectival material are foregrounded; but to make the data stand out the more clearly, postnominal and predicative uses will frequently be exploited as a foil to which attributive uses can be usefully compared. The main hypotheses to be pursued in this chapter can thus be stated as follows. The influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation should manifest itself most clearly in structures consisting of a noun and premodifying material since these are rhythmically (and syntactically) closely linked. More precisely, it should manifest itself in the avoidance of structures in which an initially stressed noun is preceded by attributive material with a stressed final syllable. The nature of these avoidance strategies will provide the main subject of all the studies presented in this chapter. Crucially, it will be shown that the preference for alternating strong and weak syllables impacts on the grammatical structure of attributive structures, including the presence or absence of the comparative suffix -er and of the participial suffixes -en and -ed, the position of the degree modifier quite with regard to the indefinite article and the order of pairs of attributive adjectives, the licensing of a-adjectives like ashamed and aware and of adjectives negated by not in prenominal position. Besides such grammatical avoidance effects, it will be shown that the elimination of stress clashes is also aided by certain rhythmic rules that depend for their application on the presence of additional prenominal material that goes beyond a single unmodified attributive adjective. Such extensions are provided, for instance, by prefixes attached to the adjective (e.g. unaware, unhappy), compounds of which the adjective is the second member (e.g. fashion-aware, hand-knit), or adverbs that modify the adjective (e.g. socially aware, dimly lit). These structures will be argued to take care of the rhythmic inconvenience and are therefore accorded an important place in the following discussion (cf. Bolinger 1981: 35). They will be assigned to a third category besides single unmodified attributive uses and non-attributive uses of adjectives. Moreover, they will be shown to counterbalance to a considerable extent the trend towards unrhythmic single attributes alluded to by Minkova. In fact, it will be suggested that since the trend towards monosyllabicity in English is diametrically opposed to the needs of rhythmic well-formedness, the influence of rhythmic alternation manifests itself all the more noticeably in the morphology and syntax, in particular of noun phrases. All in all, this state of affairs promises to yield a set of interesting interactions between rhythmic and grammatical requirements in the domain of attributive structures. While revolving around the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation and its effects, the approach adopted in the present book is functional and multifactorial. For the following studies, this implies that interactions of the principle with other factors will receive the due attention. Most of the

66

Analysis ofattributive structures

analyses will moreover integrate the synchronic and diachronic perspectives, which provide complementary parts of the picture that will be drawn of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation as a determinant of grammatical variation and change. The following sections are arranged roughly in order of increasing grammatical complexity of the attributive expression. The progression also follows the division into mainly morphological and mainly syntactic variation phenomena. In section 4.2, we begin by looking at the variation between only two single words (representing the same lexeme and grammatical category), namely the suppletive comparative worse and its redundantly suffixed variant worser. While worse(r) does not lend itself to premodifications of the kind introduced above, prefixation, compounding and adverbial premodification play an important role in connection with a-adjectives like ashamed and aware, which have been referred to in the literature as 'predicative-only' adjectives. In the context of these two examples, the central importance of premodification will be illustrated (section 4.3). Attributive and other uses will be shown to present a significant contrast in this respect since postnominal and predicative uses in general involve little threat of a stress clash. Having established this difference, the following analyses will no longer distinguish between premodified and unpremodified nonattributive uses, whereas this distinction will continue to play a major role in connection with attributive uses. This is true, for instance, of the variable past participles studied in section 4.4. The examples discussed include three strong verbal participles that variably drop their -en-suffix, and two weak verbal participles that vary between a syllabic and a contracted form of the -ed-suffix. These analyses will capitalize on the distinction between simple and complex attributive uses to establish the degree to which an originally rhythmically motivated distribution has become fixed as a grammatical rule. In section 4.5, the focus shifts from morphological variants to rhythmic influences on the syntax of attributive structures. The first example (section 4.5) concerns the degree modifier quite, which, when modifying an attributive adjective, can occur either in the position before or after the indefinite article. It will be argued that this variability is exploited to avoid stress clashes with the adjective that is modified. The second example (section 4.6) also deals with the relative order of two elements in a complex attributive structure. The study concerns the sequencing of mono- and disyllabic colour adjectives in coordinations and once more highlights the particular sensitivity of attributive uses. A final example of highly intricate attributive uses of adjectives is analyzed in section 4.7. While some attributive adjectives can be directly negated by not, many others are not licensed in this construction or require the intercalation of additional filler words as stress clash buffers. It will be argued

Worse vs. worser (ram EModE to nineteenth-century English

67

that this phenomenon constitutes one of the most far-reaching and nearcategorical manifestations of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. Before we turn to the first analysis, it should be made clear once more that the selection of phenomena is by no means exhaustive. The different types of attributive constructions exemplified here can be taken to be a representative subset of the actual range of phenomena. They have been selected here on account of their accessibility in written corpora and their strong results. There is no doubt that the analyses presented in this chapter could be multiplied to an extent that these analyses can only foreshadow. What unifies the phenomena assembled here (besides their focus on attributive structures) is their susceptibility to the influence of the preference for rhythmic alternation, which will be at the centre of the discussion.

4.2.

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English

The alleged universality of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation is no safeguard against its loss of influence if other factors come to prevail. This is clearly illustrated by the case of the suppletive adjectival and adverbial comparative worse and its partly regularized competitor worser, which is equipped with a redundant comparative suffix and thus with an additional unstressed syllable. Knorrek (1938: 43), Graband (1965: 192) and Arnold (1970: 285) affirm that the second syllable of worser affords a particular advantage in attributive position, where it can serve to avoid a stress clash (cf. also Stroheker 1913: 49). Arnold (1970: 295) gives quantitative evidence that in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century English, worser was significantly overrepresented preceding nouns. Though rhythmic considerations clearly favour the form worser, the development of the form involves a variety of additional factors. The origin of the form, though etymologically unjustified, is easily explained and has an exact parallel in the comparative form lesser. Deriving from the OE sources wyrsa and liissa, the forms worse and less lacked the -er-suffix characteristic of English comparatives (cf. Arnold 1970: 284; Knorrek 1938: 43; Graband 1965: 186, 189; Mustanoja 1960: 281). They owe their redundant suffixation to a pressure for system congruity, exerted by the general structural properties that are internalized by language users and thus represent the norms of the system (cf. Arnold 1970: 285; cf. also Knorrek 1938: 43; Erades 1963: 234; Graband 1965: 191).6 These "systemdefining structural properties" (WurzeI1987: 65) are based on the quantitatively prevailing forms in the system. Thus, the "dominant paradigm structure" (Wurzel 1987: 79) of comparatives involves the suffixation in -er. The comparative worse consequently belongs to an abnormal and unstable

68

Analysis ofattributive structures

class, which can for this reason be predicted to be absorbed by the normal, suffix-containing class. Apart from system congruity, worse violates two more of the five naturalness principles adduced by Wurzel (1987: 92; cf. also Wheeler 1993; McMahon 2000: 131). One is the requirement for constructional iconicity, which postulates that unmarked categories should be coded as non-feature-bearing, whereas marked categories should be coded as feature-bearing. Worse and less however belong to the (marked) comparative category, but are morphologically indistinct from the unmarked positive category. A further naturalness principle is that enforcing uniformity and transparency. In other words, its effect can be subsumed under the formula 'one meaning - one form'. This maxim, also known as the principle of biuniqueness, isomorphism or uniform encoding, favours an ideal one-to-one correlation between form and meaning. Bolinger phrases it as follows: "the natural condition of language is to preserve one form for one meaning, and one meaning for one form" (1977b: x; cf. also DressIer et aI. 1987: 7, 17, 21 note 8; Mayerthaler 1988: 26; McMahon 1994: 86). From this point of view, ideally, one form unequivocally encodes one grammatical category, and one grammatical category is uniquely encoded in one formative (cf. also Mayerthaler 1987: 49; Wurzel 1987: 92; Brinton and Stein 1995: 37; Anttila 2002: 210). Applied to our case, this means that the -er-suffix in adjectives should always encode the comparative and that comparatives should not be variously formed by either suffixation or suppletion but by a unique, unmistakable means. On another level, the 'one meaning - one form' principle also militates against the maintenance of both forms, worse and worser, to encode the comparative of bad(ly). One of the variants ought to be eliminated since both convey the same meaning (cf. Amold 1970: 295V On the basis of what has just been said, the form worse would be expected to give way to the form worser, which has a greater naturalness, system conformity and rhythmic well-formedness. However, the latter has an array of factors against it and thus shares the destiny of other instances of multiple gradation. Double comparatives like betterer and more better and double superlatives like leastest and most basest were frequent in EModE well into the seventeenth century and served as a means of intensification and emotional emphasis (cf. Franz 1986: 210; Rohr 1929: 18, 90; Markus 1988: 119). In the written language, they largely succumbed to a pressure for standardization that had begun to play a role in English as early as the end of the fourteenth century and redoubled its force in the seventeenth and even more so in the eighteenth century (cf. Lass 1994: 81; Stein 1997: 37-40). The aims of language purists, who promoted the standardization, can be characterized as a pursuit of intellectualization, rationality, regularization, uniformization (the 'one meaning - one form' princi-

