The Syntactic Development of the Infinitive in Indo-European

Dorothy Disterheft
OUT OF PRINT
$22.95
0-89357-058-3
220
1980
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Disterheft examines the syntactic shift from the proto-IE nominalized verb to the morphologically distinct infinitives of the daughter languages. For this she focuses on the syntax of the infinitives in three groups (Indo-Iranian, Celtic, and Hittite) that have morphologically conservative infinitives. Applying internal reconstruction and the comparative method, the author concludes that purpose clauses and complements to verbs whose subjects control coreferential noun phrase deletion employed the still-nominal form during the PIE period. In the Rig Veda and Old Irish the reanalysis of nominalizations as non-finite predicates can still be seen in progress. Contents Chapter 1. The Indo-European problem

 1.0 Introduction  9  1.1Morphology  12  1.2 Syntax  17

Chapter 2. Syntax of the infinitive in the Rigveda

 2.0 Introduction  27  2.1 Previous Syntactic descriptions  28  2.2 The predicate infinitive  40  2.3 The imperative infinitive  49  2.4 The infinitive in relative clauses  53  2.5 Purpose clauses  57  2.6 Temporal clauses with infinitive  2.7 Verb complements  2.8 Adjective and noun complements; Sentential subject  83

Chapter 3. Syntax of the Old Iranian infinitive

 3.0 Introduction  87  3.1 Past research   87  3.2 Predicate infinitive  88  3.3 Imperative infinitive  91  3.4 Relative clauses  93  3.5 Purpose clauses  94  3.6 verb complements  97

Chapter 4. The Indo-Iranian infinitive

 4.0 Introduction  103  4.1 Constraints on subject and object  104  4.2 Word order  110  4.3 Voice  111  4.4 Indeterminacy of analysis  120  4.5 Reconstructing Indo-Iranian  129

Chapter 5. The Celtic verbal noun

 5.0 Introduction  135  5.1 Verb complements  142  5.2 Purpose clauses  150  5.3 Sentential subject  152  5.4 Indeterminate constructions  155  5.5 Conclusions  159

Chapter 6. The Hittite infinitive

 6.0 Introduction  161  6.1 Imperative infinitive  165  6.2 Purpose clauses  166  6.3 Verb complements  170  6.4 Complements to nouns and adjectives  177  6.5 Conclusions  178

Chapter 7. Reconstructing the Proto-Indo-European infinitive

 7.0 Introduction  181  7.1 Comparison of the infinitive in Indo-Iranian, Celtic, and Hittite  181  7.2 Other Indo-European evidence  192  7.3 Gradual nature of syntactic change  196  7.4 Effects of reanalysis  198

"...a good book. It is to be recommended as a model for sound comparative IE syntactical research..." (Celtica)