In this chapter, we discuss avenues for future investigation into dialect variation in North Amer... more In this chapter, we discuss avenues for future investigation into dialect variation in North American English morphosyntax, with a focus on four broad areas. First, the recent proliferation of data sources and methods for analyzing such data provides new opportunities for asking and addressing questions about dialect variation. Second, while we have learned much about the details of many morphosyntactic phenomena and syntactic constructions, the deeper we dig, the more intriguing– and sometimes puzzling– those details turn out to be. Third, theoretical syntacticians have begun to analyze the details of lesser known constructions, and there remains much work to be done in this area. Moreover, areas of grammatical variation are frequently discovered in theoretical work that could potentially yield new insights into American English dialects, and often these would benefit from the kinds of analysis being developed at the cutting edge of dialectological work. Finally, recent work on North American English morphosyntax has revealed some significant interactions between geographic region and other social determinants of variation, and the development of new methods of analysis may allow us to pursue questions in this area in novel and exciting ways.
This squib discusses the clitic DU (-du/-ðu/-tu) in Icelandic and compares it with other reduced ... more This squib discusses the clitic DU (-du/-ðu/-tu) in Icelandic and compares it with other reduced forms of personal pronouns, such as 'ann (for hann 'he') and 'ún (for hún 'she'). We show that there are various restrictions found on DU which are not found on other reduced forms of personal pronouns in Icelandic. We argue that whereas reduced forms such as 'ann and 'ún are morphophonologically conditioned, DU is syntactically conditioned; it is not only clause-bounded but also phase-bounded.
The Size of Things II: Movement, Features and Interpretation
An often discussed fact about Icelandic dative-nominative constructions is that nominative object... more An often discussed fact about Icelandic dative-nominative constructions is that nominative objects cannot trigger 1st or 2nd person agreement on the finite verb; but when the agreement form is morphologically syncretic with 3rd person, the example is judged to improve. What is not often discussed is that the ameliorative effect of syncretism is stronger when the verb ends in the 'middle'-st morpheme. In this article, I propose that this effect is related to another morphological fact about -st verbs, namely, that they are always syncretic across all persons in the singular, but not in the plural. I present a syntactic account of this syncretism which captures its morphological properties and predicts a difference between ameliorative syncreticism when-st is present and when it is not.
Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 2015
This chapter provides a detailed look at the morphosyntax of the -st morpheme which marks many ar... more This chapter provides a detailed look at the morphosyntax of the -st morpheme which marks many argument structure alternations and plays a major role in much of the rest of the book. The primary goal here is to defend the view that -st has the morphosyntax of a clitic, rather than a suffix. While the clitic analysis has been around for some time, there is also a long tradition arguing that it is a suffix with no systematic syntactic function. The point of this chapter is to demonstrate that there are no valid arguments against a clitic analysis of -st, and there are several fairly strong arguments in favor of such an analysis. The arguments here are mostly cross-linguistic, rather than language internal ones: every property claimed to disqualify -st as a clitic is also found as a property of elements that are uncontroversially considered to be clitics. The fact that -st behaves like clitics cross-linguistically paves the way for the analysis developed in subsequent chapters, where -st is argued to be an expletive clitic that occupies various argument positions syntactically, with different semantic effects in different positions. The chapter closes with a survey of various possible clitic analyses that are compatible with the results in subsequent chapters.
Þessi grein fjallar um föst orðasambönd þar sem tiltekin sögn og tiltekið andlag hennar eru túlku... more Þessi grein fjallar um föst orðasambönd þar sem tiltekin sögn og tiltekið andlag hennar eru túlkuð á sérstakan hátt sem ekki er fyrirsegjanlegur út frá merkingu einstakra orða. Við ræðum samspil tiltekinna setningagerða í íslensku og túlkunar á þessum sömu orðasamböndum. Sjónum er einkum beint að víxlum milli germyndar, þolmyndar og nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðarinnar. Við sýnum að þau sambönd sem glata orðasambandsmerkingu í hefð- bundinni þolmynd varðveita hana í nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðinni. Fjallað er um þá eiginleika sem einkenna föst sagnasambönd og kenningar sem settar hafa verið fram af Chomsky og Lebeaux um greiningu á svona gögnum. Þessar kenningar samrýmast ágætlega greiningum á nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðinni sem gera ráð fyrir ósögðu frumlagi vegna þess að ósagður liður í frumlagssæti ætti að koma í veg fyrir rökliðafærslu andlags. Ef andlagið getur ekki færst þá standa sögn og andlag hlið við hlið og ekkert spillir fyrir því að túlka þessar tvær einingar sem...