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English

69

pIe became an ideology), at the expense of expressive and subjective elements. Dialectal language was no longer conceived of as a regional variant, but as a mark of social inferiority (cf. Stein 1997: 37-40; Baugh and Cable 1993: 251; Arnold 1970: 283). Not astonishingly, double comparison fell victim to the incriminations of prescriptive grammarians because it provides a showcase example of linguistic redundancy.s Redundancies run counter to a standardization principle that Stein (1997: 38) captures in the formula "No double surface realization". Doubling was considered illogical and expressive of non-propositional meanings and thus had to be avoided in the written standard. This avoidance also extended to other redundancies such as resumptive pronouns, double negation, double relatives, double auxiliaries, expressions like from whence, etc. (cf. Stein 1997: 38-43). All of these forms remain in vigour in dialects to the present day and are used in the literary standard to characterize nonstandard speakers or to achieve joking or archaizing effects (cf. Franz 1986: 211, 230-231; Rohr 1929: 91,94; Knorrek 1938: 44; Arnold 1970: 292-293; Biber et al. 1999: 525). However, the comparatives lesser and worser, being less conspicuous than combinations of synthetic and analytic gradation, were retained longer in the standard (cf. Knorrek 1938: 44): while lesser has established itself with a different meaning from less (cf. Franz 1986: 211; Erades 1963: 234; Arnold 1970: 295), the form worser partly made it into the literary standard in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, just to disappear again in the eighteenth century like the other double comparatives before it (cf. Rohr 1929: 93; Arnold 1970: 295; Graband 1965: 195).9 The combination of the standardization pressures bearing on redundant forms in EModE and in particular LModE on the one hand and the advantages weighing in favour of the double comparative worser on the other promises to give rise to multifaceted interactions in the distribution of the irregular form worse and its regularized counterpart. A set of conflicts is pre-programmed on different levels. On the sociolinguistic level, we are witnessing a "split grammar situation" (cf. Stein 1987: 428,431) between the written standard enforced by grammarians, guided by logic and knowledge of word histories, and the spoken language, orientated towards rhythmic well-formedness and regularization (cf. Graband 1965: 195), which is mirrored on a language-internal, functional level in a conflict between the 'one meaning - one form' principle striving to eliminate variable realizations of the same meaning, and the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation that is best satisfied if it can choose from rhythmically distinct variants. In a pilot study (Schliiter 2001: 194-199) of the occurrences of the form worser in the quotation corpus of the OED 2 (1994), two kinds of insights were gained: first, worser was most frequent in the sixteenth and seven-

70

Analysis ofattributive structures

teenth centuries, and second, its replacement by worse is most likely to lead to a stress clash in attributive position. Schliiter (2001: 199-206) also provides a detailed study of the distribution of worse and worser in the EEPF corpus. For the present study, this database has been extended considerably through the inclusion of the ECF and NCF corpora, from which some late occurrences of the double comparative could be culled. Furthermore, the coverage was improved through the inclusion of the dramatic works contained in the EPD collection for the corresponding periods. As a result, we obtain a much more complex picture of the evolution of the form worser in the course of four centuries. Figure 4 shows the frequency per one million words of the redundantly marked comparative in the four chronological sections that were chosen for the present study. 12

,-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~._~

-i3 11 SIO ::: 9

dramatic prose -e--non-dramatic prose

s::

:5 '8

8 7

... 6

g,

5

3.42 (6.7 million)

(/)

8s:: 4 ~ 3 u

u

1.19

2

3;h···· •...."•. :::~(6.

o 1

o +-~~~

7

~--,-~~~__~,-_~~.;0~.2~;:-;:::~_€)0.53

EEPF + EPD 1518-1600

Figure 4.

2.51 (13.1 million)

Cl million) -(39~7mlllion) ECF + EPD NCF + EPD 1701-1780 1781-1903

0.3

EEPF + EPD 1601-1700

The frequency of worser per 1 million words in the EEPF, ECF and NCF corpora (non-dramatic prose) compared to the corresponding sections of the EPD corpus (dramatic prose)IO

The graph makes it clear that the frequency of worser is highest in the sixteenth century and reaches a minimum in the eighteenth century, the heyday of the influence of prescriptive grammar. At the beginning and at the end of the period studied, the drama corpus displays a considerably higher incidence of worse than the non-dramatic prose and never avoids the form as much as the latter in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the absence of any spoken corpora of earlier forms of English, this type of written-to-be-spoken language is as close as one can get to the colloquial usage of the day. It may thus be assumed that double comparison is a largely oral

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English

71

feature. Even so, its presence in non-dramatic fictional prose, which can largely be classified as part of the literary standard language, is all but negligible in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Before we embark on a contrastive analysis of the contexts in which worser competes with the standard variant worse, some restrictions have to be made. Since worser features only in the works of a few authors in each subperiod, and if multiple works by the same author are included in the database, worser is often found in only some of them, all works that do not contain the form were excluded from the following analysis. This leaves us with 15 works of the sixteenth century, 32 of the seventeenth century, 8 of the eighteenth century and 37 of the nineteenth century. As a consequence, while figure 4 is representative of the language of the entire database, the focus is now restricted to a few selected works in which the form under consideration is overrepresented. This distortion however enables us to discern certain distributional patterns that would otherwise be disappearingly subtle. Among the resultant hits for worse and worser, those that occurred in one of the poems or songs occasionally interspersed in the prose texts that constitute the corpus were eliminated since the hypothesis to be pursued here concerns the influence of rhythmic alternation, which is artificially enhanced and codified by metrical considerations. The following analysis pinpoints the form worser, aiming to show that the second, unstressed syllable that the redundant comparative suffix affords is exploited for the sake of rhythmic alternation. Thus, we first concentrate on attributive uses, which combine a high potential for stress clashes with a high level of syntactic and prosodic integration. Compare the examples in (l a-d) from the EPD corpus. (1)

a. The devil himselfcould not have put it into your head to do a worse thing than this. (Joanna Baillie: The Tryal, 1798; EPD) b. It is true, but the worser part ofwickednesse, is the perseuerance therein. (James Mabbe: The Spanish Bawd, 1631; EPD) c. What worse disgrace did ever King sustain, than I by this luxurious couple have? (Anon.: The Thracian Wonder, 1590; EPD) d. Ohfilthy Fellow, that's a worser abuse than any has been yet put upon me, for he's the veriest Fop in Nature. (Thomas D'Urfey: The Richmond Heiress, 1693; EPD)

The added stress marks indicate the rhythmic constellations in these attributive structures. In the metrical grid representation, the highlighted portions of examples (1 a-d) come out as is shown in (2a-d).

72

Analysis ofattributive structures

(2)

a.

x x X

b.

X X

X X

[worse thing] c.

X X X

X

x X

[worser part] d.

X

X

X

X

X

[worse disgrace]

X X

X X

X

X

[worser abuse]

In example (2a), the standard comparative form worse is followed by a monosyllabic noun and thus gives rise to a sequence of two stressed syllables, a stress clash. In standard PDE, worse is the only possible option and initial stress on nouns is the rule so that there is no way around a clash of stresses. The insertion of a compensatory pause, which is a likely avoidance strategy in other constellations, is awkward in closely knit noun phrases like this. However, the introduction of the comparative suffix, as long as it is available, offers a convenient stress clash buffer and makes the attribute + noun sequence in example (2b) much more rhythmic. With noninitially stressed nouns, the rhythmically ideal constellations are the reverse: while the use of the monosyllabic standard variant worse before a noninitially stressed noun as in (2c) promotes rhythmic alternation, the use of the redundantly suffixed form as in (2d) slightly overshoots the mark. Yet, the resulting stress lapse must be considered a lesser evil than a stress clash. Figure 5 displays the results of the analysis of the dramatic and nondramatic prose texts according to four subperiods of approximately a century each. Importantly, it only refers to single unmodified attributive uses of worse and worser; complex attributive and non-attributive uses are discussed separately below. In this figure, the dark segments at the bottom of the columns (the black and the hatched black-and-grey areas) represent the share of worser in the works under consideration, whereas the remaining lighter area (the light grey and the hatched white-and-grey segments) represent the share of worse. As can easily be seen, the total percentage of worser declines from 60 percent in the sixteenth century and 39 percent in the seventeenth century to a mere 6 percent (2 occurrences) in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, the double comparative apparently rises once more to 28 percent of the attributive cases. Thus, the frequency changes of the form worser delineated in figure 4 are directly related to the degree to which the form is substituted by the standard variant worse.

