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Languages and Linguistics, Formal syntax, Celtic Languages, French dialects, Microvariation and Typology, Sciences Humaines Et Sociales, and 18 moreLinguistics, Breton linguistics, Open science, Open Notebook Research, Brythonic, Wikis, Educational Wikis, extended projection principle (EPP), Verb Second, Second Position Clitic Languages, Open Notebook Science, Feminism, Intersectionality, Gender Studies, Celtic Linguistics, Gender, Feminist Theory, and French syntax edit
I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this view, so-called verb... more
I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this view, so-called verb first orders prototypically illustrated by Welsh ...
Mon propos est simple. Nos langues doivent intégrer l'IA pour survivre précisément au déploiement qui vient des applications sur données personnelles. L'IA, comme système utilisant des modèles réglés automatiquement sur des données... more
Mon propos est simple. Nos langues doivent intégrer l'IA pour survivre précisément au déploiement qui vient des applications sur données personnelles. L'IA, comme système utilisant des modèles réglés automatiquement sur des données vastes, entre autres linguistiques, est déjà installée dans nos pratiques dès lors qu'on utilise de la saisie prédictive ou de la reconnaissance vocale sur smartphone. Ce n'est que le début de son intégration sociale. Je compare son intégration sociale à celle des téléphones portables. Je décris en 12 points comment cette révolution technologique précédente s'était installée dans nos modes de vies, et j'explique pour chacune de ces étapes comment celle de l'IA est comparable. Les étapes actuelles de développement de l'IA préparent le déploiement des applications sur données personnelles. J'explique précisément pourquoi les applications d'IA sur données personnelles présentent, de mon point de vue, le danger d'une réduction de masse de la diversité linguistique mondiale à très court terme. Si l'intégration rapide de l'IA est probablement inévitable, ce danger précis de l'effet de réduction linguistique est, lui, évitable en rendant compatibles nos langues avec ces modèles. J'appelle à une mobilisation publique, industrielle, scientifique et sociétale pour que les langues humaines passent la vague.
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... ethical dative (6) Et un sourire que Moller te vous lui aurait bien refilé une baffe (,*à toi /*à nous). ... French judgements of those of Mélanie Jouitteau, native speaker of Nantais French, are marked [MJ], including the data taken... more
... ethical dative (6) Et un sourire que Moller te vous lui aurait bien refilé une baffe (,*à toi /*à nous). ... French judgements of those of Mélanie Jouitteau, native speaker of Nantais French, are marked [MJ], including the data taken from the internet conformant to her judgments. ...
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La linguistique comme science ouverte Une expérience de recherche citoyenne à carnets ouverts sur la grammaire du breton Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellectuelle et est la... more
La linguistique comme science ouverte Une expérience de recherche citoyenne à carnets ouverts sur la grammaire du breton Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellectuelle et est la propriété exclusive de l'éditeur. Les œuvres figurant sur ce site peuvent être consultées et reproduites sur un support papier ou numérique sous réserve qu'elles soient strictement réservées à un usage soit personnel, soit scientifique ou pédagogique excluant toute exploitation commerciale. La reproduction devra obligatoirement mentionner l'éditeur, le nom de la revue, l'auteur et la référence du document. Toute autre reproduction est interdite sauf accord préalable de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Revues.org est un portail de revues en sciences humaines et sociales développé par le Cléo, Centre pour l'édition
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Cet article s'adresse à la fois aux chercheurs en sciences humaines et aux structures de politique linguistique des langues minorisées. Il comprend un résumé compréhensible de la chaîne de développement du numérique pour le Traitement... more
Cet article s'adresse à la fois aux chercheurs en sciences humaines et aux structures de politique linguistique des langues minorisées. Il comprend un résumé compréhensible de la chaîne de développement du numérique pour le Traitement Automatique des Langues (TAL), avec une attention particulière pour ces langues qui n'ont pas des corpus aussi vastes que le français ou l'anglais. Dans le contexte de la révolution de l'Intelligence Artificielle (IA), dont j'explique les enjeux pour ces langues à corpus restreint, je liste les recommandations indispensables au développement de ressources pérennes à même d'assurer un développement durable, avec une liste des pièges et mécompréhensions les plus courantes. L'article prend le breton comme exemple illustratif d'une langue à corpus restreint démontrant des ressources et applications numériques émergentes. Ses conclusions s'appliquent largement à toutes les langues à corpus restreint dont le développement numérique est amorcé, mais encore insuffisant pour profiter directement des applications d'IA développées actuellement pour les langues à corpus massif.
