Cliticization in the History of English : Loss of the Subject Position Asymmetry and the Wackernagel Pronominal Object

Abstract

Old English exhibits asymmetry in the subject position in the matrix topic-initial context : a full nominal subject typically follows the finite verb, resulting in the verb-second order, whereas a pronominal subject typically precedes it, resulting in the verb-third order. Old English also allows the pronominal object to appear in the so-called Wackernagel position in the subordinate context. These facts have led Kemenade (1987) to conclude that Old English pronouns are clitics requiring a host. According to the previous studies and the survey conducted in this paper, the clitic nature of pronouns carried over to Early Middle English and eventually got lost in Late Middle English. Under the recent minimalist conceptions advocated by Chomsky (2000, 2001a, 2001b) and the idea that language change is a reflex of the change in the process of parameter setting, it is claimed that obviation of the subject position asymmetry caused the loss of the clitic nature of pronouns, hence the loss of the Wackernagel pronominal object. It is also shown that the subject position asymmetry was obviated by the rise of either the systematic verb-third order or the systematic verb-second order in the matrix topic-initial context.