1887
Volume 40, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0378-4169
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9927
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Abstract

This article explores the question of why Medieval French does not use -constructions as exhaustively as other Medieval Romance varieties and why the indefinite pronoun is clearly the preferred choice. It is claimed that exhibits affix-like behavior in passive constructions and that it is very likely to be a morphological exponent of absorbing the [+Def] feature on T in IACs. These assumptions are connected to the possibility within a language system to store affixes as independent lexical entries, following Speas, 1995 . It will be shown that Medieval French seems to be a language system in flux in which signs of NSL > non-NSL were present over a longer period of time. The uncertain status of affixes within these radical changes would have prompted learners to go for a multifunctional solution that is readily available and unequivocally identifiable: .

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2017-12-08
2025-02-13
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Medieval French; Medieval Spanish; on; pro-drop; se; syntax; valency
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