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Cet article est une traduction en français d’un article publié en anglais: Jouitteau, Mélanie 2023. 'A survey of Breton expressive words', Jeffrey P. Williams (éd.), Expressivity in the European Linguistic Sphere, Cambridge University... more
Cet article est une traduction en français d’un article publié en anglais:
Jouitteau, Mélanie 2023. 'A survey of Breton expressive words', Jeffrey P. Williams (éd.), Expressivity in the European Linguistic Sphere, Cambridge University Press, chap. 9, xx-xx.
Cet article propose un classement organisé et une discussion des mots expressifs en breton. Les mots expressifs sont définis comme des expressions dont la morphophonologie n'est pas entièrement arbitraire, mais en partie iconique. J'en dresse l'inventaire en breton, langue celtique moderne parlée dans l'ouest de la France en contexte bilingue avec le français. Je discute de la productivité des opérations de la morphologie expressive, de l'exclusivité de leur utilisation à des fins expressives, et de leur degré d'iconicité. Pour chaque catégorie, je montre quelles opérations ou structures peuvent être exclusives aux mots expressifs.
Jouitteau, Mélanie 2023. 'A survey of Breton expressive words', Jeffrey P. Williams (éd.), Expressivity in the European Linguistic Sphere, Cambridge University Press, chap. 9, xx-xx.
Cet article propose un classement organisé et une discussion des mots expressifs en breton. Les mots expressifs sont définis comme des expressions dont la morphophonologie n'est pas entièrement arbitraire, mais en partie iconique. J'en dresse l'inventaire en breton, langue celtique moderne parlée dans l'ouest de la France en contexte bilingue avec le français. Je discute de la productivité des opérations de la morphologie expressive, de l'exclusivité de leur utilisation à des fins expressives, et de leur degré d'iconicité. Pour chaque catégorie, je montre quelles opérations ou structures peuvent être exclusives aux mots expressifs.
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Humans possess a cognitive faculty to acquire and practice multiple linguistic systems. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of language, monolingualism emerges as... more
Humans possess a cognitive faculty to acquire and practice
multiple linguistic systems. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in
understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of
language, monolingualism emerges as the marked case. Considering the
biological foundations of human language, and the input impoverishment
necessary for the realization of monolingualism, I propose that
monolingualism is a social practice of body modification. Like cranial shape
modification in babies, foot binding, or tight-lacing of girls, the social
practice of monolingualism takes advantage of the plasticity of human
bodies in order to alter the natural growth of children before puberty,
obtaining a shape and behaviour that conspicuously mark their bodies and
deliver a desired social signal. The social practice of monolingualism forces
the faculty of language (the linguistic brain organ) into a state of functional
atrophy. I explore the predictions that this proposal makes and discuss
them in taking the French state as a case study that provides adequate
historical context for the development of such a body modification practice
in modern Europe.
multiple linguistic systems. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in
understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of
language, monolingualism emerges as the marked case. Considering the
biological foundations of human language, and the input impoverishment
necessary for the realization of monolingualism, I propose that
monolingualism is a social practice of body modification. Like cranial shape
modification in babies, foot binding, or tight-lacing of girls, the social
practice of monolingualism takes advantage of the plasticity of human
bodies in order to alter the natural growth of children before puberty,
obtaining a shape and behaviour that conspicuously mark their bodies and
deliver a desired social signal. The social practice of monolingualism forces
the faculty of language (the linguistic brain organ) into a state of functional
atrophy. I explore the predictions that this proposal makes and discuss
them in taking the French state as a case study that provides adequate
historical context for the development of such a body modification practice
in modern Europe.