This chapter discusses phenomena associated with the Voice head, which is canonically responsible... more This chapter discusses phenomena associated with the Voice head, which is canonically responsible for introducing external arguments. This set of phenomena overlaps with, but is not coterminous with, the set of 'voice'-related phenomena recognised by typologists. We discuss the properties ascribed to the Voice head in various Minimalist analyses, including: whether the head is present or absent, whether it requires a specifier, whether it assigns case, how it is realized morphologically, and what it contributes semantically. We also highlight some of the challenges in the cross-linguistic comparison of voice phenomena, not least the fact that the Voice head can be realized in various forms, including affixes, light verbs, reflexive pronouns, and sets of phi-features. We argue that uncovering more details about what is and isn’t attributable to Voice can help us identify the fundamental building blocks that languages use to express and encode the presence, absence, and interpretation of arguments in general.
Wood and Zanuttini (2018) have discussed data suggesting that low Appl(icative) phrases can occur... more Wood and Zanuttini (2018) have discussed data suggesting that low Appl(icative) phrases can occur as the complement of a preposition in some varieties of English. However, their claim was based on a limited data set that is potentially open to alternative analyses. This paper reports on judgment data collected by the second author of the present paper in January 2018 which go well beyond the examples discussed by Wood and Zanuttini (2018), and support their claim that a beneficiary and a DP can form a constituent inside a PP that excludes the PP and any verb it may be associated with
This work presents the results of a series of acceptability judgment surveys conducted by the Yal... more This work presents the results of a series of acceptability judgment surveys conducted by the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (YGDP) between 2015 and 2019. It contains over 200 maps of some 194 sentences, covering a wide range of syntactic constructions, including dative presentatives, personal datives, extended benefactives, the have yet to construction, the done my homework construction, wicked, hella, the so don’t I construction, the alls construction, the come with construction, fixin’ to, the needs washed construction, non-polarity anymore (aka “positive anymore”), and many others. For each sentence, we also provide some basic demographic information, such as how the sentence judgments varied by age, race, gender, education, and urban/rural classifications. We describe the goals of these surveys, as well as how they were designed, administered, processed, and mapped, along with a brief introduction to the history of the YGDP. In addition to providing a detailed look at synta...
The striking parallels across languages in the syntactic expression of “argument structure” broad... more The striking parallels across languages in the syntactic expression of “argument structure” broadly construed has led within generative grammar, at least since Generative Semantics, to generative theories that demand a kind of transparent reflection of argument structure in
Building Deverbal Ability Adjectives in Icelandic This paper discusses two ways of forming Icelan... more Building Deverbal Ability Adjectives in Icelandic This paper discusses two ways of forming Icelandic ability predicates: one with the present participle (Ability Participles, APs) and the other with an adjectivizing affix (Ability Adjectives, AAs). We show that they each share distinct properties with passives and with middles (and differ from both). We compare the meaning of the different ability predicates; in APs, the ability relates to properties of the understood subject or the event process, whereas in AAs, the ability relates to propertes of the object. On our analysis, the adjectivizing head of AAs attaches on top of a participial structure which both APs and AAs share.
The verb lata ‘let/make’ in Icelandic provides a unique opportunity to understand the behavior of... more The verb lata ‘let/make’ in Icelandic provides a unique opportunity to understand the behavior of symmetric versus asymmetric DAT-NOM constructions. In this paper, I take a close look at lata and examine a set of cases where DAT-NOM verbs are embedded under lata, resulting in the otherwise nominative object becoming accusative in some cases and remaining nominative in others. I analyze this in terms of a phase-based dependent case theory (cf. Marantz 1991/2000, 2007), where locality domains are the primary factor determining whether dependent accusative is available.
In this paper, we discuss the syntax of a causative construction in European Portuguese, which is... more In this paper, we discuss the syntax of a causative construction in European Portuguese, which is similar to the ordinary causative (OC) but which also differs from it in important ways. We refer to this construction as the Locative Causative (LC) construction, which alternates between transitive (TLC) and intransitive (ILC) variants. We show that LCs entail a change of location of the theme and exhibit an existence presupposition on the theme. We suggest that this is because the entire VoiceP is embedded in a LocP structure, and that this structure also leads to the existence presupposition. We propose that both TLCs and ILCs may embed a passive VoiceP despite having infinitival morphology, and that the distinction between light verbs ‘go’ in ILCs and ‘put’ in TLCs stems from the presence or absence of an externalargument-introducing Voice head in the matrix clause. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn...
