Root syntax, with roots as primitive lexical units, is an influential theme in building the lexicon in linguistic theory, typically in Distributed Morphology, and the generative model of minimal computation. Implementing important fragments of the Arabic lexicon, the book presents a comprehensive view of word formation and argument structure, providing robust evidence that favors root-based, rather than stem-based derivations of words. Tested on Arabic, a language wearing DM ‘on its sleeve’, the DM model gains substantial support and refinement. Significant templatic affixes turn out to be roots. Valency changing causatives, anti-causatives, reflexives, or nominalizations implicate root complexity, not category change. Psych, perception, and cognition eventuality classes are born as root subtypes, not ‘verb’ classes. Category changing deverbalizations, deadjectivations, or denominalizations are supplemented by complex root derivations. Melodic templates operate ‘templatization’ (e.g. with adjectives), or act as functional templates for Voice and Aspect (e.g. with passives), or gradation (with synthetic comparatives), after category typing. The book is of interest to generative and comparative linguists, cognitivists, typologists, lexicographers, and students, teachers, and researchers of Arabic, or Semitic
Argument ellipsis (AE) has recently been gaining in prominence as the analytical tool employed to account for null argument data in a wide range of languages. The choice between this analysis and the null pronoun alternative is frequently determined based on two types of data, namely, a comparison of the interpretive properties of the null argument and an overt pronoun and the availability of null arguments in the absence of a linguistic antecedent. In this contribution, I look more closely at the nature of the AE-null pronoun distinction, showing first that the frequently-employed diagnostics require reconsideration. I probe into the predictions of the two analyses with respect to the behaviour of null and overt pronouns, as well as full, lexical NP arguments, focussing on two factors, that is the interpretive differences between null and overt pronouns and the conclusion that null pronouns are needed on either account. I then consider the issue of the representation of exophoric null arguments in relation to the representation of exophoric overt pronouns and exophoric ellipsis in general. As these phenomena have not been sufficiently explored in the existing literature, using exophoric null arguments as a basis in developing approaches to representing null arguments is inherently problematic. These issues lead the discussion towards considering the representation of null arguments with the language acquirer in mind, the complex picture of licensing null arguments observed both cross-linguistically and intra-linguistically potentially resulting from an interplay of different properties of the grammars of the particular languages.
In this paper I show that missing objects may occur in several languages, but different languages show a different range of properties. In this paper, I review some of these properties, and I examine the specific case of anaphoric missing objects in Brazilian Portuguese. In this language, null anaphoric objects have a set of unique properties that correlates synchronically and diachronically to other phenomena, such as the loss of 3rd person clitics, the presence of V-stranding VP ellipsis, and Differential Object Marking animacy effects. Given this scenario, I argue that null objects are instances of DP ellipsis in the language. The paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion on missing objects across languages by bringing a case study whereby many properties add up to the possibility of object (DP) ellipsis.
This paper investigates European Portuguese-speaking advanced learners of Spanish and assesses their knowledge of (un)interpretable features that have been argued to constrain the possibility of direct object drop in Spanish, discussing the predictions of two different hypotheses — the Interpretability Hypothesis (IH) (e.g., Tsimpli & Dimitrakopoulou, 2007) and the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH) (e.g., Lardiere, 2008, 2009). Adopting the same methodology as Bruhn de Garavito & Guijarro-Fuentes (2002), we present empirical data from two exploratory tasks examining the relevant semantic and syntactic constraints on object drop in L2 Spanish. The results indicate that learners have knowledge of the syntactic properties of null objects, but have not yet developed the semantic restrictions, which is expected under the FRH, but not under the IH. These results evidence a problem of L1 preemption, i.e., learners have difficulty in overcoming L1 transfer, which may be due to the typological similarity between EP and Spanish and to the lack of sufficient evidence in the input.