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Anthropology of the Body, Bilingualism & the brain, Minority Studies, Cognitive Linguistics, Minority Languages, and 8 moreMinority language education, Minority language rights, Tattoos, Monolingualism, Plasticity of the Brain, Foot Binding, Attitudes Towards Minority Languages and Dialects, and French monolingualism
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This paper provides an organized ranking and a discussion of expressives in Breton. Expressives are defined as expressions whose morphophonology is not entirely arbitrary, partly iconic. I provide an inventory of them in Breton, a Celtic... more
This paper provides an organized ranking and a discussion of expressives in Breton. Expressives are defined as expressions whose morphophonology is not entirely arbitrary, partly iconic. I provide an inventory of them in Breton, a Celtic modern language spoken in Western France in a bilingual context with French. I discuss the productivity of the operations of expressive morphology, their exclusive use for expressive means, and their degree of iconicity. I show for each category in turn what operations or structures might be exclusive to expressive words.
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In the French State, only French is the official language, enshrined in the Constitution since 1992. All other languages spoken are minority languages. Some are regional languages, historically linked to a relatively stable space, and... more
In the French State, only French is the official language, enshrined in the Constitution since 1992. All other languages spoken are minority languages. Some are regional languages, historically linked to a relatively stable space, and others non-territorialized, as in the case of the languages spoken by nomadic populations within a territory (romani chib, sintó, kaló), or brought together by common practices (Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish). In this article I present an inventory of the rich linguistic diversity of the languages of the French state, discussing the objective approach to what constitutes diversity.
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Humans possess a cognitive faculty to acquire and practice multiple linguistic systems. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of language, monolingualism emerges as the... more
Humans possess a cognitive faculty to acquire and practice multiple linguistic systems. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of language, monolingualism emerges as the marked case. Considering the biological foundations of human language, and the input impoverishment necessary for the realization of monolingualism, I propose that monolingualism is a social practice of body modification. Like cranial shape modification in babies, foot binding, or tight-lacing of girls, the social practice of monolingualism takes advantage of the plasticity of human bodies in order to alter the natural growth of children before puberty, obtaining a shape and behaviour that conspicuously mark their bodies and deliver a desired social signal. The social practice of monolingualism forces the faculty of language (the linguistic brain organ) into a state of functional atrophy. I explore the predictions that this proposal makes and discuss them in taking the French state as a case study that provides adequate historical context for the development of such a body modification practice in modern Europe.
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In this article, formal linguist Mélanie Jouitteau and web developer Reun Bideault present a synthesis of the numeric and NLP tools available or in development for Breton. They discuss the resources for its development. NLP of Breton is... more
In this article, formal linguist Mélanie Jouitteau and web developer Reun Bideault present a synthesis of the numeric and NLP tools available or in development for Breton. They discuss the resources for its development. NLP of Breton is still objectively poorly developed, but some new tools have just been made available, which opens a real potential for development. We present a state-of-the-art of the field, and we detail how the first tree bank Universal Dependencies, created by Tyers & Ravishankar (2018) could be reinforced by 25000 additional glossed sentences in the databank of the wikigrammar ARBRES (Jouitteau (2009-).
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I present a linguistic effect by which heritage language speakers over-represent traditional input in their acquisition system. Data from native young adults that are children of the missing link generation is presented. Presence of... more
I present a linguistic effect by which heritage language speakers over-represent traditional input in their acquisition system. Data from native young adults that are children of the missing link generation is presented. Presence of dialectal features suggest that they disqualify the input of insecure L2 speakers of Standard Breton and prefer the input of linguistically secure speakers in the making of their own generational variety. Given the socio-linguistics of Breton, this effect goes both against statistical and sociological models of acquisition because speakers disregard features of Standard Breton, which is the socially valorised variety accessible to them and valued by school and media. I detail three case paradigms where grammars of native young adults present features of traditional dialects for which they had very rare input, together with consistent counter-influence in both Standard Breton or French. The article provides baselines for the investigation of the syntax of the generation of Breton speakers who received full Breton schooling in immersion schools. It shows that influence from both Standard Breton and French is not incompatible with native-like properties in their Breton syntax.
