An information structure scenario for V2 loss in Medieval French
Pierre Larrivée | Normandie Université | Université de Caen Normandie, CRISCO
This paper discusses word order change in Medieval French. Verb-second (V2) configurations are generally understood as
having an initial XP and the verb in the left periphery. How has this configuration been lost in French? Under an Information Structure
scenario, the XP is in initial position because of its characterized (discourse-old) informational value, which motivates the
left-peripheral position of the verb. The decline of the characterized informational value of the XP thus accounts for the gradual loss of
V2. The informational behaviour of XPs was examined in unambiguous V2 configurations with an overt post-verbal subject in Medieval French.
This detailed quantitative study of a calibrated corpus shows that XPs with a characterized informational value were predominant with
productive V2 configurations, that they gradually declined as productive V2 was lost, and that they increasingly failed to attract the verb
to the left periphery. These observations can be accounted for if V2 in Medieval French was driven by informational values and if it
disappeared along with the informational cues provided by the XPs.
Leis Will, 1150. Diplomatic transcription available at [URL]
Patronage, 1205. Edited by Ange-Ignace Marnier. 1839. Établissements et coutumes, assises et arrêts de l’Échiquier de Normandie. Paris: Techener.
Arrêt de l’échiquier de Normandie, 1207–1211. Edited by Ange-Ignace Marnier. 1839. Établissements et coutumes, assises et arrêts de l’Échiquier de Normandie. Paris: Techener.
Très ancien coutumier de Normandie, 1250. Edited by Ange-Ignace Marnier. 1839. Établissements et coutumes, assises et arrêts de l’Échiquier de Normandie. Paris: Techener.
Grand coutumier de Normandie, 1300. MS Harvard, HLS MS 91. [URL]
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