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English • worser preceding an unstressed syllable EJ worse preceding a stressed syllable

73

l1li worser preceding a stressed syllable EJ worse preceding an unstressed syllable

100% 90% 80% 70% ~ 60%

1:: 50% ~ 40% Q)

0.-

30% 20% 10%

0%

Figure 5.

The distribution of the variants worse and worser and their rhythmic contexts in simple attributive uses in selected works of the EEPF, ECF, NCF and EPD corpora

In figure 5, a further distinction is made that cuts across the worserworse divide. Both hatched segments of each column refer to those cases in which the comparatives are followed by a noun stressed on its first (or only) syllable.) In other words, they represent potential loci for stress clashes. The size of the area concerned is remarkable: between 70 and 89 percent of the following nouns are initially stressed (thus confirming, by the way, the results obtained from the Francis and Kucera (1982) data for PDE displayed in figure 3). Crucially, the use of the redundantly suffixed form worser enables the authors to circumvent a more or less sizeable proportion of these threatening stress clashes. This proportion depends on the availability and acceptability of the form. As a result, in the four subperiods a residue of stress clashes remains that is equal to the hatched whiteand-grey segments in figure 5 and represents those cases in which worse precedes an initially stressed noun. In the sixteenth century, this concerns only 15 percent of the cases, since as many as eleven out of the 20 initially stressed nouns are preceded by disyllabic worser. In the seventeenth century, despite the decline of worser, stress clashes are still restricted to a minority of 44 percent of all cases. In the eighteenth century finally, worser yields up its resistance to standardization constraints and occurs only twice (once in a conversation in Francis Gentleman's Cupid's Revenge, 1772, and once in a private letter in Samuel Richardson's Clarissa,

74

Analysis ofattributive structures

1748). As a result of the avoidance of worser, the share of stress clashes rises to 78 percent - all but one of the cases involving initially stressed nouns. The data for the nineteenth century display a surprising revival of the form which had been subject to severe incriminations in the previous subperiod. A closer inspection of the examples shows that 5 of the 13 stem from the dramatic works in the database and that among the remaining 8, 4 also come from direct speech uttered in conversations between the characters. An extreme example where worser clearly serves as a nonstandard marker is the following (3). (3)

"Yo' know well, that a worser tyrant than e'er th' masters were says, 'Clem to death, and see 'em a' clem to death, ere yo ' dare go again th' Union. ' ... " (Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South, 1855;

NeE) This suggests that the apparent rise of the double comparative in the nineteenth century is not indicative of a renewed acceptance of the form in the written standard, but of the increasing importance of colloquial every-day language in the prose of the period. This can be taken as a bit of additional evidence for Biber and Finegan's (1989: 498-512) findings concerning the evolution of literary styles in seventeenth-, eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury fiction: they claim that texts from the two earlier centuries tended to be moderately or extremely literate, whereas the nineteenth century witnessed a transition towards more oral styles, which Biber and Finegan ascribe to the spread of literacy and the popularization of fictional prose. Before we turn to more data on the competition between worse and worser, it should be noted how well the two collaborate in attributive contexts to produce the maximum number of rhythmically advantageous structures. Figure 5 shows the percentage of cases with noninitially stressed nouns as plain segments above and below the hatched middle segments. It demonstrates that the redundantly marked form is relatively rare in these contexts compared to the standard variant. Even in the sixteenth century, when worser dominates in attributive uses, it occurs in only one out of six cases involving noninitially stressed nouns. As was argued in connection with examples (1 c-d) above, in these particular cases, worse conforms to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, while worser gives rise to a mild stress lapse, which is not exactly objectionable, but can be avoided through the use of the standard variant. Thus, the use of worser in attributive position is far from being an automatism but responds adaptively to different rhythmic conditions in its context. The results for attributive uses cannot be properly appreciated without a comparison to non-attributive contexts. These comprise a variety of syntac-

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English

75

tic functions that can be fulfilled by the suffixless as well as by the redundandy suffixed comparative. Example (4) is one of a handful of complex attributive structures and was excluded from the data for simple attributive uses in figure 5 since the comparative is followed by an unstressed and. Example (5) is also attributive, but the head noun is elided. Constructions of this kind therefore fall under the rubric of other than single attributive uses. Furthermore, there are cases in which worse or worser are nominalized as in (6), where they are predicative or postnominal as in (7) or (8), or adverbial as in (9). (4)

I counte these my Prymeroses to be ofthe worser and meaner sorte, by reason oftheir firste plantyng. (John Grange: The Golden Aphroditis, 1577; EEPF)

(5)

But in sooth Mr. Slope was pursuing Mrs. Bold in obedience to his better instincts, and the signora in obedience to his worser. (Anthony Trollope: Barchester Towers, 1857; NCF)

(6)

But no extremitie hath eternitie as the worlde turned to better, so this Wretche changed to worser: ... (William Warner: Pan his Syrinx, 1584; EEPF)

(7)

Suche is the madnesse ofmen, that they preferre newe things afore old, though they be worser. (Thomas Blage: A Schole of Wise Conceytes, 1569; EEPF)

(8)

"No! 'twas not a dog barking, nor it wasn't a wolf, nor it wasn't a tiger; but it was something ten million oftimes worser than either -; ... " (Frances Trollope: The Life and Adventures ofMichael Armstrong, 1840; NCF)

(9)

... ; but there I wentfor him to a justice ofpeace, and rode all out of the way, and did every thing in the world, and was used worser than a dog, and allfor the sake ofserving ofhim, ... (Fanny Burney: Evelina, 1778; ECF)

In most of the cases where worselworser is not immediately followed by a noun that it modifies, it is followed either by an unstressed function word or by a punctuation mark indicating a pause. 12 The above examples are representative in this respect. All in all, only 41 (4 percent) out of the 976 other uses found in the entire corpus are followed by a stressed syllable (e.g. reinforced predicative uses like worse still or adverbial uses fol-

76

Analysis ofattributive structures

lowed by an initially stressed verb like worse treated). Figure 6 shows how the suffixed and suffixless variants are distributed under these circumstances. • worser preceding an unstressed sy liable III worser preceding a stressed sy liable [2] worse

preceding a stressed syllable

Il!!!I worse

preceding an unstressed syllable

100% 90% 80% 70% -

~ 60%

'5

50%

1i

40%

8

30% 20% 10%

.39/404

0%

=5% ECF + EPD 1701-1780

Figure 6.

=10% NCF + EPD 178 I-I 903

The distribution of the variants worse and worser and their rhythmic contexts in other than single attributive uses in selected works of the EEPF, ECF, NCF and EPD corpora

In stark contrast to the single attributive uses in figure 5, other uses turn out to be much less precarious with regard to rhythmic alternation: the columns contain only small hatched segments representing cases with a following stressed syllable. These almost exclusively consist of the whiteand-grey area where stress clashes persist due to the use of the monosyllabic variant worse. The reason why worser does not occur in cases where a non-attributive comparative is followed by a stressed syllable can only be the scarcity of such cases. In all rhythmically uncritical cases, the standard variant worse is unobjectionable and selected in a vast majority of between 73 and 93 percent (the monochrome grey segments). In most residual cases where worser is selected nevertheless (the black segments), it gives rise to a stress lapse. As examples (4) to (9) demonstrate, the use ofworser would have been possible in all syntactic functions - not just the attributive ones. If worser is nevertheless much rarer than in single attributive uses, this is by hypothesis due to the rhythmic factor: the redundant suffix provides a