This article discusses object (and subject) omission in three Guaraní languages, providing evidence for agreement–based direct object drop and genuine pro in internal argument position. The empirical facts show that 1p and 2p object omission behaves very similarly to classical, even consistent, and agreement–based subject drop in better-studied languages (Barbosa, 2011a; Roberts & Holmberg, 2010). On the other hand, we see that Guaraní languages additionally allow for discourse-anchored 3p null arguments, occurring in parallel fashion in both external and internal positions. These patterns approximate Guaraní-style null argument licensing to what was previously described for radical pro-drop languages (Barbosa, 2011b; Holmberg, 2005; Huang, 1984; Tomioka, 2003). Hence, the resulting system referred to here as person-split pro-drop integrates both agreement–based pro-drop and the licensing of agreement-independent argument omission, in a system where several argument omission types not only co-exist but also interact in mixed argument configurations. Core to the pattern is the asymmetric null argument licensing mainly along the lines of 1/2p(erson) versus 3p features rather than along the line of grammatical function. Even though I differentiate two classes of empty nominals in the system, namely weak pronouns and empty nominals [NP e], this distinction alone cannot fully account for the Guaraní-style pro-drop pattern. Central to modelling argument omission encountered in the Guaraní data is to employ theoretical proposals on the role of highly articulated agree probes [u3, u2, u1] — generating sensitivity to Person Hierarchy (PH) effects in the (narrow) syntax — into the overall generative debate on null argument licensing (Béjar, 2003; Béjar & Rezac, 2008; Oxford, 2014, 2017, 2019).
This paper investigates the role of animacy for the distribution of clitics and null objects in European Portuguese. Existing corpus data suggest that in spontaneous speech speakers prefer null objects with inanimate referents but clitics with animate referents. A new acceptability judgment experiment shows that clitics receive high acceptance rates with animate and inanimate referents but null objects are only marginally accepted with animates. I propose that the variation between null objects and clitics is determined by two factors: first, register (Standard Portuguese vs. colloquial speech) and second, the structure and feature composition of clitic pronouns and null objects.
This study investigates the encoding of 3rd person co-referential direct objects in Brazilian (BP) and European (EP) varieties of Portuguese. Both varieties admit null objects, though they differ regarding the productivity of the accusative clitic — highly productive in EP; overridden by the strong pronoun in oral, informal BP. The implications of the type of pronominal direct object in each variety for the effect of animacy and the syntactic restrictions applying to the null object are considered, with the strong pronoun favouring [+ animate] antecedents. Our study reports an elicited production experiment, which was conducted with BP and EP-speaking pre-schoolers and schoolchildren. Adult speakers of each variety were presented with the same task in the oral and the written modalities. The results demonstrate differential sensitivity to animacy and syntactic context in the two varieties, with a stronger effect of schooling in BP, due to the late incorporation of the 3rd person accusative clitic.
While not a pro drop language, English allows subject drop in specific registers such as abbreviated writing and colloquial speech. This paper studies subject drop in the representation of speech in British crime fiction. The core material consists of three stories by Agatha Christie, who uses subject drop to style characters and to create the conversational scene. Quantitative corpus data show that subject drop is a function of at least the following factors: education/social class, gender, familiarity, and (in)formality of speech setting. Nevertheless, due to the relatively small size of the samples we have studied, it is difficult to pin down the exact interactions between these four variables.
This paper is a contribution to the debate on the nature and role of copulas in nonverbal predication. The aim is to provide a comprehensive analysis of copulas that takes into account the diversity of forms copulas may take across languages (verbal copula, particle copula, absence of copula). Contrary to the widely accepted view that copulas are support elements for tense, aspect and mood (TAM), in the proposed analysis the copula is analyzed as the realization of the head Pred, with or without accompanying TAM projections. Variation in the form of the copula, as well as its absence altogether, derives from how Pred and TAM heads are morphologically realized: as a single exponent, as separate exponents, or not realized.
We assume the Copy theory of control, under which obligatory control depends on a Copy relation between the controller and the controllee, followed by deletion of the latter (‘PRO’). We further assume that pro subjects undergo deletion (No Transfer) under Agree with rich I. We are interested in the compatibility of this framework with some instances of null subjects, whose status is intermediate between standard PRO and pro. We first consider non-obligatory control and partial control, adopting an account in terms of logophoric binding via the phase edge. We then propose that the finite null subjects of Brazilian Portuguese instantiate finite control, but of the non-obligatory, logophoric kind.
I this paper, a typology of antecedentless null subjects in Greek is presented and discussed. It is shown that Greek exhibits an array of such antecedentless null subjects ranging from non-thematic expletive ones to thematic non-definite ones which receive generic/universal and existential interpretation. It is argued that null subjects are the null nominative forms of the weak pronoun and as such they involve a DP layer above a φP, the specification of which contributes to its reference. Non-definite readings arise, when the D head is not specified as definite, and the relevant interpretation depends on whether and how this head acquires or licenses its content.