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Breton φ-agreement is characterized by the Complementarity Effect, which allows pro-dropped but not lexical DPs to control φ-agreement. We contrast verbal and prepositional systems: a lexical DP co-occurs with the root form of a... more
Breton φ-agreement is characterized by the Complementarity Effect, which allows pro-dropped but not lexical DPs to control φ-agreement. We contrast verbal and prepositional systems: a lexical DP co-occurs with the root form of a preposition, but with a 3rd.sg. (frozen agreement) form of a verb. We argue that frozen agreement arises through φ-relativized locality: the Breton vP independently shows nominal properties, and thus intervenes for agreement. The φ-probe of T Agrees with the vP for 3rd.sg. rather than the vP-internal subject. In the prepositional system on the other hand, lexical DPs occur with bare stems and φ-inflection spells out affixed pronouns.
The mechanics predict that in verbal constructions where the subject originates outside the vP, it is local enough to control the agreement of T, which correctly yields Have under a prepositional analysis as the sole verb immune to the Complementarity Effect. Finally, we propose a typology of Complementarity Effects in agreement depending on the interaction of intervention (frozen agreement) and syntactic incorporation past the intervener.
The mechanics predict that in verbal constructions where the subject originates outside the vP, it is local enough to control the agreement of T, which correctly yields Have under a prepositional analysis as the sole verb immune to the Complementarity Effect. Finally, we propose a typology of Complementarity Effects in agreement depending on the interaction of intervention (frozen agreement) and syntactic incorporation past the intervener.
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traduction en français de l'article original en breton.Jouitteau, Mélanie. 2018a. 'Feminism Breizh-izel, ar wagenn c’hwitet', ''Kazetenn Ya'' 665, 06 mars, p.4
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I claim that the linguistic message that realizes syntax is multichannel. The syntax-PF interface is the interface of syntax with all the sensorimotor systems available to humans, including, for oral languages, minimal vocalic... more
I claim that the linguistic message that realizes syntax is multichannel. The syntax-PF interface is the interface of syntax with all the sensorimotor systems available to humans, including, for oral languages, minimal vocalic productions, intonation, hand movement and body gestures. I show that the realization of syntactic structure consists of (i) segmental oral morphemes, (ii) non-segmental oral morphemes (intonation), and (iii) nonoral morphemes (segmental or not; hand movements, upper body gestures and face movements). In particular, the latter predicts the use of non-oral morphemes in oral languages, since the speakers of oral languages have it available in their sensorimotor system. I focus on the CP domain of oral languages, and show that its functional projections can be realized by either (i), (ii) and (iii). The empirical body of this article concentrates on the multichannel Q particles in French, Atlantic French and British English.
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This work is a study of the French impersonal <em>on</em> and a theory of the unique "referential deficiency" of impersonals: a range of uses that spans those covered by indefinites and definites; neutrality about... more
This work is a study of the French impersonal <em>on</em> and a theory of the unique "referential deficiency" of impersonals: a range of uses that spans those covered by indefinites and definites; neutrality about content like number; systematic participation in syntactic and semantic dependencies but with unparalleled restrictions like binding of only local, number-neutral anaphora. Current understanding of the syntax and semantics of DPs and properties of French let us study this behavior in depth and extend previous findings, often in unexpected ways. The study reveals a DP with content unique in French but drawing only on options available in UG. It leads to a theory of impersonal <em>on</em> as an indefinite DP whose content interacts with certain theories of phi-features, indefinites and definites, and anaphoric dependencies to give an explanatory account of the nature of impersonals. In turn, impersonal <em>on</em> contributes to ...