Worse vs. worser from EModE to nineteenth-century English

77

highly welcome stress clash buffer preceding the typically initially stressed nouns, but in other contexts it is preferably dispensed with. 13 In addition to the mere quantities, the chronology of the evolution of the double comparative is of considerable interest. Considering the more frequent non-attributive cases first, figure 6 shows that worser is fairly current in the sixteenth century (19 percent), but almost disappears in the seventeenth century (4 percent). In contrast, worser is not only more frequent in the single attributive uses portrayed in figure 5, but also takes longer to disappear: it is still present in more than a third of the cases in the seventeenth century and reaches its minimum only in the eighteenth century. Thus, its disappearance from the rhythmically favourable contexts is delayed by about a century in comparison to the unfavourable contexts, where it even antedates the massive influence of eighteenth-century prescriptive grammar. Of the 46 occurrences of worser in the nineteenth-century data accounting for the resurgence of the form in the latest subperiod, 33 come from the written-to-be-spoken language of the EPD corpus. Of the remaining 13 stemming from the NCF collection of fictional prose, all but one occur in direct speech. They are thus clearly recognizable as a sociolinguistic marker for fictional characters and not part of the literary standard employed in the main text (cf. Franz 1889: 230-231). This feature bears witness to the tendency to admit colloquial elements that, according to Biber and Finegan (1989: 498-512; see above), is characteristic of fictional prose in the nineteenth century. It furthermore indicates that the form worser must still have been vigorous in nineteenth-century spoken English, and we know that nonstandard PDE still uses it (cf. Franz 1986: 210; Rohr 1929: 18, 90; Markus 1988: 119). The fact that the rise of worser in the nineteenth-century data in figures 5 and 6 turns out to be steeper in the case of the single attributive uses than in the other uses moreover indicates that the selection of the alternants is - as it has always been - conditioned by the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. While rhythmic alternation and standardization indeed seem to be the main determinants in the distribution and evolution of the double comparative, there are a few side issues that have been raised in the secondary literature. It has been claimed that the double comparative worser carries a different meaning from the simple comparative. Graband (1965: 190), for one, alleges that double comparison (in a way similar to double negation) is used in order to strengthen the comparative meaning by adding to the body of the adjective that is compared. In view of the corpus data, the evidence in favour of this position is, however, very scant. If Graband was right, we would have to conclude - rather counterintuitively - that the attributive position generally carries a stronger comparative meaning than a

78

Analysis ofattributive structures

non-attributive context since it attracts a higher proportion of worser than non-attributive uses. Another kind of support for Graband's claim would be if worser occurred in juxtaposition to worse as a means of intensification. This is however true of no more than the three examples listed in (10a-e). (10) a. "Is she so very bad?" asked he. "Worse, much worser than I ever saw her before, " replied John. (Elizabeth Gaskell: Mary Barton, 1849; NCE) b. "Well, the worse pickle we was in, so much the worser in you not to help us, for you knowed where we was fast enough, ... " (Fanny Bumey: Evelina, 1778; ECE) c. "Close upon sixty, " replied Mrs. Raggles; "but, for all that, he'll leave worse behind him. " "There never was a worse but there was a worser," rejoined Nurse Waters. (Robert Bell: The Ladder ofGold, 1850; NCE) These examples also illustrate the fact that worser is more typical of spoken registers, which are known to have a stronger penchant for expressive and emphatic language. In fact, the drama corpus has been shown to have a higher proportion of double comparatives than the non-dramatic parts of the corpus. This is, however, not a criterion apt to account for the distribution of the altemants in attributive and other contexts. As mentioned earlier, Erades (1963: 234-235) claims that the meaning distinction between worse and worser is not one of intensity, but rather one of collocation. Accordingly, worser occurs only in explicit or implicit comparison to better, in which it has a different meaning from worse, similar to the distinction between lesser and less. Two examples of contrasts made explicit are given in (11a-b), and further instances of worser being opposed to better can be seen in examples (5) and (6) quoted above. (11) a. Lucy. What do you allude to, sir? Tubbs. Why, to a guilty attachment between Mr. Snooks and my better no, worser, half! (Edward Stirling: The Little Black Parlour, 1839; EPD) b. "1, John, -; take thee Ruby, -; to my wedded wife, -; to 'ave and to 'old, -; from this day forrard, -; for better nor worser, -; for richer nor poorer -; "; and so on to the end. (Anthony Trollope: The Way we Live now, 1875; NCE) However, in most corpus examples, there is no express contrast between worser and better (consider again examples (1a-d), (7), (8) and (9)), and the presence of an implicit contrast is difficult to demonstrate. Instead of a

A-adjectives in PDE

79

semantic contrast, examples juxtaposing worser and better can be taken together with those juxtaposing worser and another marked comparative, for instance sentence (12) as well as example (4) above. (12) Now whether it were, that despaire to regaine the estate he lately hadforgon made him resolute, or feare to goe farther and speede worser, diligent, or that necessitie made him vertuous being naturally vitious, I know not, ... (William Warner: Pan his Syrinx, 1584; EEPF)

Such examples can be argued to reflect on a small scale the pressure for system congruity, weighing against the suffixless form worse also on a larger, systematic scale, and to reinforce it through the direct succession of two comparatives. The use of worser is suitable to obtain a parallelism in the immediate surroundings of another, regular comparative,14 and to achieve a greater degree of uniformity of comparative formation in English. In conclusion, semantic considerations do not seem to play a major role with regard to the double comparative worser. Its emergence is accounted for by functionally motivated tendencies enforcing system congruity, while its distribution is rhythmically motivated, with single attributive uses constituting the most accommodating environment. On the diachronic level, the disappearance of the form worser in the eighteenth century can unambiguously be ascribed to the standardizing influence of prescriptive grammar. Differences in the rate of the demise of the redundantly marked form are, however, once more due to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, retarding the loss of worser under favourable conditions Gust as it has, on a more general level, presumably contributed to the preservation of synthetic adjectival comparison in spite of the longstanding tendency in English towards analytic patterns; cf. Bolinger 1965b: 153-154). Direct speech quoted in nineteenth-century novels and plays as well as 11 instances of worser that can be culled from the spoken part of the BNC testify to the fact that double comparison lives on in nonstandard speech, but in standard PDE, the form worser has completely given way, with the rare exception of some literary or archaic survivals that occur - of all plages - in attributive structures like the worser part/sort/halj(cf. OED 2 1994: s.v. worser).

4.3.

A-adjectives in PDE

While prototypical adjectives can occur in attributive as well as in predicative and postnominal position, some are restricted to attributive position

80

Analysis ofattributive structures

and a few others are barred from predicative and postnominal position (cf. Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 529). A class of adjectives that instantiates restrictions of the latter type are the so-called a-adjectives, including items such as afraid, aghast, agog, alive, aloof, ashamed, asleep, awake and aware ('predicative-only' adjectives; cf. Jacobsson 1996).15 To account for these restrictions, at least three types of factors have been adduced in the literature. For some of the a-adjectives, their historical origin as prepositional phrases accounts for their inappropriateness as attributes (cf. Jacobsson 1996: 208; Markus 1997: 490). A more general obstacle that bars them from prenominal position is their meaning, which typically refers to a transitory state and therefore is in conflict with the characterizing, permanent meaning inherent in attributive material (cf. Bolinger 1952: 1133-1137; 1967: 3-4; Leisi 1985: 54; Jacobsson 1996: 218). This semantic effect is taken by many authors to be an important - if not the most important - factor explaining the distributional idiosyncrasies of a-adjectives (cf. Bolinger 1967: 12; Jacobsson 1996: 217; Biber et al. 1999: 508; Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 559). A different line of argument makes reference to the rhythmic contour of these adjectives. Since the initial a- is a reduced vowel, stress falls on the second (and in most cases final) syllable. The resultant stress clash has been argued to make the adjectives unsuitable for prenominal position (cf. Bolinger 1965b: 143; Minkova 1990: 327).16 In the literature, several bypass strategies taking care of these constraints have been proposed, including the choice of near synonyms (e.g. asleep - sleeping, aware - conscious; cf. Quirk et al. 1985: 409), the introduction of unstressed dummy material (e.g. an aloof/alert kind ofperson; cf. Bolinger 1965b: 151) and the expansion of a-adjectives by premodification (e.g. two fast-asleep children, a wide-awake patient, their still awake children, half-alive people, a really alive student, a not fully awake freshman; cf. Quirk et al. 1985: 409; Bailey 1987: 149; Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 559; Jacobsson 1996: 208-211). In the most detailed study of aadjectives available to date, Jacobsson (1996: 211) describes the effect of the addition of a premodifier in wholly semantic terms: "By the insertion of a word implying degree or manner (fast, etc.), our attention is no longer focused on the state as such but rather on the quality of the state or on the quality alone." This takes care of the semantically motivated objections to the prenominal use of a-adjectives by formulating exceptions to the constraint against temporary meanings encoded in attributive structures. Considering that there are also rhythmic objections levied against finally stressed attributes preceding initially stressed nouns, this cannot be the whole story. The present study focuses on the contribution of rhythm to the licensing of two particularly interesting a-adjectives, namely ashamed and