Children’s difficulties with object relatives, linked to intervention effects ( Friedmann et al. 2009 ), can be modulated by finer-grained featural mismatches between the moved object and the embedded subject. We investigated the effect of gender and number featural mismatches and the role of audible verb agreement in number on the comprehension of relative clauses in French. Our findings show that a mismatch in number, but not in gender, modulates intervention effects in French object relatives. This follows from the featural intervention account ( Belletti et al. 2012 ), because only number acts as attractor for movement in French. We also show that audibility of number agreement on the verbal morphology does not affect comprehension, as expected under an abstract feature-based approach to intervention.
The paper addresses a puzzle regarding the licensing of parasitic gaps (PGs) by resumptive pronouns (RPs) in Hebrew: A-bar movement chains culminating in gaps license PGs within subjects and within adjuncts, but A-bar chains culminating in RPs license a more limited set of PG positions. Originally presented in Sells 1984 , Shlonsky 1987 , 1992 as an asymmetry between PGs within subjects, licensed by RPs, and PGs within adjuncts, which are not, PGs are shown to be licensed within adjuncts in higher positions. We argue that the difference in distribution between chains culminating in gaps and chains culminating in RPs follows from the position of the Operator binding the RP, and the calculus of semantic composition in Nissenbaum 2000.
This article explores the existentials of selected Afroasiatic languages that collectively provide evidence for a compositional main predicate that consists of an existential operator and a substantive component in the shape of a Stage-Level predicate. The existential operator is typically spelled out with ‘some’ and the Stage-Level predicate with deictic ‘there’ and ‘in-it’ with a spatiotemporal semantic content rooted in their structure in the shape of the silent compound SPACE-TIME. The Stage-Level predicate can also be spelled out with stative passive ‘be.found’ with the meaning ‘exist’. The languages discussed include Arabic, Berber and South Arabian.
In earlier work we claimed that a preposition prefixed to the complementizer in PP-interrogatives marks a clefting strategy, as opposed to long-distance wh-movement of PP. We now argue that claim was in error. All PP-interrogatives of the language make use of the clefting strategy. Prefixation of P to C rather indicates that the P must be construed with the predicate of the clause C heads.
This study investigates the interaction between negation and wh-dependencies in French long-distance questions. An acceptability judgment experiment tested 12 conditions, comparing in situ and ex situ wh phrases in positive contexts, under matrix negation, and under embedded negation. Wh extraction occurred from embedded clauses selected by communication and factive matrix verbs. Results show that matrix negation causes a severe reduction in acceptability, while embedded negation has a milder effect. Crucially, in situ wh phrases are consistently rated at least as high as their ex situ counterparts, even under negation. These findings support both a unified, locality-based analysis of intervention effects. We propose a Relativized Minimality account distinguishing A- and A′-chains and suggest refinements to phase theory to account for the sensitivity of long-distance wh dependencies to matrix negation.
Cartographic maps aim to identify the order of generation and understand, by explaining in terms of syntactic strategies, the derived orders. In this work, we focus on the order of core verbal arguments and how the PP-NP order is derived from a basic NP-PP order. We test three models of syntactic operations (criterial model, meaningless movement, and external merge) and their predictions using quantitative and computational tools. Specifically, we implement two studies across nineteen treebanks in sixteen languages (four treebanks for Italian and Hebrew in Study 1; fifteen parallel treebanks in Study 2) to test the predictions in terms of locality for the different models. Our results show that the criterial model better predicts the data.
Function words are often considered morphosyntactically monolithic, and partial formal similarities between them are easily dismissed as (synchronically) accidental, as evidence for decomposition may be sparse within individual languages. Recurrence in unrelated languages of such similarities, however, immediately raises the plausibility of a principled reason thereof, wherein lies the relevance of a comparative approach. This chapter approaches English, French, German, and Mandarin equivalents of ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘where’, ‘this’, and ‘that’ from a comparative perspective, suggesting untraditional hypotheses regarding their morphematic composition, including a suprasegmental definite article in Mandarin and a preposition in English and French ‘that’/‘cela’. Perhaps more importantly, the study reveals that in order to understand the relation of ‘what’ to ‘this’ and ‘that’, one must study the relation of ‘where’ to ‘here’ and ‘there’.
In this paper, I argue (without attempting to look at the entire range of datives) that, in DOC sentences, datives are moved (internally merged) into what we think of as their canonical DOC position. If this is correct, then the movement tradition of the 1960s will have turned out to be more on the right track (in that respect) than the applicative tradition. More generally, I pursue the idea that no dative argument is externally merged into its visible position. And, more specifically, that all dative arguments without exception originate DP-internally. The discussion takes into account possessor raising and French causatives, as well as dative arguments that are locative and dative arguments that are temporals.