Cross-linguistically, reflexive verbs frequently show puzzling behavior when they are embedded un... more Cross-linguistically, reflexive verbs frequently show puzzling behavior when they are embedded under causatives. We focus on two ways that this pattern manifests itself in Icelandic Indirect Causatives, formed with the light verb láta ‘let/make/have’: (i) verbs that normally cannot be embedded are allowed with reflexives, and (ii) a pleonastic use of the causative verb becomes available in imperatives with oblique subjects. We propose that these facts follow from the syntax of long-distance reflexives (which involves a “point-of-view” operator OPPOV), and a Voice-stacking analysis of indirect causatives, where two Voice heads are added on top of a single vP. The claim is that there is a limited set of ways to interpret the Voice-stacking structure, and reflexives provide one particular way to do this that is not otherwise available. Assuming that either Voice head can introduce a thematic interpretation or be expletive, we propose that in principle, there are four ways to interpret ...
We discuss remarkable constructions in Icelandic that have the distributive pronoun hvor ‘each’ i... more We discuss remarkable constructions in Icelandic that have the distributive pronoun hvor ‘each’ in common: the reciprocal construction hvor annar ‘each other’, and the distributive hvor sinn ‘each their’ construction, which also comes in a sinn hvor ‘their each’ version. We provide the first detailed description of these constructions, in particular their case and word order properties, which raise recalcitrant puzzles, and then we discuss what they tell us about the syntax of nonfinite verbs. Specifically, the word order and case properties of these constructions indicate that nonfinite verbs in Icelandic undergo short verb movement within the verb phrase. That is, the evidence indicates that the leftmost element in these constructions, alternatively hvor or sinn, originates inside an object DP and moves, by what we refer to as e-raising, to the base position of an antecedent with which it agrees, before being stranded by that very antecedent. The verb, nevertheless, appears to the...
In this paper, I show that the syntactic properties constructions like (1), which I will refer to... more In this paper, I show that the syntactic properties constructions like (1), which I will refer to as the “Existential Accusative” (EA) construction, have important consequences for the theory of case and movement. First, these constructions show that ordinary, structural accusative DPs can be the subjects of finite clauses; therefore, inherent and structural cases are not “different types” with respect to DP distribution. Second, I will show evidence that in sentences like (1), the accusative moves past PRONOM by a step of A′-movement, which feeds A-movement to the subject position. This kind of movement is standardly referred to as “improper” movement, and is thought to banned. Given the evidence that (1) is derived by improper movement, we must prevent such movement from overgenerating, without banning it completely.
This paper examines passive-like constructions in Icelandic and argues that idioms cannot be inte... more This paper examines passive-like constructions in Icelandic and argues that idioms cannot be interpreted via traces and that the loss of idiomatic interpretation under passivization depends on the availability of displacement. We develop a mechanism of Late Transfer of Idioms which accounts for the observed facts.
In this chapter, we discuss avenues for future investigation into dialect variation in North Amer... more In this chapter, we discuss avenues for future investigation into dialect variation in North American English morphosyntax, with a focus on four broad areas. First, the recent proliferation of data sources and methods for analyzing such data provides new opportunities for asking and addressing questions about dialect variation. Second, while we have learned much about the details of many morphosyntactic phenomena and syntactic constructions, the deeper we dig, the more intriguing– and sometimes puzzling– those details turn out to be. Third, theoretical syntacticians have begun to analyze the details of lesser known constructions, and there remains much work to be done in this area. Moreover, areas of grammatical variation are frequently discovered in theoretical work that could potentially yield new insights into American English dialects, and often these would benefit from the kinds of analysis being developed at the cutting edge of dialectological work. Finally, recent work on North American English morphosyntax has revealed some significant interactions between geographic region and other social determinants of variation, and the development of new methods of analysis may allow us to pursue questions in this area in novel and exciting ways.
This squib discusses the clitic DU (-du/-ðu/-tu) in Icelandic and compares it with other reduced ... more This squib discusses the clitic DU (-du/-ðu/-tu) in Icelandic and compares it with other reduced forms of personal pronouns, such as 'ann (for hann 'he') and 'ún (for hún 'she'). We show that there are various restrictions found on DU which are not found on other reduced forms of personal pronouns in Icelandic. We argue that whereas reduced forms such as 'ann and 'ún are morphophonologically conditioned, DU is syntactically conditioned; it is not only clause-bounded but also phase-bounded.