A-adjectives in PDE

81

aware, in attributive position. For a larger-scale investigation of the interplay of rhythmic and semantic factors in connection with a greater number of a-adjectives, see Schliiter (in preparation b), of which the following study is an extract. In fact, the diversion of our attention from the a-adjective to what precedes it coincides with a shift in the main stress of the attributive construction. Example (13) shows one of the rare unpremodified attributive uses, while examples (l4a-e) illustrate the different types of premodification to be found in connection with ashamed and aware. (13)

He is an intelligent and aware person, for all that his membership of MENSA may suggest the contrary. (The Daily Mail 1993)

(14) a. Let's face it, if "The Crucifixion" was a newly-releasedfilm we would deplore its unashamed blOodlust. (The Guardian 1995) b. 'The Leicester people are a very rugby-aware public which adds to the spirit here. '(The Daily Mail 1994) c. Socially-aware songs and a lonesome harmonica have won him a 'Bob Dylan ofSenegal , tag, ... (The Daily Mail 1998) The premodification of premodifiers generally creates longer strings of syllables which form closely tied syntactic and prosodic units and can be subject to a redistribution of stresses that will repeatedly be shown to alter the grammatical properties of the attributive material. The metrical grid convention introduced in section 2.1 can be used to illustrate the relevant rhythmic constellations. Reference is also made to a set of English stress rules. Note, however, that this is not meant to anticipate an answer to the longstanding question of whether or not linguistic structures can be derived by rules applying one after another or cyclically in a procedural fashion. Rather, they are appropriated as a means of simplification for the complex dependencies characteristic of the prosodic structure of English. To begin with, the depiction of the stress clash arising between the unmodified attribute and the noun in the phrase aware person in example (13) is familiar from number (2) in Chapter 2 above. On top of the rhythmic level represented by the second layer of grid marks, the Nuclear Stress Rule (NSR), which requires that "The rightmost member of a phrase is strongest" (Hayes 1995: 368; cf. Chomsky and Halle 1968: 17; cf. furthermore Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 28), assigns an additional stress mark to the syllable per-.

82

Analysis ofattributive structures

(15) Nuclear Stress Rule x

x

x

x

x x x x [aware] + [person]

x

x x x x [aware person]

NSR ~

In the expression aware person, the Stress Shift Rule, introduced in (9) of Chapter 2 above, cannot apply to resolve the stress clash since there is no stressable syllable to the left of the stressed syllable of the attribute, and this is (part of) the reason why constructions like these tend to be avoided. The different types of premodification illustrated in examples (14a-e) contribute stressable syllables to the left of the a-adjective that can be exploited so as to implement the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. We will first turn to the case of prefixed a-adjectives like unashamed, illustrated in (14a). In its citation form, the adjective has final stress, but since the prefix contains an unreduced vowel, the Stress Shift Rule (abbreviated here as SSR) may shift the stress to the initial syllable as in (16). This abolishes the sequence of two stressed syllables and the result conforms to the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation. (16) Stress Shift Rule x

x x

x x

x

x x x x x SSR [unashamed bloodlust] ~

x x x x x [unashamed bloodlust]

In the formation of compounds as in (14b), the Compound Stress Rule (CSR) applies, which requires that "The leftmost member of a compound is strongest" (Hayes 1995: 368; cf. Chomsky and Halle 1968: 17; cf. furthermore lones 1969: 257; Couper-Kuhlen 1986: 28; Bolinger 1989: 215). Therefore, compounded adjectives have a stress contour that makes them more acceptable in prenominal position without any additional rule application (cf. Bolinger 1965b: 143). Consider the schema in (17). (17) Compound Stress Rule x

x x x x x x x x x [rugby] + [aware] + [public]

CSR ~

x x x x xx x x x [rugby-aware] + [public]

A-adjectives in PDE

83

x X X

NSR ~

X X

X

xxx X X [rugby-aware public] X

Finally, adverbially premodified a-adjectives, illustrated in (14c), in isolation form a closely-knit syntactic phrase that is subject to the Nuclear Stress Rule, assigning the highest stress level to the head adjective. The rule applies cyclically (cf. Hayes 1984: 42-43; 1995: 369) and in the next step increases the stress level of the head of the noun phrase, thus giving rise to a stress clash. Crucially, when followed by a stronger stress, the main stress on the phrase consisting of adverb plus adjective can undergo stress shift and be relocated on the adverb. As example (18) illustrates, the resultant rhythmic structure is improved in comparison to a single attributive adjective. (18)

x

x x x x x x x x x x x x NSR x x x x x x [socially] + [aware] + [songs] ~ [socially-aware] + [songs]

x x x x x x x x x x x x NSR x x x x x x SSR x x xx x x ~ [socially-aware songs] ~ [socially-aware songs] In sum, any kind of more complex, premodified attributive material is appropriate to mitigate the stress clash that is pre-programmed to result if an a-adjective precedes an initially stressed noun. The importance of premodification in the licensing of a-adjectives in attributive position can be established by looking at the distribution of premodified and unpremodified instances in a corpus. For this purpose, all occurrences for ashamed (including its prefixed forms) and one randomly selected occurrence out of ten for aware (likewise including its prefixed forms) were retrieved from a corpus consisting of 40 years of British newspapers described in section 3.1. All hits were classified according to their occurrence in attributive or postnominal/predicative function. For these syntactic functions, the relative proportions of unpremodified exam-

84

Analysis ofattributive structures

pies as opposed to the three types of premodified examples were calculated. The results are displayed in figure 7. premodified unpremodified

{

EiI adverbially premodified 12I compounded ~prefixed

• single unmodified

100% 90% 80% 1713 =15%

70% o ~ 60%

@ 50% ~

0.

40% . 30% . 20% 10% 0%

33=2To attributive non-attributive N = 1638 I N = 10986 ashamed

Figure 7.

attributive N= 123

non-attributive N = 11469 aware

The premodification of non-attributive and attributive uses of the a-adjectives ashamed and (1 in 10 instances of) aware in a British newspaper corpus (The Daily Mail 1993-2000, The Daily Telegraph 1991-2000, The Guardian 1990-2000, The Times 1990-2000)

A look at the total number of non-attributive and attributive uses (indicated below the columns) reveals that the latter are statistically rare: only 1 in 8 instances of ashamed and I in as many as 94 instances of aware is attributive. The restrictions bearing on attributive uses can however be defined more closely on the basis of these data. They apply in particular to unpremodified uses, which make up only 2 and 7 percent, respectively, of the attributive occurrences of ashamed and aware, as can be seen from the solid black sections of the columns. All the remaining attributive uses are made up by instances in which the a-adjectives are premodified in one way or the other. Prefixation with un- is particularly characteristic of ashamed, while aware typically occurs in compounds of the type rugby-aware, design-aware,fashion-aware, self-aware, and, above all, in combination with

A-adjectives in PDE

85

adverbs, as in socially-aware, ecologically-aware, environmentally-aware, politically-aware. 17 The important contrast is however that between attributive and nonattributive uses of the same adjective. While only 2 percent of attributive ashamed are unpremodified, 81 percent of non-attributive uses neither have a prefix, are part of a compound nor are modified by an adverb. Similarly, while only 7 percent of the attributive uses of aware are unpremodified, as many as 63 percent of the non-attributive uses stand on their own. 18 Therefore, Jacobsson's (1996: 218) generalization according to which ashamed and aware "are more frequent in attributive position than grammars and dictionaries would have us believe and should no longer be included among predicative-only adjectives" neglects the fact that for these adjectives (like for some others, for which Jacobsson does not fail to make this clear), premodification is virtually a sine qua non condition for their occurrence in attributive position. From the existence of examples such as (13) in which stress clashes persist, Jacobsson (1996: 213) concludes that the avoidance of rhythmically awkward constellations can only play a minor role. However, the extreme rarity of unpremodified attributive uses that appears from the quantitative data in figure 7 suggests a different conclusion. If attributive uses are thus strongly associated with premodification, it seems likely that the rhythmic effects resulting from the addition of stressable syllables play a crucial role in licensing the a-adjectives in prenominal position. This is not to deny the importance of the semantic effects attendant upon premodification, which are appropriately dealt with by Jacobsson (1996: 209-213). The interrelatedness of the rhythmic and semantic consequences of premodification are discussed in more detail in SchlUter (in preparation b). What this study has made clear, however, is that the rhythmic wellformedness of attributive structures is a factor whose contribution to the grammaticality of a construction must not be underestimated. A descriptively adequate account of the syntax of a-adjectives thus must have recourse to both semantics and phonology. It requires the co-presence of syntactic, semantic and rhythmic information. Such a conclusion poses a serious challenge to modular theories of grammar since it transcends the boundaries of the traditionally distinguished components (cf. section 1.1). Furthermore, it discredits derivational accounts that base attribution on predication: a-adjectives reveal a substantial discrepancy between the two syntactic uses. 19

86

4.4.

