University:
Boston University
Course:
CAS LX 110 | Say What? Accents, Dialects, and Society
Academic year:

2023
Views:

394

Pages:

23
Author:

5CelestialChronicle

20 11 sio n Ve r Pr ep ub lis he d Leg it, floor it, snuff it: A synchronic and diachronic analysis of dummy it. 20 11 Dummy it (1) (…) when six or seven groups would bus it from city, (…). but also diachronically … Ve r (1) Let vs legge it a little. [OED 1601] sio n [Detroit Free Press 1995] Pr ep ub lis he d (2) I have the pleasure to inform you that your mother-in-law snuffed it. [OED 1896] 2 sio n 20 11 Dummy it Ve r When considering to leg it, to snuff it, … we are faced with the question of: Pr ep ub lis he d “What motivates the occurrence of it ?” 3 20 11 Structure Introduction II. Status of dummy it III. Dummy it in previous research IV. Imperatives and dummy it V. Does dummy it enhance the verbal territory of a V? VI. The role of pseudo-objects in (de)transitivization VII. Conclusion Pr ep ub lis he d Ve r sio n I. 4 20 11 Dummy it violates Argument Structure Constraints frog is generally assumed to be a Vintr (if a V at all …) sio n OED: “intr., and trans. with it. slang (chiefly U.S.). To move quickly, to hurry; to leap or move like a frog.” d Ve r (1) He appeared in the evening frogging Ø up the steps of the dwelling opposite. [Cox, P. Squibs of California, 1874] intransitive use the Ox, 1945] ep ub lis he (2) The four of us frogged it along the dark lane. [Kitchen, F. Brother to semi-transitive use But not with a fully-fledged O: (3) *frogging the steps of the dwelling opposite Pr pseudo-object it appears to be licensed by Vintr transitive use 5 sio n 20 11 What is the status of it? b. Passivization test Pr ep ub lis he c. Extraction test d a. Insertion test Ve r Standard tests for direct objecthood: 6 sio n 20 11 Standard tests for direct objecthood: a. Insertion test [Kozinsky 1979: 158] Ve r Principle: V and Od tend to be adjacent Everybody out! Move it! [COCA 1991] (2) *... move quickly it out! ep ub lis he d (1) Pr dummy it behaves just like Ods by not allowing insertions between V and NP. 7 Passivization Test 20 11 b. Ve r sio n (1) I have the pleasure to inform you that your mother-in-law snuffed it. [OED 1896] active passive ep ub lis he d (2) *(...) that it was snuffed by your mother-in-law. Pr unlike canonical Ods dummy it does not allow passivization 8 Extraction Test 20 11 c. sio n (1) Every year, your mother-in-law insists on planning the entire Thanksgiving meal (…). [COCA 2009] Ve r (2) It is the entire Thanksgiving meal that your mother-in-law insists on planning. Od extractable ep ub lis he d (3) ... your mother-in-law snuffed it. (4) *it was it that your mother-in-law snuffed. Od non-extractable Pr unlike canonical Ods dummy it does not allow extraction 9 Tests for direct objecthood sio n 20 11 Tab. 1. - Extraction + + - - Dummy it ep ub lis he d Direct objects Passivization Ve r Insertion - Pr it ~ pseudo-object 10 20 11 Structure Introduction II. Status of dummy it III. Dummy it in previous research IV. Imperatives and dummy it V. Does dummy it enhance the verbal territory of a V? VI. The role of pseudo-objects in (de)transitivization VII. Conclusion Pr ep ub lis he d Ve r sio n I. 11 sio n 20 11 Dummy it in previous research Ve r a. Listed as an idiomatic use that causes pitfalls in automatic POS tagging. [cf. Boyd et al. 2005: 40] b. Cited as part of a set of resultative constructions ep ub lis he d 1988: 55] [cf. Salkoff c. Mentioned as a structure that extends from OE to EModE associated with a change from Synthetic > Analytic [cf. Pr Rissanen 1999: 261] 12 20 11 sio n Extending Salkoff’s [1988: 45] list of resultatives in the “wayconstruction paradigm” Possessive + way Reflexive self dummy it Ø Ve r 7 pseudo-objects that share some degree of functional overlap illustrated for the V MOVE: d (1) They run in laughing (…) as Virgil moves his way into the center (…). [COCA 1999] [BNC wridom1] ep ub lis he (2) Move yourself, Porter, said the uniformed figure brusquely. (3) Hurry up! Tom yelled from the living room a couple of days later. Move it, Judy. Pr (4) He shouted at Mariana, grabbing at her arms and dragging her upright. Move ! he