The Size of Things II: Movement, Features and Interpretation
An often discussed fact about Icelandic dative-nominative constructions is that nominative object... more An often discussed fact about Icelandic dative-nominative constructions is that nominative objects cannot trigger 1st or 2nd person agreement on the finite verb; but when the agreement form is morphologically syncretic with 3rd person, the example is judged to improve. What is not often discussed is that the ameliorative effect of syncretism is stronger when the verb ends in the 'middle'-st morpheme. In this article, I propose that this effect is related to another morphological fact about -st verbs, namely, that they are always syncretic across all persons in the singular, but not in the plural. I present a syntactic account of this syncretism which captures its morphological properties and predicts a difference between ameliorative syncreticism when-st is present and when it is not.
Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 2015
This chapter provides a detailed look at the morphosyntax of the -st morpheme which marks many ar... more This chapter provides a detailed look at the morphosyntax of the -st morpheme which marks many argument structure alternations and plays a major role in much of the rest of the book. The primary goal here is to defend the view that -st has the morphosyntax of a clitic, rather than a suffix. While the clitic analysis has been around for some time, there is also a long tradition arguing that it is a suffix with no systematic syntactic function. The point of this chapter is to demonstrate that there are no valid arguments against a clitic analysis of -st, and there are several fairly strong arguments in favor of such an analysis. The arguments here are mostly cross-linguistic, rather than language internal ones: every property claimed to disqualify -st as a clitic is also found as a property of elements that are uncontroversially considered to be clitics. The fact that -st behaves like clitics cross-linguistically paves the way for the analysis developed in subsequent chapters, where -st is argued to be an expletive clitic that occupies various argument positions syntactically, with different semantic effects in different positions. The chapter closes with a survey of various possible clitic analyses that are compatible with the results in subsequent chapters.
Þessi grein fjallar um föst orðasambönd þar sem tiltekin sögn og tiltekið andlag hennar eru túlku... more Þessi grein fjallar um föst orðasambönd þar sem tiltekin sögn og tiltekið andlag hennar eru túlkuð á sérstakan hátt sem ekki er fyrirsegjanlegur út frá merkingu einstakra orða. Við ræðum samspil tiltekinna setningagerða í íslensku og túlkunar á þessum sömu orðasamböndum. Sjónum er einkum beint að víxlum milli germyndar, þolmyndar og nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðarinnar. Við sýnum að þau sambönd sem glata orðasambandsmerkingu í hefð- bundinni þolmynd varðveita hana í nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðinni. Fjallað er um þá eiginleika sem einkenna föst sagnasambönd og kenningar sem settar hafa verið fram af Chomsky og Lebeaux um greiningu á svona gögnum. Þessar kenningar samrýmast ágætlega greiningum á nýju ópersónulegu setningagerðinni sem gera ráð fyrir ósögðu frumlagi vegna þess að ósagður liður í frumlagssæti ætti að koma í veg fyrir rökliðafærslu andlags. Ef andlagið getur ekki færst þá standa sögn og andlag hlið við hlið og ekkert spillir fyrir því að túlka þessar tvær einingar sem...
This chapter discusses phenomena associated with the Voice head, which is canonically responsible... more This chapter discusses phenomena associated with the Voice head, which is canonically responsible for introducing external arguments. This set of phenomena overlaps with, but is not coterminous with, the set of 'voice'-related phenomena recognised by typologists. We discuss the properties ascribed to the Voice head in various Minimalist analyses, including: whether the head is present or absent, whether it requires a specifier, whether it assigns case, how it is realized morphologically, and what it contributes semantically. We also highlight some of the challenges in the cross-linguistic comparison of voice phenomena, not least the fact that the Voice head can be realized in various forms, including affixes, light verbs, reflexive pronouns, and sets of phi-features. We argue that uncovering more details about what is and isn’t attributable to Voice can help us identify the fundamental building blocks that languages use to express and encode the presence, absence, and interpretation of arguments in general.
