Abstract Stress position in English words is well-known to be influenced by phonological, morphological, and (morpho)syntactic factors (esp. verbs vs. nouns). All these influences, however, are far from categorical, and very often stress varies from one word to another in a seemingly unpredictable manner. What is more, recent corpus-based work points to the relevance of opaque, i.e. etymological prefixes. It is, however, unclear why effects of opaque morphology should be productive synchronically. Moreover, there is an increasing body of research indicating that stress assignment works on the basis of lower-level information, i.e. analogy. In this paper we analyze the results of a pseudo-word experiment testing the production of trisyllabic verbs. Structural predictors tested in the analysis comprise syllable weight and prefixation (measuring the transparency of prefixes). To test analogy, we had a computational analogical model predict stress in the pseudo-words based on all verbs in the Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary . Lexical support measures were then used as predictors alongside weight and prefixation in a mixed-effects logistic regression model. The results show that all three variables are significant predictors of main stress in the experimental data. Lexical support is strongly correlated with actual productions, but AML underpredicts some of participants’ preferences. These are, however, explained by syllable weight and transparency of the prefix in our regression model. We conclude that properties on different levels of representation are relevant for the prediction of stress position in English pseudo-verbs.
Abstract A considerable number of Grassfields Bantu languages instantiate determiner phrase internal re-ordering for possessive pronoun focus that, in turn, may affect the form of noun class exponents. I describe the phenomenon in the Eastern Grassfields Bantu languages Ngemba, Medumba and Shupamem, and argue that it should be thought of as an instance of anti-agreement effects (see, a.o., Schneider-Zioga, Patricia. 2007. Anti-agreement, anti-locality and minimality. the syntax of dislocated subjects. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory . 25. 403–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-006-9014-5 , Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka. 2016. Anti-locality and optimality in Kaqchikel agent focus. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory . 34(2). 429–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-015-9310-z , Baier, Nico. 2018. Anti-agreement . University of California dissertation, The United States of America) within the nominal domain. I adopt Carstens (Carstens, Vicki. 2026. The grammar of gender: Insights from Bantu asymmetries of AGR with conjoined subjects. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory . 44(2). 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-026-09702-x )’s grammar of gender, and propose an account of the phenomenon using Baier (Baier, Nico. 2018. Anti-agreement. University of California dissertation, The United States of America)’s theory of anti-agreement – which assumes that information structure features such as [ focus ] and [ topic ] can trigger impoverishment rules (see also Lahne, Antje. 2009. Where there is fire there is smoke: Local modelling of successive-cyclic movement . Universitat Leipzig dissertation, Leipzig. Ershova, Ksenia. 2024. φ-feature mismatches in Samoan resumptives as postsyntactic impoverishment. In Serova Kutay & Snigaroff Madeline (eds.), Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society 59 (2023), 87–102. https://kershova.github.io/Ershova_CLS59_proceedings.pdf . Fongang, Tadjo Leonel. 2025b. Topic resumption in Bamileke Ngemba: Animate/inanimate asymmetries and strictly local Impoverishment. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics . 10(1). https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.15465 .).
Abstract This paper examines the syntax of quantificational expressions in Chuj, a Mayan language spoken primarily in Guatemala and Mexico. Building on Royer, Buenrostro & Jenks (2026), we argue that Chuj quantifiers fall into two distinct syntactic categories. Some quantifiers function exclusively as determiners , while others belong to the well-established category of nonverbal predicates (Grinevald & Peake 2012, Coon 2016, Armstrong 2017, Mateo Toledo 2023). This syntactic split is supported by a range of diagnostics, which we systematically apply to another type of quantifier: wh -items. The results indicate that Chuj wh -items should be treated exclusively as nonverbal predicates, leading us to reanalyze wh -questions as constructions that necessarily involve pseudoclefts. Our novel approach challenges the prevailing view in the Mayanist literature, which has treated wh -items as components of the extended nominal domain, and supports a less common one instead (Zavala 1992, Tonhauser 2003, 2007). We demonstrate that our proposal also derives three (seemingly idiosyncratic) properties of Mayan wh -questions in a unified and theoretically appealing way: (i) the apparent ban on wh - in situ (Caponigro, Torrence & Zavala Maldonado 2021, Coon, Baier & Levin 2021), (ii) the ban on multiple wh -questions (Caponigro, Torrence & Zavala Maldonado 2021, Coon, Baier & Levin 2021), and (iii) the phenomenon known as pied-piping with inversion (Smith-Stark 1988, Aissen 1996).
