Dynamic Two-place Indirect Verbs in French:    
            A Synchronic and Diachronic  Study in Variation and 
                     Change of Valence  
                           by 
                       Michelle Ann Troberg  
                A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements 
                   for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
                    Graduate Department of French 
                       University of Toronto 
                   © Copyright by Michelle Troberg 2008 
                                                         
           
           Dynamic Two-place Indirect Verbs in French: A Synchronic and 
              Diachronic Study in Variation and Change of Valence 
                            Michelle Ann Troberg 
                            Doctor of Philosophy 
                          Graduate Department of French 
                            University of Toronto 
                                2008 
          Abstract 
          This dissertation provides an account of an often-noted change in the history of French: the shift 
          in  the expression of the internal argument of a small class of dynamic two-place verbs best 
          represented by aider ‘to help’ from “dative”, i.e., as an indirect object with the preposition à, to 
          “accusative”,  i.e.,  as  a  direct  object  with  no  preposition.  The  change  does  not  appear  to  be 
          correlated with a change in the meaning of the verbs. Traditional commentators have viewed it as 
          random, affecting only a few lexical items, rather than systematic. One of the central results of 
          this thesis is that the valency change affects a class of some twenty verbs at approximately the 
          same period and that it follows the same time course. Moreover, three properties distinguish this 
          class of verbs from all others taking indirect objects in French: following current ideas about the 
          syntactic  manifestation  of  verbs  and  their  arguments,  they  have  a  non  relational  argument 
          structure, they do not possess lexical directionality, and they select for first or third order entities. 
          These facts suggest that a structural change underlies the change in the realization of the internal 
          argument. Adopting Lightfoot’s (1999, 2006) “cue-based” approach to language change, it is 
          proposed  that  the  valency  change  is  a  result  of  the  loss  of  a  functional  item  encoding 
          directionality. Directionality is a derived property in Medieval French, available in particular to 
          prepositions. It is demonstrated that when à was able to encode direction, first and third order 
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            indirect objects were licensed in a broader range of contexts, namely, with aider-type verbs. The 
            loss of this functional item is also correlated with several other structural changes that occurred 
                 th   th
            in the 16  and 17  century. 
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                                Acknowledgments 
           The research for this thesis was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council 
           of  Canada,  the  Ontario  Graduate  Scholarship  Program,  the  Scace  Graduate  Fellowship,  the 
           Trentwith  and  Galipeau  French Linguistic  Fellowship,  and  the  Department  of  French  at  the 
           University of Toronto. This study profited from the opportunity to participate at two international 
           conferences both supported by the Department of French at the University of Toronto: Diachro 
           III: Évolutions en français in Paris and the NORMS Workshop on Argument Structure in Lund. A 
           number of research assistantships with Yves Roberge enabled me to pursue our collaborative 
           work on indirect objects, the results of which are central to the present study. 
           My  deepest  gratitude  is  to  my  director,  Yves  Roberge,  who  provided  me  with  the  ideal 
           intellectual climate in which to engage in my research and who allowed me the freedom to work 
           at my own rhythm. I am extremely fortunate to be among the many influenced by Yves’ ideas, 
           by his approach to educating, by his generosity and by his joie de vivre. Yves is also responsible, 
           perhaps unwittingly, for my choice in undertaking a thesis in diachronic linguistics; my single 
           greatest inspiration was Marianne Adams’ 1986 doctoral thesis, a copy of which he lent to me in 
           my master’s year.  
           It is with much warmth that I thank Brian Merrilees. To him, I owe my interest in Medieval 
           French and my continued contact with it via the precious Aalma manuscripts. I also thank him 
           for once very wisely reminding me that, even in cases of regular change, “chaque mot a son 
           histoire”. I am grateful to both he and his wife, Pat Merrilees, for they have offered me support 
           on every possible level.  
           I extend my deep appreciation to France Martineau of the University of Ottawa, who agreed to 
           sit on my thesis committee, whose work in diachronic linguistics has been a model to me, and 
           whose insightful questions and wise advice have very much influenced the shape of this thesis.    
           I am grateful to my external examiner, Ian Roberts of the University of Cambridge. His thorough 
           assessment has improved my work and his comments and suggestions have taken me beyond this 
           study and have me eager to develop related topics and take on new ones.  
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