Analysis ofattributive structures

Mono- and disyllabic variants of past participles

Past participles are a domain of English grammar that is particularly rich in variants. It has been shown (cf. Lass 1994) that the past tense and past participle forms of strong and weak verbs started to become confused and to interfere with each other as early as the late ME period. The following data focus on the period from EModE up to PDE, selecting a few verbs for closer study that present a mono- and a disyllabic participial variant. Chaotic though the verb patterns in earlier forms of English may be, the following list spotlights a few parameters along which variation manifests itself. - The system of strong verbal inflections, making use of the ablaut feature derived from the Proto-Indo-European aspect system, was subject to simplifications and mergers, ultimately reducing the number of ablaut types (cf. Lass 1994: 85-90). - Originally strong verbs were transferred to the weak conjugation, a Germanic invention that has long since been the only productive pattern (cf. Lass 1994: 85-90; Cheshire 1994: 126). However, this transfer did not proceed at the same pace in past tense and past participle forms: Baugh and Cable (1993: 160) find that "For some reason the past participle of strong verbs seems to have been more tenacious than the past tense." Among their examples are the disyllabic past participles cloven, (mis-)shapen, shaven and swollen, which are maintained, while the past tense forms of the same verbs are already formed with a dental suffix, following the weak pattern (cf. also Bihl1916: 147). - Alternatively, the participles of originally strong verbs could also lose their -en-suffix, without replacing it with the weak -ed-suffix. This happened early on in the ME period and has only recently stabilized into a standardized pattern. As a result, the older full forms coexisted for a long time with the suffixless forms (e.g. broke(n), chose(n), drunk(en), eat(en), forbid(den) , (for)got(ten) , trod(den), spoke(n), stole(n), sunk(en), writ(ten); cf. Franz 1986: 166; Stroheker 1913: 42-47; Lass 1992: 146). - Insecurity in the use of the -en- and -ed-suffixes resulted in redundant suffixations of verbs that were originally weak or had turned weak and had a stem-final dental fused with the dental suffix (e.g. knit/knitted, lit/lighted, hit/hitten/hitted, burst/bursten/bursted; cf. Sundby, Bj0rge, and Haugland 1991: 304-313). - Furthermore, the original past tense forms of strong verbs could be used in the place of past participles, thus lacking the -en-suffix and exhibiting a different vocalism (e.g. drunken/drank, stricken/struck/stroke, fallenlfell, mistaken/mistook, shaken/shook, taken/took, written/wrote;

Mono- and disyllabic variants o/past participles

87

cf. Franz 1986: 166; Stroheker 1913: 42-47). Conversely (but less frequently), past participle fonns could also be used as past tense fonns (e.g. drank/drunk, sank/sunk, sang/sung, shrank/shrunk), leading to a free variation between the second and third grades of three-grade verbs (cf. Sundby, Bj0rge, and Haugland 1991: 225-236; Lass 1994: 89). - Finally, though irregular verbs can be assigned to different groups, the development is usually not unifonn across groups (cf. Lass 1994: 91). What is more, a single verb can participate in more than one development, as is obvious from the overlaps among the above-mentioned examples, leading to a competition between more than two variants with or without vowel gradation, without a suffix or with -en or -ed. Statements made by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century grammarians (summarized in Sundby, Bj0rge, and Haugland 1991: 225-236, 304313; cf. also Lass 1994: 98) lead us to assume that the real scope of variation in the spoken language of the day was even more considerable than what written documents seem to suggest. The focus of the following studies will be on the fonns of past participles in earlier fonns of English and PDE. Among the different parameters of variation, those cases are of particular interest in which suffixless or fused fonns alternate with fonns having a syllabic suffix. While the -en-suffix is syllabic after all consonant-final verb stems, -ed is not nonnally realized as an extra syllable (any more) unless it follows another alveolar plosive,z° Many linguists have noted that longer and shorter fonns of past participles have different distributions and have tried to account for this in different ways. Bailey (1987: 148), Cheshire (1994: 127) and Eisikovits (1991: 138) claim that a separation of meanings is going on: -en has a more passive or static meaning, whereas -ed has a more active or dynamic one. In actual fact, this phenomenon seems to be no more than a corollary of the fact that longer variants in tenns of the number of syllables are more frequent in prenominal position than shorter variants and that -en is more often syllabic than -ed. In fact, numerous linguists have noted that longer variants of past participles typically occur in attributive position and shorter variants elsewhere, and provide long lists of examples (cf. Franz 1910: 158; 1986: 167; Fijn van Draat 1912a: 24; Bolinger 1965b: 146-147; Bailey 1987: 150). Among those who venture an explanation for this finding, most concur in the view that the use of the longer variant before nouns is due to the avoidance of sequences of stressed syllables (e.g. Fijn van Draat 1912a: 24; Bihl 1916: 147; Franz 1986: 167; Bolinger 1965b: 146-147). Additionally, Franz (1986: 167) suggests as a possible account the fact that in OE past participles in attributive use following the definite article or demonstrative pronouns took the endings of the weak adjectival declension (e.g. se joresprecena here 'the aforementioned anny'), which contributed to

88

Analysis ofattributive structures

stabilize the -no While the influence of the OE inflectional system may have extended well into the ME period (cf. Btihr 1993: 54-55), it seems, however, unlikely that it is sufficient to account for the preservation of the disyllabic variants up to the present day. The preference for rhythmic alternation is the more longstanding determinant that can be credited with the potential to lead to a more or less strict division of labour between suffixed and suffixless forms. In the following analyses five pairs of participles will be studied, all of them possessing variants that differ in their number of syllables. The analyses will seek to determine what evidence there is of the effects of rhythmic alternation in diachrony and synchrony. A detailed consideration of the data will allow us to discern the influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation beyond the attributive-predicative divide assumed by most of the authors quoted above. Thus, the question of the extent to which the distribution of the variants is grammatically fixed will be addressed in several places. The concept of grammatical fixation is taken to describe the process by which a grammatical tendency becomes generalized and turned into a grammatical rule and is thereby rendered impermeable to extragrammatical influences. The case of drunk and drunken, which will be studied as the first of five comparable cases, presents a showcase example, though some qualifications of the assumed fixation will eventually be necessary.

4.4.1.

Drunk vs. drunken from ME to PDE

Perhaps the best-known example of participial variants specialized for different syntactic functions is the pair drunk and drunken. In OE, the past participle of the strong verb was regularly suffixed in -en, but the suffix has been variable for many centuries. In PDE, according to Quirk et al. (1985: 114) and Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 553), drunken is limited to attributive position (e.g. a drunken sailor), while drunk occurs in other positions. While grammars do no more than state this difference, Fijn van Draat (1912a: 28) and Bolinger (1965b: 146) account for it in terms of stress clash avoidance. Building on Schliiter (2002b: 257-261), the following analysis provides an empirical basis for these statements and tests their generality. For this purpose, a large corpus of written English has been marshalled, stretching from the ME section of the Helsinki Corpus to the fictional prose section of the BNC. The sixteenth to nineteenth centuries are covered by the extensive EEPF, ECF and NCF corpora containing fictional prose, complemented by the EPD corpus of dramatic works, equally written in

Mono- and disyllabic variants o/past participles

89

prose. For the participles, three categories of syntactic uses were distinguished. 21 One comprises those attributive uses that are unpremodified and immediately followed by the noun (whether they are uncoordinated as in (l9a) or the final conjunct of a coordinated attributive structure as in (l9b)). (19) a. Then he pretends to be hospitable, and entertains the first people ofthe country, and yet he is not ashamed to boast that there has not been a drunk man in his house since he was master of it. (Joanna Baillie: The Country Inn, 1804; EPD) b. I think, Captain, you might have us 'd me better, than to leave me yonder among your swearing, drunken Crew; ... (George Farquhar: The Recruiting Officer, 1706; EPD) The second category comprises different types of more complex attributive uses where the participle is itself premodified as in (20a-b) or separated from the noun by additional attributive material as in (20c). (20) a. He had taken one from the side ofone ofa sleep-drunk coastguard. (Sabine Baring-Gould: The Roar ofthe Sea, 1892; NCF) b. Lee would pick out a suitably drunk customer, extol the virtues ofhis sister and then lure the man into a nearby darkened alley ... (Anna Dillon: Another Time, Another Season, 1989; BNC) c. ... ; a brutal, drunk, vile-tongued Old woman, who had beaten her oftentimes, as the sole maternal attention, when she was but an infant. (Ouida: Under Two Flags, 1862; NCF) Third, all remaining participial uses of drunk and drunken were indiscriminately grouped in the third category, other (non-attributive) uses. This includes postnominal (21), predicative (22) and nominalized uses (23) as well as verbal uses in the perfect tenses (24) and in passives (25). Since the present analysis of drunk/drunken is the first in a row of similar analyses, an example of each is given below, illustrating the typical rhythmic constellations in these syntactic functions.