&amp;amp;quot;I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this... more
&amp;amp;quot;I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this view, so-called verb first orders prototypically illustrated by Welsh result from inconspicuous strategies to fill in the preverbal position, whereas traditional verb second prototypically illustrated by Breton results from conspicuous strategies to fill in the preverbal position. I show that both conspicuous and inconspicuous verb second orders are present in both Welsh and Breton. The difference in word order between Welsh and Breton is reduced to (i) a lexical parameter, that is availability of a free preverbal expletive particle in Welsh, and (ii) a syntactic parameter: Breton allows for the creation of expletives by short movement, a parameter shared with Icelandic and other languages instantiating stylistic fronting.&amp;amp;quot;
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Abstract: I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this view,... more
Abstract: I argue that despite their traditional verb-first vs. verb second partition, Welsh and Breton both instantiate a ban on verb-first and I present an analysis of these two languages as fundamentally verb second. In this view, so-called verb first orders prototypically illustrated by Welsh result from inconspicuous strategies to fill in the preverbal position, whereas traditional verb second prototypically illustrated by Breton results from conspicuous strategies to fill in the preverbal position. I show that both conspicuous and inconspicuous verb second orders are present in both Welsh and Breton. The difference in word order between Welsh and Breton is reduced to (i) a lexical parameter, that is availability of a free preverbal expletive particle in Welsh, and (ii) a syntactic parameter: Breton allows for the creation of expletives by short movement, a parameter shared with Icelandic and other languages instantiating stylistic fronting.
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Welsh, Breton, Icelandic, Celtic, Verb Second, and 4 moreBrythonic, EPP, Expletives, and Stylistic Fronting
1. Obligatory preverbal sounds or gestures in subject drop contexts The preverbal position in ‘Atlantic French ’ can be filled by either a DP subject as is normally the case in standard French, a sound or a gesture. This is illustrated in... more
1. Obligatory preverbal sounds or gestures in subject drop contexts The preverbal position in ‘Atlantic French ’ can be filled by either a DP subject as is normally the case in standard French, a sound or a gesture. This is illustrated in (1-4) where � stands for a sound and � for a gesture. (1) Context: ‘Il est encore pas là aujourd’hui... He is again not here today.’ (DPsubject /�/�) viendra demain, tu verras… will-come tomorrow, you will.see ‘He’ll come tomorrow, you’ll see.’ (2) Context: ‘J’te prends en voiture à la gare si tu loupes ton train? Do you want me to fetch you with the car if you miss your train?’ (DP subject /�/�) prendra le train d ’ après et py c’est tout. will.take the train of after and then it is all ‘I’ll take the next train and that’s all.’ (3) Context: Someone is looking desperately for something... (DP subject /�/�) trouvera ça une aut ’ fois. will.find that an-other time ‘I / you / he / she / we will.find that another time.’ (4) Context: entering a room wh...
Cette enquete porte sur les pronoms impersonnels dans le bre ton vannetais de Loeiz Herrieu, tels qu'observes dans le corpus Kammdro an Ankou, journal personnel quotidien en breton vannetais d'un soldat de la guerre de 191418 1.... more
Cette enquete porte sur les pronoms impersonnels dans le bre ton vannetais de Loeiz Herrieu, tels qu'observes dans le corpus Kammdro an Ankou, journal personnel quotidien en breton vannetais d'un soldat de la guerre de 191418 1. J'ai choisi ce texte car il est un terrain propice aux occurrences de pronoms impersonnels en r, l'impersonnel d'inflexion verbale propre aux langues celtiques comme illustre en (1) a. La profusion d'impersonnels en-r dans le texte s'explique aisement. D'abord, le corpus est redige au temps present, ou la forme en r est morphologiquement vivante. ensuite, l'auteur produit de courts recits d'une journee durant quatre ans, pendant lesquels il cumule de multiples raisons tant psychologiques que militaires de proceder a une impersonnalisation repetee des acteurs. La repetition monotone de scenarios semblables offre ce qui se rapproche le plus en corpus de paires minimales pragmatiques : on peut saisir des formes d'...