The distinction between bridge verbs, which allow long-distance questions out of their CP complement, and non-bridge verbs, which do not, is found in a range of languages. In the previous literature, this distinction has been variably attributed to the lexical semantic/discourse properties of the CP-embedding verbs, or the syntactic positioning of the dependent CP. In this study, we provide evidence for an alternative, learning-based account, whereby positive input evidence is needed for children to acquire the possibility of wh-dependencies across a CP-embedding verb, and to further generalize this property to all such verbs. We examine the bridge/non-bridge distinction in English and Mandarin, with a corpus analysis of child-directed speech and experimental evidence provided for each language. We demonstrate that while English shows a clear bridge/non-bridge distinction, Mandarin CP-embedding verbs are all bridge verbs for both argument and adjunct wh-dependencies. These findings are predicted by a difference in the structure of the input data available to English versus Mandarin children as they acquire long-distance wh-dependencies, along with the proposed learning-based account of the bridge effect.
Abstract Discourse particles in Korean, ranging from force particles through commitment particles to speech act particles, head different peripheral functional projections with a fixed order: ForceP < CommitmentP/EvidentialityP/ReportativeP < SpeechActP. Among these projections, only ForceP constitutes a phase in Korean as it demonstrates an independence property at both interface levels. Systematic head-movement in Korean allows a higher non-phasal head to gain the EF from a lower phasal head after the lower head is moved to join the higher one. The final order of the particles will be derived if EF is assumed to be satisfied via comp-to-spec movement. This analysis complies with the rigid view on phases of Chomsky (2000, 2001) in that phase heads are lexically determined (i.e. Force). On the other hand, the highest phrase of an extended projection can derivationally obtain the EF from a lower phasal head as a natural consequence of head-movement, which ultimately complies with Bošković’s (2014) contextual model of phase.
Word Grammar (WG), a dependency grammar, has historically permitted mutual dependency, a structure where two words depend on each other. This paper re-evaluates mutual dependency within WG, focusing on contradictions arising when dependency relations are inherently tied to word-order via WG's 'landmark' relation. It is argued that mutual dependency which involves conflicting landmark relations is untenable. I examine earlier WG analyses of English dependent interrogatives and free relatives, which were the principal motivators for mutual dependency analyses. It is proposed that dependent interrogatives do not require mutual dependency and are better analysed with the verb as the head, with selection being semantic. Free relatives, however, with their matching effects where the wh-word is head, necessitate a form of mutual constraint. A solution is offered by refining WG's theory of word-order and its relationship to extraction, by distinguishing between the general relationship of word-order, 'landmark' and a distinct relation of word-order that is part of the extraction start-rule. This approach allows for mutually constraining relations in free relatives without contradictory landmark assignments, thereby preserving a coherent theory of word-order while accommodating mutual dependency.
We focus on the dynamics of colexification, a process whereby different meanings are expressed by the same word, and its opposite, de-colexification, in language and culture contact. In multilingual environments, colexification of reference to two celestial entities - 'sun' and 'moon' - enhances intertranslatability and ease of communication between coexisting languages. The terms for 'sun' and 'moon' in two extant dialects of Tariana, the only North Arawak language in the multilingual Vaup & eacute;s River Basin Linguistic Area, are a case in point. Under the influence of neighbouring majority East Tukanoan languages, the terms for 'sun' and 'moon' underwent colexification in one Tariana dialect. The recent nature of contact-induced colexification is evidenced in the ways the colexified term - which goes back to the Proto-Arawak 'moon' - preserves the original meaning 'moon' in various expressions. 'Moon' and not 'sun' is the target of colexification due to its magic powers and the frequency of its mentions, as a driving force in language change. Speakers of the other extant dialect of Tariana demonstrate the opposite process of de-colexification of 'sun' and 'moon', resulting from intensive contact with the closely related Baniwa of I & ccedil;ana. Communicative necessity to express matching concepts drives colexification and its demise.