Wood and Zanuttini (2018) have discussed data suggesting that low Appl(icative) phrases can occur... more Wood and Zanuttini (2018) have discussed data suggesting that low Appl(icative) phrases can occur as the complement of a preposition in some varieties of English. However, their claim was based on a limited data set that is potentially open to alternative analyses. This paper reports on judgment data collected by the second author of the present paper in January 2018 which go well beyond the examples discussed by Wood and Zanuttini (2018), and support their claim that a beneficiary and a DP can form a constituent inside a PP that excludes the PP and any verb it may be associated with
This work presents the results of a series of acceptability judgment surveys conducted by the Yal... more This work presents the results of a series of acceptability judgment surveys conducted by the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (YGDP) between 2015 and 2019. It contains over 200 maps of some 194 sentences, covering a wide range of syntactic constructions, including dative presentatives, personal datives, extended benefactives, the have yet to construction, the done my homework construction, wicked, hella, the so don’t I construction, the alls construction, the come with construction, fixin’ to, the needs washed construction, non-polarity anymore (aka “positive anymore”), and many others. For each sentence, we also provide some basic demographic information, such as how the sentence judgments varied by age, race, gender, education, and urban/rural classifications. We describe the goals of these surveys, as well as how they were designed, administered, processed, and mapped, along with a brief introduction to the history of the YGDP. In addition to providing a detailed look at synta...
The striking parallels across languages in the syntactic expression of “argument structure” broad... more The striking parallels across languages in the syntactic expression of “argument structure” broadly construed has led within generative grammar, at least since Generative Semantics, to generative theories that demand a kind of transparent reflection of argument structure in
Building Deverbal Ability Adjectives in Icelandic This paper discusses two ways of forming Icelan... more Building Deverbal Ability Adjectives in Icelandic This paper discusses two ways of forming Icelandic ability predicates: one with the present participle (Ability Participles, APs) and the other with an adjectivizing affix (Ability Adjectives, AAs). We show that they each share distinct properties with passives and with middles (and differ from both). We compare the meaning of the different ability predicates; in APs, the ability relates to properties of the understood subject or the event process, whereas in AAs, the ability relates to propertes of the object. On our analysis, the adjectivizing head of AAs attaches on top of a participial structure which both APs and AAs share.
The verb lata ‘let/make’ in Icelandic provides a unique opportunity to understand the behavior of... more The verb lata ‘let/make’ in Icelandic provides a unique opportunity to understand the behavior of symmetric versus asymmetric DAT-NOM constructions. In this paper, I take a close look at lata and examine a set of cases where DAT-NOM verbs are embedded under lata, resulting in the otherwise nominative object becoming accusative in some cases and remaining nominative in others. I analyze this in terms of a phase-based dependent case theory (cf. Marantz 1991/2000, 2007), where locality domains are the primary factor determining whether dependent accusative is available.
In this paper, we discuss the syntax of a causative construction in European Portuguese, which is... more In this paper, we discuss the syntax of a causative construction in European Portuguese, which is similar to the ordinary causative (OC) but which also differs from it in important ways. We refer to this construction as the Locative Causative (LC) construction, which alternates between transitive (TLC) and intransitive (ILC) variants. We show that LCs entail a change of location of the theme and exhibit an existence presupposition on the theme. We suggest that this is because the entire VoiceP is embedded in a LocP structure, and that this structure also leads to the existence presupposition. We propose that both TLCs and ILCs may embed a passive VoiceP despite having infinitival morphology, and that the distinction between light verbs ‘go’ in ILCs and ‘put’ in TLCs stems from the presence or absence of an externalargument-introducing Voice head in the matrix clause. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn...
Cross-linguistically, reflexive verbs frequently show puzzling behavior when they are embedded un... more Cross-linguistically, reflexive verbs frequently show puzzling behavior when they are embedded under causatives. We focus on two ways that this pattern manifests itself in Icelandic Indirect Causatives, formed with the light verb láta ‘let/make/have’: (i) verbs that normally cannot be embedded are allowed with reflexives, and (ii) a pleonastic use of the causative verb becomes available in imperatives with oblique subjects. We propose that these facts follow from the syntax of long-distance reflexives (which involves a “point-of-view” operator OPPOV), and a Voice-stacking analysis of indirect causatives, where two Voice heads are added on top of a single vP. The claim is that there is a limited set of ways to interpret the Voice-stacking structure, and reflexives provide one particular way to do this that is not otherwise available. Assuming that either Voice head can introduce a thematic interpretation or be expletive, we propose that in principle, there are four ways to interpret ...