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Cette these fournit une analyse detaillee d'une langue generalement peu etudiee, le breton (celtique continental contemporain). Son but est double: (i) - proposer une reference solide pour l'etude de la langue bretonne, ainsi que... more
Cette these fournit une analyse detaillee d'une langue generalement peu etudiee, le breton (celtique continental contemporain). Son but est double: (i) - proposer une reference solide pour l'etude de la langue bretonne, ainsi que des langues celtiques et semitiques. Je resume et evalue les differentes propositions qui ont ete faites, et propose de nouvelles solutions, originales, efficaces et argumentees. (ii) - rendre accessible pour la communaute linguistique les reponses et nouvelles questions que le breton offre a certains enjeux theoriques cruciaux pour la grammaire generative et la typologie des langues. Je montre, en particulier, que la langue bretonne est un cas precieux pour enqueter sur le Principe de Projection Etendue (EPP), ou pour le debat sur la caracterisation des proprietes verbo-nominales. En accord avec mes resultats, je propose une nouvelle classification typologique des langues qui transcende l'ancienne opposition langue a verbe second vs. langue a v...
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Fin ar c'hanved all. Emaon gant ur vignonez o prientin senenn ur fest-noz a zo da vezan. Ur paotr hanter-kant vloaz, pouez-mouezh krenv Breizh-Izel gantan, a zeu, lentig, da laret pegen laouen eo e vefe aozet ur fest-noz e kreiz-ker... more
Fin ar c'hanved all. Emaon gant ur vignonez o prientin senenn ur fest-noz a zo da vezan. Ur paotr hanter-kant vloaz, pouez-mouezh krenv Breizh-Izel gantan, a zeu, lentig, da laret pegen laouen eo e vefe aozet ur fest-noz e kreiz-ker Naoned. Kenderc'hel a ra asuroc'h, o c'hourc'hemenn deomp, ni merc'hed fur a gred distrein d'an doareou kozh, da hengouniou ur mare ma ouie ar merc'hed diouzh o flas dereat. Klask a reomp ur sin bennak eman o farsal. Blev. A-greiz-galon eman o klask rein pour deomp! Anat eo dezhan bourrin sevenaduriou Breizh a dalvez kement hag embann ur blijadur divent oc'h asantin d'ur plas breizhadez hengounel, ha lakaat a-gostez gwiriou diazez deomp. O c'houzout ar pezh oa skrivet war ma z/T-shirt hag ar fed e oamp en ur greizenn sokial skwatet gant pegsuniou feminist e-leizh, e kinnigan deoc'h ober Jojot anezhan, peadra da rentan enor d'e ziouer a jugeotte. Bezit dinec'h, ne oa ket bet gloazet ar paotr met en e...
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Breton tensed verbs show an synthetic/analytic structure alternation ( I.know vs. to.know I.do ), that is not conditioned by their semantic or aspectual structure but by their syntactic environment, namely word order. Such a paradigm of... more
Breton tensed verbs show an synthetic/analytic structure alternation ( I.know vs. to.know I.do ), that is not conditioned by their semantic or aspectual structure but by their syntactic environment, namely word order. Such a paradigm of verb-doubling poses a strong case against iconicity, because knowing where a verb can double requires full information about the entire derivation of the sentence. The sentence is correct if and only if the tensed element is not at the left-edge of the sentence. The infinitive form of the analytic construction prevents the tensed element from occurring in the most left-edge position. This paper proposes that the analytic structure ( to.know I.do ) responds to the same trigger as expletive insertion ( expl I.know ). I claim that analytic tense formation is a last-resort strategy that forms the equivalent of an expletive by excorporation of the verbal root out of the complex tensed head. The excorporated lexical verb appears fronted as an infinitive fo...
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Celtic and Semitic languages show the following clustering of typological properties: (i) the Complementarity Principle in the verbal agreement system; (ii) licensing of a genitive dependent by a construct state; (iii) a verbal... more
Celtic and Semitic languages show the following clustering of typological properties: (i) the Complementarity Principle in the verbal agreement system; (ii) licensing of a genitive dependent by a construct state; (iii) a verbal construction whose object bears genitive. The aim of this paper is to show how (i-iii) are derived in one of these languages taken as a case study. I will show that in the Breton language (Continental Celtic), the three properties mentioned above follow straightforwardly from one parameter: the interpretability of the [D] feature on v as represented in (1a), where v is a functional projection similar to D in a DP structure in (1b).
