Ellen Brandner | Universität Konstanz (original) (raw)
Papers by Ellen Brandner
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2012
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 1993
The distribution of expletives in the Germanic languages, as exemplified in (1)-(3), varies to an... more The distribution of expletives in the Germanic languages, as exemplified in (1)-(3), varies to an extent which is not necessarily expected in languages so closely related:(la)*(there) came a boy (Engl)(lb) omdat??.(er) een jonge komt (Dutch) because EXPL a boy comes ( ...
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2000
Areallinguistische Perspektiven, 2015
The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 2009
Projekte und Perspektiven, 2015
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0. Abstract This paper discusses various infinitival constructions in Standard German (SG) and th... more 0. Abstract This paper discusses various infinitival constructions in Standard German (SG) and their respective realizations in an Alemannic dialect, spoken on the Insel Reichenau (RG). The interesting thing is, that in RG, the SG so called "zu"- infinitivals virtually do not exist: either they are realized as (i) a bare infinitive (like SG complements of modal verbs), as (ii) nominalizations, or (iii) as finite clauses. This dialectal variation (which is also attested e.g. in the northern part of Switzerland and in the Kaiserstuhl-area) thus contrasts with Standard German and may eventually shed some light on the role of "zu". It challenges the generalization, first discussed in Bech (1955) that bare infinitivals obligatorily enter into a coherent construction. The bare infinitives occur preferably in an extraposed position where they should not be allowed - according to standard analysis. It will be shown that these bare infinitives nevertheless should be analy...
... yesterday what-acc he-nom Mira-dat give-Past-Q (23) direct object wh-scrambled before the adv... more ... yesterday what-acc he-nom Mira-dat give-Past-Q (23) direct object wh-scrambled before the adverb ku-ka Mira-eykey t mwues-ul ecey cwu-ess-ni? he-nom Mira-dat what-acc yesterday give-Past-Q The counterpart of Korean seems to be Persian (see, Lotfi no date). ...
Microvariation in Syntactic Doubling, 2008
The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 2009
Studia Linguistica, 2010
This article discusses exclamative utterances that have the form of Y/N questions with no wh phra... more This article discusses exclamative utterances that have the form of Y/N questions with no wh phrase present but only the finite verb in initial position. It will be shown that they cannot be captured by a purely pragmatic Ôreinterpre tationÕ of Y/N questions. This result implies that verb initial structures are syntactically ambiguous. An alternative to the traditional view on clause types as features/operators in the C domain, triggering V C movement, will be suggested. V C movement marks syntactically all those structures that correspond to non assertive speech acts. The structures are disambiguated by non syntactic means like intonation and/or lexical triggers.
Language and Linguistics Compass, 2012
'Syntactic microvariation'and 'microcomparative syntax'are the terms for a fa... more 'Syntactic microvariation'and 'microcomparative syntax'are the terms for a fairly new research approach that applies the theoretical concepts and techniques of modern generative theory to dialectal and other small-scale variational data. Traditional studies in dialectology aim ...
The paper argues that the Alemannic relative clause introducing particle "wo" can be traced back ... more The paper argues that the Alemannic relative clause introducing particle "wo" can be traced back to the equative particle "so". It shows that the equative particle is well suited to account for the interpretation of relative clauses.
The Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in south-western Germany are structurally very s... more The Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in south-western Germany are structurally very similar. This seems to extend to the motion verb construction where the motion verb is obligatorily followed by an element gi/go followed by an infinitive. Upon closer inspection, however, intriguing asymmetries emerge. We account for these differences by treating gi/go as being of different categories in the contemporary languages. This can be related to different historical developments, as proposed by Lötscher (1993): both elements go back to the preposition gen 'towards' and developed into a functional head with purpose/goal semantics that combines with a non-finite verbal projection. We will show that while gi in Bodensee-Alemannic still heads this functional projection, go in Swiss German has been reanalyzed as a verbal element and is now integrated into the Verb Raising and Verb Projection Raising system.
