Earticle

This paper analyzes the grammaticalization of English modals. The comparison of the diachronic versions of the Bible clearly shows that the grammaticalization of English modals has been developing gradually and not abruptly. To explain the gradual stages of the grammaticalization of modals within generative grammar, I propose that parameter-resetting of diachronic changes is a result of the change of the status of markedness, especially concerning English modals. As the rate of occurrence of modals as lexical verbs and auxiliaries overlaps and crosses each other, the parameter-resetting occurs, which changes the status of the unmarkedness of the modals as lexical verbs to marked lexical verbs. In Shin (1992; 2006; 2019), I find evidence of English reflexivization, null-subject parameter including impersonal verbs, and the change of English word order. Another evidence is that of Fischer et al. (2000:17―8). After the date of the assumed parameter-resetting of the inherent case’s availability in the second half of the thirteenth century, examples of adjective followed by a PP can still be found, side by side with the former adjective + object. A universal evidence besides English is that of the present-day Chinese yào, which functions either as a lexical verb “want” or an auxiliary verb “will,” like the OE willan.

According to Generative Grammar (recently the Minimalist Program), language change results from resetting of parameters. Likewise, the origin of English do-support can be explained by parameter-resetting mediated by markedness. In the middle of the 16th century, the parameter-resetting from Tense with strong V feature to Tense with weak V feature regarding the origin of periphrastic do began, as the so-called do-support appeared, and resetting was nearly complete by 1700. The resetting from Tense with strong V feature to Tense with weak V feature makes it possible to adopt do-support. As shown in Ellegård(1953:162)’s figure of percentage of do-forms in various types of sentences, when Early Modern English starts, the frequency of do-support is rather low, but is already rising precipitously in negative and interrogative sentences, and continues to rise without much variation throughout the period. The percentage of do-support is always highest in negative questions, followed by affirmative questions, and then by negative declarative sentences. By 1700, the affirmative declarative curve is approaching zero, while the three curves are all above 75 percent and are rising precipitously, with parameter-resetting to Tense with weak V feature from Tense with strong V feature resulting. Between the start of parameter-resetting and the end of it, markedness plays a role in that at the start the do-support forms are rather marked and later grow less marked, and more unmarked, resulting in parameter-resetting.

This study investigated how Korean learners of English acquired the English reflexives. There is emphasis on the effects of the GCP and PAP(Wexler and Manzini, 1987). The purpose is to examine the major hypothesis that L2 learners are still constrained by Universal Grammar (UG), despite the influence of the parameter setting of their native language as well as the non-operation of the Subset Principle. The experimental group consisted of 30 middle school students (age 14-15), 30 high school students (age 16-17), and 30 university students (age 18-19) as well as 20 ESL students (age 16) studying English in the USA. Twenty native speakers of English served as a control group. The subjects responded to a test on reflexives that used a multiple-choice grammaticality judgement task. Findings show that L2 learners transfer their L1 parameter setting and, as a result, make errors in the choice of antecedents for reflexives. Therefore, I argue that the L2 learner is still constrained by UG.

Old English (OE) Anglo-Saxon Bible (Anglo-Saxon) (A.D. 995) usually uses the negative particle ne in sentence negation, whereas Middle English (ME) Wycliffe Bible (Wycliffe) (A.D. 1389) and Early Modern English (ENE) Tyndale Bible (Tyndale) (A.D. 1526) not as a result of morphological changes. We propose that English negation changes by parameter-resetting from negation (NEG) selection of T(ense) in OE to NEG selection of VP in ME and ENE. The negative particle ne starts as a VP-adverb in OE and later results in NEG head not in Modern English (NE) through ME and ENE, in which the negative particle not is still a VP-adverb. As NE not becomes a negative head, optional do-support, which is common in ENE, becomes obligatory as in NE with the concurrent change of T. Another difference between ENE and NE concerning T is that T carries a strong affix with a V-feature in ENE, but, a weak (-strong) affix in NE, resulting in parameter-resetting from T[+strong] to T[-strong]. Therefore, the diachronic changes of English negation show syntactic changes by parameter-resetting as well as morphological changes.

The investigation of the English to-infinitive through diachronic versions of the Gospel of Luke clearly shows that the to-infinitive undergoes both grammaticalization and degrammaticalization. The grammaticalization of the English to-infinitive occurred in Middle English (ME), followed by degrammaticalization in Early Modern English (ENE) and Present-day English (PE), in which to-infinitives are not preceded by for or any preposition. This leads us to conclude that grammaticalization is not unidirectional or irreversible. With the grammaticalization and degrammaticalization of the to-infinitive and changes of the status of markedness concerning for to-infinitives from Old English (OE) through ME and ENE to PE, it is asserted that language change is achieved through parameter-resetting mediated by markedness.

This paper aims to explore the process of Korean learners' acquisition of English reflexives and parameter-resetting strategy. This study was designed and conducted to examine how Korean middle school students acquire syntactic properties of English reflexives, and whether their acquisition process is constrained by Universal Grammar (UG). The experiment consists of 3 groups of Korean middle school students, from the 1st to the 3rd grade. A total of 120 students consisting of 40 students in each grade participated. The results of this study show that Korean students in the lower grade transfer their L1 parameter values to interpret English reflexives, while students in higher grades can reset the parameters of Korean reflexives to the English values. The findings of this study suggest that all Korean students are still constrained by UG even when there is L1 transfer and the subset principle is inaccessible.