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We discuss the properties of ethical datives in French, assembling diagnostics to differentiate them from other datives and to establish their properties. Ethical datives are introduced above the thematic and Case/A-movement domains, and... more
We discuss the properties of ethical datives in French, assembling diagnostics to differentiate them from other datives and to establish their properties. Ethical datives are introduced above the thematic and Case/A-movement domains, and do not participate in these systems, unlike both core and extended (benefactive, possessor) datives. They are also independent of the C-system properties of Force, Finiteness and Tense. However, they are nevertheless integrated into the morphosyntax of the clause.
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Hirio an deiz, sanset, e vez un tammig aesoc’h d’ar re a oar brezhoneg kavout ul labour er yezh, ha tud deuet a lak o anv bep bloaz evit ar stummaduriou war hir-dermen, hag ar c’henteliou noz. Met penaos vez desket ar yezh, ha gant piv?... more
Hirio an deiz, sanset, e vez un tammig aesoc’h d’ar re a oar brezhoneg kavout ul labour er yezh, ha tud deuet a lak o anv bep bloaz evit ar stummaduriou war hir-dermen, hag ar c’henteliou noz. Met penaos vez desket ar yezh, ha gant piv? Diouzh piv eo ar binviji dagogel a vez kinniget d’an deraouidi? Peseurt skeudenn sevenadurel a vez kinniget d’an dud a zo o teskin brezhoneg hiriv an deiz? Petra eo poltred ar vrezhonegerien hervez ar skeudennou el levriou ‘pedagogel’ ? Peseurt plas aroueziel a vez kinniget d’ar merc’hed eno? Daoust hag e klot gant Breizh a-vreman? Daoust hag e klot gant hon c’hoantou evit an dazont? Setu ar goulennou em eus bet c’hoant klask ur respont dezho aman. Evit diskrivan skeudenn ar vrezhonegerien a vez kinniget d’an deraouidi, on bet o klask ebarzh al levriou savet a-ratozh-kaer ‘vit ar re a grog gant ar yezh: hentennou brezhoneg a-bep seurt, pe yezhadurigou. N’em eus ket choazet a-ratozh-kaer hentenn-man-hentenn. Tapet em eus an hentennou em boa bet tro da...
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I investigate a Breton paradigm where excorporation takes place from morphological amalgams such as inflected lexical verbs. I propose that Breton analytic structures with auxiliation in 'do' illustrate a case of excorporation... more
I investigate a Breton paradigm where excorporation takes place from morphological amalgams such as inflected lexical verbs. I propose that Breton analytic structures with auxiliation in 'do' illustrate a case of excorporation outside of syntax, in realizational morphology. The distribution of Breton excorporation is directly dependent on the output of the syntactic module : word order. The trigger for excorporation, Late Expletive Insertion Trigger, is itself at the interface, after syntax and before phonology. Excorporation out of the inflected head asks for repair strategies in order to pass the Stray Affix Filter : 'do' support insertion leads to regular analytic structures in 'do' (to.know do.1SG, 'I know'). Another last resort strategy is to pronounce the lower copy of the lexical verb, which leads to doubling structures (to.know know.1SG, 'I know'). Idiosyncrasy of the latter confirms that repairs of excorporation are not syntactic.