This paper investigates the extent to which clitic resumption in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) of accusative and dative objects is compulsory in two varieties of Spanish, namely, Peninsular and Rioplatense Spanish. We report the findings of an acceptability judgment task that compares sentences with dislocated direct and indirect objects with and without resumption. The study is motivated by two observations in cases without dislocation. First, in Peninsular Spanish, clitic doubling with dative objects is optional but doubling of accusative objects is very marginal. Second, in Rioplatense Spanish, doubling of accusatives is available under specific conditions. Although the results confirm that resumption in CLLD structures is strongly preferred across varieties and object types, differences between dative vs. accusative clitics are reflected to some extent in CLLD structures in Peninsular Spanish. Concerning cross-dialectal differences between Peninsular vs. Rioplatense Spanish, we propose an account that relies on the availability of null accusative clitics in Rioplatense in contrast to Peninsular Spanish.
German features a special coordinate structure in which the second conjunct contains a subject gap, resulting in the asymmetric coordination of a verb-second clause and a verb-initial clause. In this paper, coordination with subject gaps is compared with normal phrasal coordination. Both types of coordination show asymmetries between the conjuncts, including the occupation of the clause-initial position, the omission of non-subject elements, the scope of adverbial constituents, asymmetric extraction and the events described in the conjuncts are naturally connected. Observing the similarities between them in terms of structure and interpretation, I argue that coordinate structures share a unified asymmetric syntactic structure, and coordination with a subject gap is derived from phrasal coordination with a shared subject in the sentence-initial position. The fronted non-subject constituent in the coordination with a subject gap is the result of asymmetric extraction from the first conjunct to the sentence-initial specifier position, which is licensed by its differentiated information structure.
This paper examines a previously unnoticed 'split' construction in Greek, where a possessor that originates in a PP occurs together with the P separated from the possessum. I show a correlation between the availability of this split and the interpretation of a PP. This finding poses a challenge to PF-based accounts of splitting, particularly those that assume distributed deletion (e.g., Fanselow and & Cacute;avar 2002; Fanselow and F & eacute;ry 2006, Bondarenko and Davis 2023, Murphy and Wilson 2025 i.a.). Such accounts require additional mechanisms beyond those independently required by a syntactic account and fail to predict the distribution of split constructions. Instead, I propose a purely syntactic analysis that accounts for splits in Greek based on a correlation between the interpretation of a PP and its merge height (e.g., Cinque 1999, Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou 2007, Schweikert 2005). These findings together with additional theoretical considerations will be shown to provide strong support for the elimination of distributed deletion as a mechanism in natural language.
This study investigates the variation in null subject usage across Slavic languages, focusing on Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. By examining the syntactic and interpretive conditions for null subjects in embedded subjunctive clauses, the paper highlights differences in subject-verb agreement, clause structure, and the role of complementizers. Polish, as a consistent null subject language, shows high acceptance of null subjects, while Russian and Ukrainian exhibit partial null subject behavior, with significant inter-speaker variability. A cartographic analysis reveals that clause size and syntactic movement play a crucial role in licensing null subjects, with Polish consistently realizing its complementizer in ForceP, and Russian and Ukrainian showing more variation. The findings highlight the importance of structural factors in explaining null subject distribution and contribute to a deeper understanding of this phenomenon in Slavic languages.