(21)

The amount oftea drunk in Shanghae alone is estimated at a million pounds. (James Payn: By Proxy, 1878; NCF)

(22)

What did you not even get drunk in the Time ofyour Wife's Delivery? (Henry Fielding: Amelia, 1752; ECF)

90

Analysis ofattributive structures

(23) Butfor a drunk of really a noble class and on the highest principles, that brought you no nearer to the dark man than you were afore you begun, ... (Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd, 1874; NCF) (24) Damme! if I've touch 'd a mouthful ofmeat, or drank a drop ofwine for three days! (Samuel lames Amold: The Veteran Tar, 1801; EPD) (25)

"I cannot abide waste. What's poured out mun be drunk. That's my maxim. " (Elizabeth Gaskell: Mary Barton, 1849; NCF)

As in the case of worse/worser, the participles run little risk of colliding with subsequent stressed material when they occur in the body of the sentence where unstressed function words secure the separation of stressed content words or pauses intervene. Thus, as in the former cases, we can predict that non-attributive uses will be the first to give up the old participial suffix -en, giving rise to the attributive-predicative distinction described in the literature. Figure 8 shows the results for these contexts, differentiating furthermore between single unmodified and other, more complex attributive uses.

r

3/3=100% 266/266=100%

100% 90% 80% ~

~ ~ ;:l

0

o

i

~ o

P-

:

-9/10=90%

70%

{j 60%

....o

569/574=99%

50%

-e- single unmodified attributive uses 6/15=40%

40%

~ other

20/39=51%

attributive uses

other (non-attributive) uses

30% 20% 10% 0%

1/878=0%

65/1975=3%

2/1209=0%

.

+-----~---.------""'-====-T==;:;;):····::~~=---""'----""'-=~c=::-.; ~--;

HCME

EEPF + EPD

ECF + EPD

NCF + EPD

1150-1500

1518-1700

1701-1780

1781-1903

BNC wridom 1

1960-1993

Figure 8.

The distribution of disyllabic variants of the past participle of drink compared to monosyllabic variants in a series of prose corpora (HC ME section, EEPF, ECF, NCF, EPD and BNC wridom 1)

Mono- and disyllabic variants ofpast participles

91

The sharp discrepancy between single unmodified attributive uses and nonattributive uses is immediately apparent. It manifests itself throughout the eight centuries investigated and is highly significant for the four later corpus subsections, where the data are sufficiently dense. 22 In the earliest subperiod, comprising the ME era, 6 out of the 15 non-attributive occurrences still exhibit the suffixed variant which once was the only participial form (cf. example (26». From then on, -en crops up only occasionally in nonattributive uses. Since ME times, however, -en has never been given up in attributive uses, where it fulfils an important rhythmic function. In the late twentieth century, the suffixless form drunk is apparently prepared to encroach upon this last resort of the full form. Only 3 of the 37 instances in single unmodified attributive uses of drunk occur before noninitially stressed nouns; among the rest, 9 premodify the nouns driving or driver(s), with which they seem to form close, compound-like units as in (27a). The other 25 instances of drunk creep in irrespective of the stress clash they produce (cf. example (27b» and unnoticed by PDE grammars that still give drunken as the standard attributive form.

(26) &, when he hase dronken ]Jam, pay will come owt at pe wonde & clence it with-in & hele it wele with-owtten. (Liber de diversis medicinis in the Thornton Manuscripts; HC ME IV) (27) a. ... , mind the mass slayers and maimers of innocent victims, mind the drunk drivers, mind the aeroplanes that fall from the sky and the ones that are aimed at you, ... (P. Bryers: The Adultery Department,1993;BlVC) b. Several drunk Britons tried to hang him one night, and would have succeeded had not a French Corporal cut him down in time. (C. Jennings: Mouthful ofRocks, 1990; BlVC) In the absence of additional evidence, we should perhaps not deduce the conclusion that the observance of rhythmic alternation is losing importance in PDE. Rather, in the data outlined in figure 8, the incipient demise of the suffixed form in attributive uses simply follows the example of the majority of other uses where the suffix has been obsolete for a long time. The more complex, multisyllabic attributive structures distinguished from the single unmodified ones provide a valuable testing ground for the productivity of the rhythmically determined distribution. Structures of this type, illustrated in the examples under (20), only begin to occur in the EModE period and from then on slowly increase in frequency. If the distribution of drunk and drunken was entirely grammatically determined (as

92

Analysis ofattributive structures

suggested by the grammarians' statements), an unrivalled dominance of drunken would be predicted in these attributive uses. If, on the other hand, rhythm was the only factor involved, we would expect stress clashes to be taken care of by a variety of stress rules (mainly the Stress Shift Rule and the Compound Stress Rule expounded in the preceding section) that shift the stress away from the participle and render the disyllabic variant drunken superfluous. The data in figure 8 indicate that the truth lies somewhere in the middle: though complex attributive structures behave more like simple attributes, the incidence of drunk is from the outset noticeably higher. The difference becomes statistically significant in the late twentieth century when the share of drunken in complex attributive structures drops markedly to a figure of around 50 percent. 23 In this latest subperiod, the difference between simple and complex attributive structures is most striking, although the share of drunken has decreased even in simple attributes. This argues in favour of the hypothesis that the suffixed form drunken is slowly dropping into obsolescence and at the same time cogently falsifies the hypothesis that the influence of the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation has diminished on the way to PDE. In sum, the distribution of drunken in attributive uses and drunk in others has virtually congealed into a fixed grammatical pattern for something like five centuries. The maintenance of the -en-suffix was originally motivated by stress clash avoidance, but the functional split has never been completed. Wherever stress rules conspired to separate the stresses in mu1tisyllabic attributive structures, the shorter variant drunk has always been a viable option. The most recent data from PDE show an incipient loss of the -en-variant which may, if completed, lead to an impaired rhythmic wellformedness of simple attributive structures.

4.4.2.

Broke vs. broken from ME to PDE

Like the verb drink, the verb break belongs to the class of OE strong verbs and accordingly, its past participle was regularly suffixed with -en. In contrast to drink, however, the suffix has not been given up in non-attributive functions, but still marks the participle in the PDE standard and differentiates it from the past tense, which, in turn, has assumed the vowel grade originally reserved for the participle. Considering the starting point and the end point of the diachronic evolution of the participial forms of break, we might expect to find nothing of interest from the viewpoint of rhythm since the disyllabic variant broken has come down to us without any morphological change. However, the verb break would be rather exceptional if speakers had not shown a certain degree of insecurity concerning the form

Mono- and disyllabic variants ofpast participles

93

of the participle in the long period of vacillation that extends from ME to (nonstandard and even standard) PDE. In fact, the -en-suffix has been variable for many centuries and was temporarily absent in more than 50 percent of the occurrences of the participle, witness the surviving monosyllabic form broke, which in PDE has the specialized meaning of 'without money, bankrupt' (cf. Quirk et al. 1985: 108, who label the expression as 'informal'). As for other participles possessing a mono- and a disyllabic form, Fijn van Draat (l912a: 27) and Bolinger (l965b: 146) claim that the longer, suffix-containing form has a particular affinity to the attributive position, where the suffix can help prevent a stress clash. This assumption has been put to a test in the following analysis. The database is again composed of the ME part of the Helsinki Corpus, the EEPF, ECF and NCF corpora, complemented by the corresponding sections of the EPD corpus, and the imaginative prose section of the BNC. Numerous spelling variants had to be retrieved in the first corpus sections, including the prefixed forms ibroke(n) and tobroke(n) for ME, but unlike the case of drank, which could be used as the past participle form, the stem vowel a is exclusively found in past tense forms of the verb break. 24 Figure 9 displays the results. 377/378 =100%