V2 as obligatory exponence at the sentence level and typological implications Melanie Jouitteau, CNRS, IKER, UMR 5478 Final version to be published in Rethinking V2, Sam Wolfe & Rebecca Woods (eds.), Oxford, Oxford University Press. This... more
V2 as obligatory exponence at the sentence level and typological implications Melanie Jouitteau, CNRS, IKER, UMR 5478 Final version to be published in Rethinking V2, Sam Wolfe & Rebecca Woods (eds.), Oxford, Oxford University Press. This paper is an inquiry about the subcomponent of the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) that is relevant for second position phenomena: the Left Edge Filling Trigger (LEFT). LEFT basically amounts to a classical morphological obligatory exponence effect, except it is instantiated at the sentence level. It crosslinguistically operates in a postsyntactic realizational morphological module. I show that LEFT is an active rule of Universal Grammar, providing empirical arguments from Breton, a Celtic VSO language showing an extra conspicuous V2 requirement. I propose a radical reanalysis of language typology of word order. Classical V2 languages are conspicuously V2. SVO is a subtype. So-called V1 languages are either predicate fronting languages (Tense sec...
Cet article est une enquete sur la syntaxe et la variation parametrique du verbe 'avoir', a partir du domaine empirique de la variation dialectale et diachronique du breton. Nous introduisons tout d'abord le systeme... more
Cet article est une enquete sur la syntaxe et la variation parametrique du verbe 'avoir', a partir du domaine empirique de la variation dialectale et diachronique du breton. Nous introduisons tout d'abord le systeme d'accord celtique caracterisable par l'effet de complementarite, puis nous montrons en quoi le verbe 'avoir' breton est unique, tant au milieu des autres langues celtiques qu'a l'interieur meme du systeme breton. Nous proposons des tests syntaxiques permettant de reveler sa structure interne a travers differents stades d'evolution de la langue, allant d'une structure analytique de type mihi est a une structure pleinement lexicalisee de type avoir. Nous developpons les predictions de nos hypotheses et montrons comment, pour chaque dialecte du breton, le systeme d'accord, la morphologie de l'accord, le comportement des objets et les paradigmes de l'infinitifs decoulent de la structure postulee.
Research Interests:
I present a linguistic effect by which heritage language speakers overrepresent traditional input in their acquisition system. Data from native young adults that are children of the missing link generation is presented. Presence of... more
I present a linguistic effect by which heritage language speakers overrepresent traditional input in their acquisition system. Data from native young adults that are children of the missing link generation is presented. Presence of dialectal features suggest that they disqualify the input of insecure L2 speakers of Standard Breton and prefer the input of linguistically secure speakers in the making of their own generational variety. Given the socio-linguistics of Breton, this effect goes both against statistical and sociological models of acquisition because speakers disregard features of Standard Breton, which is the socially valorised variety accessible to them and valued by school and media. I detail three case paradigms where grammars of native young adults present features of traditional dialects for which they had very rare input, together with consistent counter-influence in both Standard Breton or French. The article provides baselines for the investigation of the syntax of ...
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or... more
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Verb Second and the Left Edge Filling Trigger Mélanie Jouitteau
Le breton fait partie des langues qui permettent deux formes de conjugaison analytique (terme abrege ici en ‘CA’). Dans le cas le plus courant, l’infinitif precede l’auxiliaire ‘faire’ qui porte alors ses marques de temps et d’accord... more
Le breton fait partie des langues qui permettent deux formes de conjugaison analytique (terme abrege ici en ‘CA’). Dans le cas le plus courant, l’infinitif precede l’auxiliaire ‘faire’ qui porte alors ses marques de temps et d’accord comme en (1)a. Dans l’autre, le verbe infinitif precede sa propre forme flechie comme en (1)b. Le verbe lexical est alors double, sans que le critere thematique impose une multiplication des arguments. Dans les deux cas en (1), les deux occurrences verbales different phonologiquement, sont contraintes par l’ordre relatif [VINF-V], et le verbe lexical non-tense satisfait a la regle qui impose que le verbe flechi se trouve en seconde position (langue dite a verbe second; ‘V2’). (1) a. Mont a ran d’ ar jardrin. aller R fais.1SG P DET jardin ‘Je vais au jardin.’ b. Mont a yan d’ ar jardrin. aller R vais.1SG P DET jardin ‘Je vais au jardin.’ Je vais montrer que la conjugaison en (1)a est pleinement productive, mais pas celle en (1)b, qui porte la marque d’un...