There are various types of nominal appositives. One is predicative, as in She invited Lulu Moppet, an old friend, to the party; one is specificational, as in She invited an old friend, Lulu Moppet, to the party; and a further type is equative, as in She invited Reginald Kenneth Dwight, Elton John, to the party. This paper argues that each type of nominal appositive comes from a reduced copular clause of a certain kind. Such a copular clause is base-generated as the complement of a categoryless functional head, like a low conjunct or a modifier. The combination of the reduced copular clause and the functional head is merged with, and categorized by, the matrix clause. Thus, a nominal appositive is not base-generated in the same proposition-denoting expression where its anchor occurs. Explicit steps of derivation for building a nominal appositive construction are proposed. The proposed syntactic derivations rule out unacceptable positions of nominal appositives. The research explores the general syntax of non-argument-taking relations.
This paper presents a corpus-based investigation of Latin volo 'to want', arguing that it exhibits previously overlooked reportative uses from at least the 1st century BCE, whereby speakers attribute beliefs, opinions, or statements to an external source. Focusing on third-person present-tense forms (vult, volunt) across a corpus spanning from the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE, the study analyses the semantic, pragmatic, and morphosyntactic properties of these constructions, as well as their diachronic development. Reportative volo is shown to emerge from ambiguous contexts where volition and doxastic stance overlap - especially in small-clause constructions with subject coreferentiality or passive infinitives of verbs of opinion. Diachronically, it is proposed that the doxastic component - implicit in volitional uses and anchored in the volitional subject - becomes explicit, when the anchoring of an external doxastic source shifts from outside (i.e. the opinion of others) to the volitional subject, who is then reinterpreted as an evidential source. Comparisons with German wollen (and to a lesser extent with French vouloir) contextualise this development within a broader grammaticalisation path from volition to evidentiality. While wollen is already grammaticalised as a reportative marker, Latin volo offers novel diachronic and structurally distinct evidence for this cross-linguistic trajectory.
This study investigates the interpretation of referring expressions in Korean - a discourse-oriented language in which referential resolution relies primarily on discourse context rather than morphosyntactic cues. Across three experiments, we manipulated the accessibility of potential antecedents by varying their grammatical roles and examined the effects on referential interpretation using naturalness ratings and antecedent choice tasks. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that null pronouns function as the highest accessibility markers, yielding the strongest subject antecedent preferences and the highest naturalness ratings. In contrast, overt pronouns and full NPs displayed no clear interpretive bias in these contexts. However, Experiment 3 - featuring globally ambiguous sentences - revealed a clear three-way distinction: null pronouns were strongly associated with subject antecedents, while overt pronouns and full NPs favored object antecedents, with full NPs eliciting the strongest object bias. These findings support the key predictions of Accessibility Theory, particularly the form-function correlation linking referential form to cognitive accessibility. Notably, the accessibility distinction between overt pronouns and full NPs appears weaker and more context-sensitive, suggesting that referential form distinctions are not equally weighted across all categories. This work offers novel and comprehensive cross-linguistic support for Accessibility Theory by providing empirical evidence for the proposed hierarchy of the Accessibility Marking Scale.
Cross-linguistically, the existence of 'double case' configurations (e.g., nom-subject and nom-object) presents an empirical challenge to theories of case where anti-identity, or distinctness between two NPs, plays a key role (e.g., Yip, Maling & Jackendoff 1987). This study investigates the factors that influence the distribution of nominative object constructions in Korean. In a novel acceptability judgment experiment, we find that sentences with nom-objects are rated less acceptable than those with acc-objects. In a corpus survey, sentences with nom-objects commonly have topic-marked subjects. We propose the Morphological-Thematic-Grammatical (MTG) Alignment Hypothesis, which posits that sentences are maximally acceptable when there is maximal alignment between morphological case marking, thematic role, and grammatical function. In nom-acc constructions, this alignment is achieved because the highest-ranked subject (Keenan & Comrie 1977) is marked with highest-ranked nominative case (Otsuka 2006) and functions as a higher-ranked agent or experiencer. The lower-ranked object, meanwhile, has lower-ranked accusative case and functions as a lower-ranked patient. In contrast, nom-nom (and dat-nom) constructions fail to achieve this alignment. Our analysis treats the relevant constraints (e.g., distinctness, alignment) as interacting with each other to produce cumulative effects on acceptability.