452/452 =100%

1018/1019 =100% 12 1/122=99% 100% IV1/},1=~1~0;Oo/t~o==:::~t:===:::::::::;r4~8~/4rs5~2=:9~9;~o: .....:".:/:;, 90% /?",0'J"~Y" 1489/1533 20/21=95% 25/27=93% 80% /4155/4680=89% =97% 4/4=100%

2199/2199 =100%

t

j

70%

34/59=68%

i2 -Cl 60% ~_ noninitially

70%

stressed infinitives

60% 50% 40%

170/543=31 % 46/156=29%

20%

I 20/117=17%' 10% ~ 0%

-e-9/283=3% 2/112=2% -e-l/77=1%

J-~-._--------.-,~------=--EEPF + EPD 1518-1700

ECF+ EPD 1701-1780

Figure 27. The distribution of the marker to before (initial or non-coordinated) infInitives dependent on active make and following full defmite object noun phrases in a series of prose corpora (EEPF, ECF, EPD)

In the eighteenth century, infinitival marking has practically died out in all rhythmic contexts and does not exceed three percent even before initially stressed infinitives. Accordingly, there are no statistically significant discrepancies between any of the three rhythmic categories. Among the 9 examples still involving marked initially stressed infinitives, 3 are instances of the proverb money makes the mare to go, where the infinitive marker was originally conditioned by rhythm, but in the eighteenth century its use can safely be ascribed to the conservatism characteristic of set phrases. In 5 of the remaining 6 instances, the use of to avoids the creation of a stress clash. All the other cases where an initially stressed infinitive follows a finally stressed object noun phrase have to tolerate stress clashes in the eighteenth century since the infinitive marker has become largely unavailable. The fact that noninitially stressed infinitives that exclude the possibility of a stress clash are occasionally marked as late as the eighteenth century does not disprove a rhythmic influence, but underlines the importance of other factors impinging on infinitival marking. Consider the

192

Analysis ofverbal and adverbial structures

following three examples, which are the only ones in which noninitially stressed or overshadowed infinitives are still preceded by to. (28)

But Una, like Neptune, (as described in bb Virg. lib. I Virgil) with her awful voice made the waves of their passions to subside (or at least forced them to conceal their rage,) ... (Sarah Fielding and Jane Collier: The Cry, 1754; ECF)

(29)

This is sad construction, when Homer, Euripides, ./Eschylus, make the word Isos to import no more than like. (Thomas Amory: John Buncle, 1756; ECF)

(30)

... , and indeed, nothing but such Brutality could have made the Consideration ofhis shameful Death (so this weak Woman called Hanging) which was now inevitable to be born even without Madness. (Henry Fielding: Jonathan Wild, 1743; ECF)

The use of the marked infinitive to subside in example (28) may be regarded as an anticipation of the structure in the following parenthesis dependent on the matrix verb force, which obligatorily takes the marked infinitive. A deviation from this structure would have produced a lack of parallelism, which would run counter to the intended parallelism in meaning. In example (29) (and also in (28) and (30), by the way), the impingement of the matrix subject on the object is a very abstract one characterized by a low degree of transitivity, as compared to the more prototypical instances of make followed by object-infinitive constructions quoted in (25) to (27). Under these circumstances, the use of the infinitive marker has been argued in the survey in section 5.4 to be reinforced by the tendency known as the Distance Principle. In example (30), the use of to is arguably triggered by the complex object expression, containing a prepositional phrase to which a parenthetic remark and a relative clause are appended. In this case, to does not function as a stress clash buffer (which would be more or less superfluous preceding the prosodically overshadowed infinitive be). Rather, it is an exponent of a syntactic processing strategy that takes into account the grammatical complexity of a structure and compensates for it by providing additional structural signals, in this case making the dependence of be on make more explicit. Rohdenburg (1996: 151) gives the following definition of the socalled Complexity Principle: "In the case of more or less explicit grammatical options the more explicit one(s) will tend to be favored in cognitively more complex environments." However, as example (31), containing a similarly complex object expression, suggests, the Complexity Principle

Marked and unmarked infinitives

193

had no absolute sway over the marking of infinitives even in the EModE era; if there were no other factors to be considered, the infinitive would certainly be marked. (31)

This was that which made the people (who were neither safely to be admitted unto, nor conveniently to be excludedfrom the framing oftheir Common-wealth) verily believe when it came forth, that it was no other than that, whereofthey themselves had been the makers. (lames Harrington: The Common-Wealth of Oceana, 1656; EEPF)

The fact that the infinitive believe is, however, not entirely bare, but introduced by the adverb verily seems significant in this context: it can be argued to pave the way for the infinitive complementing the preceding matrix verb after a lengthy object expression. Its absence would make the structure harder to process since the infinitive would appear very abruptly. This preparatory function of the adverb cannot easily be explained as a structural signal making the dependence on the matrix verb explicit. Rather, it could preliminarily be described as a precursor to the infinitive indicating the beginning of a new phrase without an explicit reference to the preceding grammatical context. Seen in this light, the infinitive marker to as in example (30) can be ascribed a second function, which happens to tally well with the requirement for an explicit link between the matrix and the dependent verb: it, too, may serve to fill in the onset of a new phrase after a longish object and a relatively wide prosodic break. While these remarks are still hypothetical and not substantiated by quantitative data, Schltiter (in preparation a) contains a more systematic look at this phenomenon labelled upbeat. Effects of the Complexity Principle on infinitival marking after make are amply dealt with and demonstrated in Rohdenburg and Schliiter (2000: 446-452). In the present study they are partially neutralized due to the restriction to full noun phrases as objects, but the length and complexity of these objects and the presence of insertions are neglected so as to avoid a further complication of the analysis. Similarly, syntactic effects such as parallelism and semantic tendencies like the Distance Principle are disregarded. It is assumed that these cancel themselves out in a sufficiently large dataset. As far as the results portrayed in figure 27 go, the expectation is confirmed that the rhythmic status of the first syllable of the dependent infinitive correlates with the probability of occurrence of the infinitive marker. So far, however, the data only warrant a binary division between noninitially stressed infinitives and all others. The indiscriminability of initially

194

Analysis a/verbal and adverbial structures

stressed and prosodically overshadowed infinitives may be due to the fact that the contexts preceding the (marked or unmarked) infinitives are not homogeneous. This hunch will be pursued in the following closer analysis of the EModE data, in which infinitival marking dependent on active make is still frequent enough to establish a fine-grained distributional pattern. In order to get a better grip on the buffer function of the infinitive marker, an additional distinction between stressed and unstressed syllables in the preceding context was introduced, cutting across the three categories of following contexts employed in figure 27. Each of the examples in (25) to (27) involves a stressed syllable preceding the (marked or unmarked) infinitive. In example (25), featuring an initially stressed infinitive, the omission of to would therefore lead to a stress clash. In the other two examples, to can be omitted without this undesirable consequence. This is more true of example (26), involving a noninitially stressed infinitive, than of example (27), involving a prosodically overshadowed one. Thus, the rhythmic status of the preceding context is only at issue if the dependent infinitive is initially stressed. If the syllable preceding the (marked or unmarked) infinitive is stressless, as in example (32), the omission of the infinitive marker is as unproblematic from a rhythmic point of view as in the case of noninitially stressed or prosodically overshadowed infinitives. (32)

Thus she spoke with afierceness, that made the Lover tremble with fear oflosing her; ... (Aphra Behn: Love Letters between a NobleMan and his Sister, Part Ill, 1687; EEPF)

The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century data presented in figure 27 were thus subjected to further scrutiny. Within each of the three categories of following contexts, an additional distinction was introduced between stressed and unstressed syllables preceding the dependent infinitive and, if applicable, the marker to. Such a binary classification of course fails to do justice to the complexities that emerge in naturalistic language use, but it can be expected that the rough distinction will permit some cautious conclusions. An effect of this distinction was only predicted in the first category, where the infinitive was initially stressed. The data for dramatic and non-dramatic prose were kept apart since the respective tendencies to mark an infinitive dependent on active make differ widely: for non-dramatic prose, the average of infinitival marking runs to 32 percent, while for dramatic prose, the proportion falls to only 14 percent. Figures 28 and 29 display the results of the analyses for non-dramatic and dramatic prose respectively.

Marked and unmarked infinitives

195

100% Vl

90%

• following a stressed sy llable

80%

ITIl following an unstressed sy llable

."

>

:-8 I::

!.;: