Archaic Syntax in Indo-European: The Spread of Transitivity in Latin and French (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 125)

This book analyzes structures in (early) Indo-European languages that traditionally have been difficult to account for: impersonal verbs, "mihi est" constructions to express possession, "mihi est" constructions in combination with a nominal form of the verb, and absolute constructions. It is argued that they are inherited from Proto-Indo- European and that they are residues of a stage at which the proto-language was non-nominative. Their gradual replacement with modern transitive structures, as demonstrated in detail in the development of Latin and French, shows the increasing importance of transitivity in the development of Indo-European.