Studii şi cercetări lingvistice, XXXIX, 2, 1988, 113-117., 1988
Se susține posibilitatea identificării, din perspectivă lingvistică, a criteriilor obiective ale ... more Se susține posibilitatea identificării, din perspectivă lingvistică, a criteriilor obiective ale evaluării unui text poetic. Se prezintă cîteva exemple de corespondențe între criterii ale poeticității fundamentate prin analiza de text și modele critice implicit sau explicit evaluative.
Romanian is one of the most morphologically complex Romance languages. This book is the first eve... more Romanian is one of the most morphologically complex Romance languages. This book is the first ever comprehensive and accessible account of how that morphological system evolved. Here are some of the most salient morphological traits distinctive of this language: it possesses an inflexional case system; unlike other Romance languages, it has an inflexional vocative; the morphological marking of number reached such a level of unpredictability that, for most nouns (and for many adjectives), the form of the plural must be independently specified alongside that of the singular; in addition to masculine and feminine, it seems to possess a third gender, often referred to as a ‘neuter’; its verb system contains a non-finite form, which apparently continues the Latin supine; the infinitive has undergone a morphological split such that one form functions now purely as a noun, while the other remains purely a verb; the distinctive morphology of the subjunctive has largely disappeared; lastly, ...
Periphrasis and Inflexion in Diachrony. A View from Romance (Edited by Adam Ledgeway, John Charles Smith, and Nigel Vincent)), 2022
This chapter investigates the relation between syntheticity and analyticity in the history of Rom... more This chapter investigates the relation between syntheticity and analyticity in the history of Romanian. We empirically note that, against the traditional hypothesis that in the passage from Latin to Romance older synthetic forms were extensively replaced by novel analytic formations, there is a set of old Romanian periphrastic constructions which disappeared in the passage to modern Romanian, and we set our goal to provide an explanation for this less frequent linguistic change. By bringing to the fore data from old and modern Romanian, as well as dialectal Daco-Romanian material, we show that the facts are best explained by appealing to structural factors (i.e. the feature matrix of Romanian auxiliaries) rather than functional factors (competition between functionally equivalent forms, learnèd nature, or rare occurrence in usage).
Helga Bogdan Oprea, Andreea Victoria Grigore, Rodica Zafiu (ed.), Lingvistică românească, lingvistică romanică, Actele celui de al XVI-lea Colocviu internațional al Departamentului de lingvistică, București, Editura Universității din București, p. 139–147., 2017
THE PARTICLE AȘA ('SO‘) IN REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ROMANIAN
(Abstract)
The article summarises the v... more THE PARTICLE AȘA ('SO‘) IN REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ROMANIAN (Abstract) The article summarises the values of the main Romanian manner demonstrative așa 'so‘ (<ECCUM SIC). As many other demonstratives of manner, quality and degree, așa has especially deictic and anaphoric uses, but has also developed many grammatical and discursive functions: as a comparative marker, a general extender, a hedge, a connective word, a marker of the affirmative response, etc. Regional varieties of Romanian show an even more specific value of (a)șa, which is frequently used as a final segment of spatial-temporal and manner adverbials. In this context, (a)șa can be partially combined with some deictic adverbs (ici-șa 'here‘, colo-șa 'there‘), or can become a non-stressed particle of reinforcement, a focus marker, as well as a discourse segmentation device. The pragmaticalization of așa can throw some light on a still unexplained outcome of diachronic change, namely, the large use of the enclitic particle -și (<SIC) in Old Romanian.
This paper aims at demonstrating the explanatory advantages of the old hypothesis concerning the ... more This paper aims at demonstrating the explanatory advantages of the old hypothesis concerning the origins of the auxiliary of the Romanian analytic conditional (aș + infinitive) as deriving from the imperfect tense form of the verb (a) vrea ‘(to) want’ < *volere (< VELLE). The grammaticalization process, reconstructed through the comparison with the other Romance languages and by relating it to typical directions of the linguistic change, presupposes intermediary semantic phases (the future-in-the-past value, the hypothetical value which is mostly counter-factual), whose traces may be found in the first Romanian (translated) texts, but which have been generally considered a consequence of the simple loan translation from the language source. The uses of the conditional with a reduced auxiliary (aș, ai, etc. + infinitive) are related to those (co-occurring in the old texts) of the conditional with a recognisable auxiliary (vrea ‘wanted’ + infinitive), for which the value specifi...
Articolul își propune să demonstreze avantajele explicative ale vechii ipoteze asupra originii au... more Articolul își propune să demonstreze avantajele explicative ale vechii ipoteze asupra originii auxiliarului condiționalului analitic românesc (aș + infinitiv) în imperfectul verbului (a) vrea < *volere (< VELLE). Procesul de gramaticalizare, reconstituit prin comparația cu celelalte limbi romanice și prin raportare la direcții tipice ale schimbării lingvistice, presupune faze semantice intermediare (valoarea de viitor în trecut, valoarea ipotetică preponderent contrafactuală), ale căror urme se pot găsi în primele texte românești (traduse), dar au fost puse, în general, pe seama simplei calchieri din limbile-sursă. Utilizările condiționalului cu auxiliarul cu formă redusă (aș, ai etc. + infinitiv) sînt raportate la cele (coocurente în textele vechi) ale condiționalului în care auxiliarul este recognoscibil (vrea + infinitiv) și pentru care este încă puternică valoarea din prima etapă de gramaticalizare—de viitor în trecut. Textul propune și o explicație pentru formele atipice ...
în Gabriela Pană Dindelegan, Adnana Boioc Apintei, Blanca Croitor (ed.), Variaţie diacronică şi diatopică. Note gramaticale, Bucureşti, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti 2019, [ISBN: 978-606-16-1119-5], p. 243-257.
The subjunctive marker şi in old texts and in contemporary regional varieties
(Abstract)
The arti... more The subjunctive marker şi in old texts and in contemporary regional varieties (Abstract) The article presents what we believe to be the earliest attestations of the particle şi as a subjunctive marker in some old Romanian texts, and describes the contemporary uses of this form in several regional varieties, where şi is a perfect equivalent of standard Romanian să. The article puts forward an explanation for the variation between să and şi, by hypothesizing that both markers underwent a similar grammaticalization cline. It is difficult to decide whether this variation is an old phenomenon, due to a common origin, or a more recent one, with şi repeating the cycle that produced the subjunctive marker să. In any case, the existence of și as a subjunctive marker represents an argument for the hypothesis that the subjunctive marker să originated in an additive and final connector (differentiated early on from the conditional conjunction să). Keywords: subjunctive marker, grammaticalization, coordination/subordination, exhortative subjunctive, regional varieties
Studii şi cercetări lingvistice, XXXIX, 2, 1988, 113-117., 1988
Se susține posibilitatea identificării, din perspectivă lingvistică, a criteriilor obiective ale ... more Se susține posibilitatea identificării, din perspectivă lingvistică, a criteriilor obiective ale evaluării unui text poetic. Se prezintă cîteva exemple de corespondențe între criterii ale poeticității fundamentate prin analiza de text și modele critice implicit sau explicit evaluative.
Romanian is one of the most morphologically complex Romance languages. This book is the first eve... more Romanian is one of the most morphologically complex Romance languages. This book is the first ever comprehensive and accessible account of how that morphological system evolved. Here are some of the most salient morphological traits distinctive of this language: it possesses an inflexional case system; unlike other Romance languages, it has an inflexional vocative; the morphological marking of number reached such a level of unpredictability that, for most nouns (and for many adjectives), the form of the plural must be independently specified alongside that of the singular; in addition to masculine and feminine, it seems to possess a third gender, often referred to as a ‘neuter’; its verb system contains a non-finite form, which apparently continues the Latin supine; the infinitive has undergone a morphological split such that one form functions now purely as a noun, while the other remains purely a verb; the distinctive morphology of the subjunctive has largely disappeared; lastly, ...
Periphrasis and Inflexion in Diachrony. A View from Romance (Edited by Adam Ledgeway, John Charles Smith, and Nigel Vincent)), 2022
This chapter investigates the relation between syntheticity and analyticity in the history of Rom... more This chapter investigates the relation between syntheticity and analyticity in the history of Romanian. We empirically note that, against the traditional hypothesis that in the passage from Latin to Romance older synthetic forms were extensively replaced by novel analytic formations, there is a set of old Romanian periphrastic constructions which disappeared in the passage to modern Romanian, and we set our goal to provide an explanation for this less frequent linguistic change. By bringing to the fore data from old and modern Romanian, as well as dialectal Daco-Romanian material, we show that the facts are best explained by appealing to structural factors (i.e. the feature matrix of Romanian auxiliaries) rather than functional factors (competition between functionally equivalent forms, learnèd nature, or rare occurrence in usage).
Helga Bogdan Oprea, Andreea Victoria Grigore, Rodica Zafiu (ed.), Lingvistică românească, lingvistică romanică, Actele celui de al XVI-lea Colocviu internațional al Departamentului de lingvistică, București, Editura Universității din București, p. 139–147., 2017
THE PARTICLE AȘA ('SO‘) IN REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ROMANIAN
(Abstract)
The article summarises the v... more THE PARTICLE AȘA ('SO‘) IN REGIONAL VARIETIES OF ROMANIAN (Abstract) The article summarises the values of the main Romanian manner demonstrative așa 'so‘ (<ECCUM SIC). As many other demonstratives of manner, quality and degree, așa has especially deictic and anaphoric uses, but has also developed many grammatical and discursive functions: as a comparative marker, a general extender, a hedge, a connective word, a marker of the affirmative response, etc. Regional varieties of Romanian show an even more specific value of (a)șa, which is frequently used as a final segment of spatial-temporal and manner adverbials. In this context, (a)șa can be partially combined with some deictic adverbs (ici-șa 'here‘, colo-șa 'there‘), or can become a non-stressed particle of reinforcement, a focus marker, as well as a discourse segmentation device. The pragmaticalization of așa can throw some light on a still unexplained outcome of diachronic change, namely, the large use of the enclitic particle -și (<SIC) in Old Romanian.
This paper aims at demonstrating the explanatory advantages of the old hypothesis concerning the ... more This paper aims at demonstrating the explanatory advantages of the old hypothesis concerning the origins of the auxiliary of the Romanian analytic conditional (aș + infinitive) as deriving from the imperfect tense form of the verb (a) vrea ‘(to) want’ < *volere (< VELLE). The grammaticalization process, reconstructed through the comparison with the other Romance languages and by relating it to typical directions of the linguistic change, presupposes intermediary semantic phases (the future-in-the-past value, the hypothetical value which is mostly counter-factual), whose traces may be found in the first Romanian (translated) texts, but which have been generally considered a consequence of the simple loan translation from the language source. The uses of the conditional with a reduced auxiliary (aș, ai, etc. + infinitive) are related to those (co-occurring in the old texts) of the conditional with a recognisable auxiliary (vrea ‘wanted’ + infinitive), for which the value specifi...
Articolul își propune să demonstreze avantajele explicative ale vechii ipoteze asupra originii au... more Articolul își propune să demonstreze avantajele explicative ale vechii ipoteze asupra originii auxiliarului condiționalului analitic românesc (aș + infinitiv) în imperfectul verbului (a) vrea < *volere (< VELLE). Procesul de gramaticalizare, reconstituit prin comparația cu celelalte limbi romanice și prin raportare la direcții tipice ale schimbării lingvistice, presupune faze semantice intermediare (valoarea de viitor în trecut, valoarea ipotetică preponderent contrafactuală), ale căror urme se pot găsi în primele texte românești (traduse), dar au fost puse, în general, pe seama simplei calchieri din limbile-sursă. Utilizările condiționalului cu auxiliarul cu formă redusă (aș, ai etc. + infinitiv) sînt raportate la cele (coocurente în textele vechi) ale condiționalului în care auxiliarul este recognoscibil (vrea + infinitiv) și pentru care este încă puternică valoarea din prima etapă de gramaticalizare—de viitor în trecut. Textul propune și o explicație pentru formele atipice ...
în Gabriela Pană Dindelegan, Adnana Boioc Apintei, Blanca Croitor (ed.), Variaţie diacronică şi diatopică. Note gramaticale, Bucureşti, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti 2019, [ISBN: 978-606-16-1119-5], p. 243-257.
The subjunctive marker şi in old texts and in contemporary regional varieties
(Abstract)
The arti... more The subjunctive marker şi in old texts and in contemporary regional varieties (Abstract) The article presents what we believe to be the earliest attestations of the particle şi as a subjunctive marker in some old Romanian texts, and describes the contemporary uses of this form in several regional varieties, where şi is a perfect equivalent of standard Romanian să. The article puts forward an explanation for the variation between să and şi, by hypothesizing that both markers underwent a similar grammaticalization cline. It is difficult to decide whether this variation is an old phenomenon, due to a common origin, or a more recent one, with şi repeating the cycle that produced the subjunctive marker să. In any case, the existence of și as a subjunctive marker represents an argument for the hypothesis that the subjunctive marker să originated in an additive and final connector (differentiated early on from the conditional conjunction să). Keywords: subjunctive marker, grammaticalization, coordination/subordination, exhortative subjunctive, regional varieties
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Papers by Rodica Zafiu
(Abstract)
The article summarises the values of the main Romanian manner demonstrative așa 'so‘ (<ECCUM SIC). As many other demonstratives of manner, quality and degree, așa has especially deictic and anaphoric uses, but has also developed many grammatical and discursive functions: as a comparative marker, a general extender, a hedge, a connective word, a marker of the affirmative response, etc. Regional varieties of Romanian show an even more specific value of (a)șa, which is frequently used as a final segment of spatial-temporal and manner adverbials. In this context, (a)șa can be partially combined with some deictic adverbs (ici-șa 'here‘, colo-șa 'there‘), or can become a non-stressed particle of reinforcement, a focus marker, as well as a discourse segmentation device. The pragmaticalization of așa can throw some light on a still unexplained outcome of diachronic change, namely, the large use of the enclitic particle -și (<SIC) in Old Romanian.
(Abstract)
The article presents what we believe to be the earliest attestations of the particle şi as a subjunctive marker in some old Romanian texts, and describes the contemporary uses of this form in several regional varieties, where şi is a perfect equivalent of standard Romanian să. The article puts forward an explanation for the variation between să and şi, by hypothesizing that both markers underwent a similar grammaticalization cline. It is difficult to decide whether this variation is an old phenomenon, due to a common origin, or a more recent one, with şi repeating the cycle that produced the subjunctive marker să. In any case, the existence of și as a subjunctive marker represents an argument for the hypothesis that the subjunctive marker să originated in an additive and final connector (differentiated early on from the conditional conjunction să).
Keywords: subjunctive marker, grammaticalization, coordination/subordination, exhortative subjunctive, regional varieties
(Abstract)
The article summarises the values of the main Romanian manner demonstrative așa 'so‘ (<ECCUM SIC). As many other demonstratives of manner, quality and degree, așa has especially deictic and anaphoric uses, but has also developed many grammatical and discursive functions: as a comparative marker, a general extender, a hedge, a connective word, a marker of the affirmative response, etc. Regional varieties of Romanian show an even more specific value of (a)șa, which is frequently used as a final segment of spatial-temporal and manner adverbials. In this context, (a)șa can be partially combined with some deictic adverbs (ici-șa 'here‘, colo-șa 'there‘), or can become a non-stressed particle of reinforcement, a focus marker, as well as a discourse segmentation device. The pragmaticalization of așa can throw some light on a still unexplained outcome of diachronic change, namely, the large use of the enclitic particle -și (<SIC) in Old Romanian.
(Abstract)
The article presents what we believe to be the earliest attestations of the particle şi as a subjunctive marker in some old Romanian texts, and describes the contemporary uses of this form in several regional varieties, where şi is a perfect equivalent of standard Romanian să. The article puts forward an explanation for the variation between să and şi, by hypothesizing that both markers underwent a similar grammaticalization cline. It is difficult to decide whether this variation is an old phenomenon, due to a common origin, or a more recent one, with şi repeating the cycle that produced the subjunctive marker să. In any case, the existence of și as a subjunctive marker represents an argument for the hypothesis that the subjunctive marker să originated in an additive and final connector (differentiated early on from the conditional conjunction să).
Keywords: subjunctive marker, grammaticalization, coordination/subordination, exhortative subjunctive, regional varieties