Temporal, Causal and Concessive Clauses with the particle wo in ...

Iris Bräuning
iris.braeuning@uni-konstanz.de
University of Konstanz
Department of Linguistics
Abstract: PhD Workshop May 2013
Temporal, Causal and Concessive Clauses with the particle wo in Alemannic
The particle wo is known for its multifunctional occurrence in Alemannic:
1. der Mo wo seine Schu verlora hot
the man PRT his shoes lost has
‚The man who lost his shoes’ (Brandner, Bräuning, to appear)
2. Wo i am Samschdich akomme ben, hot d Sonn no gschiena
PRT I on Saturday arrived was, has the sun still shone
‚When I arrived on Saturday the sun was still shining’
(Bräuning, 2009)
3. Wo se d Kischda ins Auto eiglada händ, hots grägnt
PRT they the boxes into-the car loaded have, has-it rained
‚While they have been loading the boxes into the car it rained all the time‘
(Bräuning, 2009)
In (1) the particle wo is used to introduce a relative clause, in (2) and (3) it replaces a temporal
conjunction (Standard German als (when) and während (while)).
In addition the particle is also found in sentences that have a causal or concessive reading:
4. Ha Die (.) die will ständig komme und schwätze, schwätze, schwätze,
Ha DET DET wants always come and talk, talk, talk
wo i doch koi Zeit han für so ebbes.
PRT I PRT no time have for such a thing
‚She always wants to come and talk but I have no time'
(Günthner, 2002: 311)
5. Trink lieber nix wo du (doch) so erkältet bisch
drink rather nothing PRT you PRT so cold are
‚If you have a cold, it would be better not do drink alcohol'
(Güntner, 2002: 311)
The data in 1-5 show that relative clauses as well as temporal, causal and concessive clauses can
be introduced with a particle wo, that is homophone with the German local adverb wo meaning
where. How the particle strategy with wo evolved in relative clauses and how it can be analyzed
syntactically has been described in Brandner, Bräuning (to appear). As for the particle strategy
in Alemannic relative clauses it has been assumed that wo diachronically can be traced back to
the equative particle so that is found in Early New High German relative clauses like (dër Sache
sô ir meinent / The thing so you mean, Paul 1920:238) and it has been claimed that the particle
wo is the wh-counterpart of so and thus the semantic of both structures equatives and restrictive
relatives introduced by a particle have a similar structure see (6) and (7).
Equative structure:
6. Hans läuft (so) schnell wie der Wind
Hans runs (so) fast as the wind
‚Hans runs as fast as the wind blows’

6' Hans' running has a rapidity (= x) and the wind has a rapidity (= y),
whereby wie states that x = y
Transferred to a restrictive relative clause the paraphrase could be formulated as in (7):
7. Des Buech wo ich g'lese ha liit uff em Tisch
the book PRT I read have lies on the table
‚The book that I read lies on the table'
ALM
7‘ x is a book and
7‘‘ I read something (=y)
→ Due to the particles so or wo the following relation is established: x = y
(see also Brandner, Bräuning, to appear)
There is supposed to be a common structure between equatives and restrictive relative clauses
lying in the conjunction of two elements. In (6) it is a conjunction (equation) of properties
whereas in (7) the conjunction combines the two elements for which the property holds
(compare also Brandner, Bräuning (to appear) for a detailed analysis).
The presentation will discuss the following open questions: How to analyze the occurrence of
the particle wo in temporal, concessive and causal sentences. What is the function of the particle
in these structures? How is the temporal, causal or concessive reading possible if there is no
Standard German conjunction and can we bring together the analysis for restrictive relative
clauses with the particle structure in temporal, causal and concessive clauses?
References:
Brandner, Ellen, Bräuning, Iris (to appear). Relative wo in Alemannic: only a complementizer?
Linguistische Berichte.
Bräuning, Iris. 2009. Wo als funktionale Kategorie: eine Studie im Schwäbisch-Alemannischen
Dialekt, MA Thesis. Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Konstanz.
Günthner, Susanne. 2002. Zum kausalen und konzessiven Gebrauch des Konnektors wo im
gesprochenen Umgangsdeutsch. Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik 30:310-341.
Paul, Hermann. 1920. Deutsche Grammtik IV. Syntax (2. Hälfte). Halle (Saale): Niemeyer.