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2012
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 1993
The distribution of expletives in the Germanic languages, as exemplified in (1)-(3), varies to an... more The distribution of expletives in the Germanic languages, as exemplified in (1)-(3), varies to an extent which is not necessarily expected in languages so closely related:(la)*(there) came a boy (Engl)(lb) omdat??.(er) een jonge komt (Dutch) because EXPL a boy comes ( ...
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2000
Areallinguistische Perspektiven, 2015
The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 2009
Projekte und Perspektiven, 2015
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
0. Abstract This paper discusses various infinitival constructions in Standard German (SG) and th... more 0. Abstract This paper discusses various infinitival constructions in Standard German (SG) and their respective realizations in an Alemannic dialect, spoken on the Insel Reichenau (RG). The interesting thing is, that in RG, the SG so called "zu"- infinitivals virtually do not exist: either they are realized as (i) a bare infinitive (like SG complements of modal verbs), as (ii) nominalizations, or (iii) as finite clauses. This dialectal variation (which is also attested e.g. in the northern part of Switzerland and in the Kaiserstuhl-area) thus contrasts with Standard German and may eventually shed some light on the role of "zu". It challenges the generalization, first discussed in Bech (1955) that bare infinitivals obligatorily enter into a coherent construction. The bare infinitives occur preferably in an extraposed position where they should not be allowed - according to standard analysis. It will be shown that these bare infinitives nevertheless should be analy...
... yesterday what-acc he-nom Mira-dat give-Past-Q (23) direct object wh-scrambled before the adv... more ... yesterday what-acc he-nom Mira-dat give-Past-Q (23) direct object wh-scrambled before the adverb ku-ka Mira-eykey t mwues-ul ecey cwu-ess-ni? he-nom Mira-dat what-acc yesterday give-Past-Q The counterpart of Korean seems to be Persian (see, Lotfi no date). ...
Microvariation in Syntactic Doubling, 2008
The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 2009
Studia Linguistica, 2010
This article discusses exclamative utterances that have the form of Y/N questions with no wh phra... more This article discusses exclamative utterances that have the form of Y/N questions with no wh phrase present but only the finite verb in initial position. It will be shown that they cannot be captured by a purely pragmatic Ôreinterpre tationÕ of Y/N questions. This result implies that verb initial structures are syntactically ambiguous. An alternative to the traditional view on clause types as features/operators in the C domain, triggering V C movement, will be suggested. V C movement marks syntactically all those structures that correspond to non assertive speech acts. The structures are disambiguated by non syntactic means like intonation and/or lexical triggers.
Language and Linguistics Compass, 2012
'Syntactic microvariation'and 'microcomparative syntax'are the terms for a fa... more 'Syntactic microvariation'and 'microcomparative syntax'are the terms for a fairly new research approach that applies the theoretical concepts and techniques of modern generative theory to dialectal and other small-scale variational data. Traditional studies in dialectology aim ...
The paper argues that the Alemannic relative clause introducing particle "wo" can be traced back ... more The paper argues that the Alemannic relative clause introducing particle "wo" can be traced back to the equative particle "so". It shows that the equative particle is well suited to account for the interpretation of relative clauses.
The Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in south-western Germany are structurally very s... more The Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in south-western Germany are structurally very similar. This seems to extend to the motion verb construction where the motion verb is obligatorily followed by an element gi/go followed by an infinitive. Upon closer inspection, however, intriguing asymmetries emerge. We account for these differences by treating gi/go as being of different categories in the contemporary languages. This can be related to different historical developments, as proposed by Lötscher (1993): both elements go back to the preposition gen 'towards' and developed into a functional head with purpose/goal semantics that combines with a non-finite verbal projection. We will show that while gi in Bodensee-Alemannic still heads this functional projection, go in Swiss German has been reanalyzed as a verbal element and is now integrated into the Verb Raising and Verb Projection Raising system.