yelled. Quick-! [BNC wridom1] 13 Ve r sio n 20 11 7 Pseudo-objects illustrated for the V MOVE POSS way Reflexive self dummy it Ø Cognate objects _________________ Particle Particle + Reflexive self (1) Steven moves a sudden move toward the Police Officer. d [COCA] ep ub lis he (2) We'll have to move on! she sobbed. [BNC wridom1] (3) We do deep breathing exercises instead, said Otley, (…), his paunch moving itself up a notch. [BNC wridom1] Pr All these pseudo-objects are semantically light, ie they do not 14 carry a significant semantic load. 20 11 Structure State of the art II. Status of dummy it III. Imperatives and dummy it IV. Does dummy it enhance the verbal territory of a V? V. The role of pseudo-objects in (de)transitivization VI. Conclusion Pr ep ub lis he d Ve r sio n I. 15 20 11 Imperatives and dummy it Dummy it occurs strikingly often with imperatives. Rissanen [1999:256]: originally intr. motion Vs can take a coreferential O in the imperative: sio n • (1) Good Margaret runne thee to the parlour [Shakespeare. Much Ado Ve r about Nothing, c. 1598] • ep ub lis he d “They seem to be retained longest in imperatives“ [Rissanen 1999:256]. Explanation in terms of transitivization to express “involvement“ or “emphasis“ Henry [1995:50]: imperatives in Belfast often involve a coreferential O. (2) Run youse to the telephone! • Similar uses appear to be found in German: Pr (3) Geh du ans Telefon! (contrastive stress) Geh Ø ans Telefon! ‘answer the phone‘ 16 20 11 Strikingly, other pseudo-objects also tend to occur with imperatives … sio n particles: Ve r (1) Geh mal! Nimm nur! Schau doch! Are move it! shove it! somehow related to these strategies? Do they reinforce the imperative? • Is a monosyllabic V not sufficient to express an illocutionary act as forceful as the imperative? ep ub lis he d • Pr But: This cannot be the whole story because dummy it is not restricted to imperatives. 17 20 11 Structure State of the art II. Status of dummy it III. Imperatives and dummy it IV. Does dummy it enhance the verbal territory of a V? V. The role of pseudo-objects in (de)transitivization VI. Conclusion Pr ep ub lis he d Ve r sio n I. 18 sio n 20 11 It-support? d Ve r Rissanen [1999: 26]: “It can often be found with verbs recently converted from adjectives or nouns. The dummy object probably made it easier to analyse the new derivative as a verb“: ep ub lis he (1) The Turks could not French it so handsomely. [OED, cited in Rissanen 1999: 261] Pr Dummy it highlights the verbiness of weakly established Vs 19 ep ub lis he d Ve r sio n 20 11 Are the Vs listed in the OED or Merriam-Webster‘s? Pr Vs taking dummy it are inconsistently treated as trans. or intr. 20 20 11 Does it enhance the verbal territory of already existing Vs? sio n floor is well-established in the sense: ‘to cover with a floor’ or “to bring to the floor, knock down (boxing), have a fall. [OED] Ve r (40) Eke pave or floore it wele in somer tyde. [OED: Palladius’ De Re Rustica, c. 1420] well-established sense ep ub lis he d (41) He commanded them all to shoote at once, and flore the enemie, if possible they could. [OED: Lancashire Tracts 1642] well-established sense But no OED entry for: (42) "Mansell said: “I got a good start and I just floored it.” [The Guardian 1997] new sense ‘accelerate’ Pr in assuming new V senses floor is equipped with the pseudoobject it thereby modulating its transitivity. 21 sio n 20 11 Metaphorical extension Ve r (1) "I was going about 55kph [34mph] on a slight descent and he [the motorbike rider] just floored it to get through a gap from behind (…) [The Guardian 2003] d no gas pedal involved that might be floored, but a handle bar Pr Headline] [The Guardian 2000 ep ub lis he (2) Highway panic as snake legs it to freedom. 22 sio n > ep ub lis he Concrete Primary Literal Ve r Loss of number opposition The man legged it. *The men legged them. Transition of meaning d 1. (1) (2) 2. 20 11 Dummy it as an instance of grammaticalization Abstract Secondary Figurative OED: earliest sense of snuff (14. cent.): “That portion of a wick, etc., which is partly consumed in the course of burning (…)” to snuff a candle > person snuffs it Pr 3. Semantic bleaching of it: non-referential 23