We discuss remarkable constructions in Icelandic that have the distributive pronoun hvor ‘each’ i... more We discuss remarkable constructions in Icelandic that have the distributive pronoun hvor ‘each’ in common: the reciprocal construction hvor annar ‘each other’, and the distributive hvor sinn ‘each their’ construction, which also comes in a sinn hvor ‘their each’ version. We provide the first detailed description of these constructions, in particular their case and word order properties, which raise recalcitrant puzzles, and then we discuss what they tell us about the syntax of nonfinite verbs. Specifically, the word order and case properties of these constructions indicate that nonfinite verbs in Icelandic undergo short verb movement within the verb phrase. That is, the evidence indicates that the leftmost element in these constructions, alternatively hvor or sinn, originates inside an object DP and moves, by what we refer to as e-raising, to the base position of an antecedent with which it agrees, before being stranded by that very antecedent. The verb, nevertheless, appears to the...
In this paper, I show that the syntactic properties constructions like (1), which I will refer to... more In this paper, I show that the syntactic properties constructions like (1), which I will refer to as the “Existential Accusative” (EA) construction, have important consequences for the theory of case and movement. First, these constructions show that ordinary, structural accusative DPs can be the subjects of finite clauses; therefore, inherent and structural cases are not “different types” with respect to DP distribution. Second, I will show evidence that in sentences like (1), the accusative moves past PRONOM by a step of A′-movement, which feeds A-movement to the subject position. This kind of movement is standardly referred to as “improper” movement, and is thought to banned. Given the evidence that (1) is derived by improper movement, we must prevent such movement from overgenerating, without banning it completely.
This paper examines passive-like constructions in Icelandic and argues that idioms cannot be inte... more This paper examines passive-like constructions in Icelandic and argues that idioms cannot be interpreted via traces and that the loss of idiomatic interpretation under passivization depends on the availability of displacement. We develop a mechanism of Late Transfer of Idioms which accounts for the observed facts.
Voice: introduces the agent * Asp: stativizes the event, generically quantifies over it * a(dj): ... more Voice: introduces the agent * Asp: stativizes the event, generically quantifies over it * a(dj): existentially closes over the agent; predicates aP of the theme This operator could then silently bear the dative case assigned by v DAT .
2 As we will discuss further in section 4, English get has a wider distribution. Unless otherwise... more 2 As we will discuss further in section 4, English get has a wider distribution. Unless otherwise stated, 'get' refers to the cross-Germanic 'get' and the term "'get'-passives" refers to sentences with the form in (2).
The theory of applicatives, as introduced by Marantz (1993) and developed by , , and others, prop... more The theory of applicatives, as introduced by Marantz (1993) and developed by , , and others, proposes that various oblique DPs across languages are not direct arguments of the main predicate, but are instead related to it by applicative heads which vary in featural content and semantic interpretation. Among the phenomena to be accounted for is the use of a dative/oblique-marked DP with a changeof-state unaccusative, which is common in languages with productive use of oblique cases. This DP can be interpreted as an unintentional causer of the change-of-state event, as illustrated with the German example in (1). As noted in Schäfer (2008) and discussed below, the notion of unintentional causation encompasses several readings. (1) dem the.DAT Hans John zerbrach broke die the Vase vase 'The vase broke and John unintentionally caused this.' (Schäfer 2008, 107)
Icelandic accusative subjects of the sort shown in (1) played an important role in supporting Sig... more Icelandic accusative subjects of the sort shown in (1) played an important role in supporting Sigurdsson's (1989) promotion analysis of non-nominative subjects, but have received less attention in work on case-marking since. In this paper, I show that the syntactic properties constructions like (1), which I will refer to as the "Existential Accusative" (EA) construction, have important consequences for the theory of case and movement. First, these constructions show that ordinary, structural accusative DPs can be the subjects of finite clauses; therefore, inherent and structural cases are not "different types" with respect to DP distribution. Second, I will show evidence that in sentences like (1), the accusative moves past PRO NOM by a step of A′-movement, which feeds A-movement to the subject position. This kind of movement is standardly referred to as "improper" movement, and is thought to banned. Given the evidence that (1) is derived by improper movement, we must prevent such movement from overgenerating, without banning it completely.
In this talk, we examine thematically similar PPs expressing possession in Icelandic and Russian ... more In this talk, we examine thematically similar PPs expressing possession in Icelandic and Russian (hjá and u 'at', respectively). These PPs which are not SUBJECTs in either language, but are nevertheless more SUBJECT-like in Russian than Icelandic. We argue that important differences between Icelandic and Russian must be captured without any specific reference to a primitive SUBJECT relation/property; these differences extend to oblique subject-like DPs to a large extent, suggesting that the notion of SUBJECT is superfluous.
• The so-called "unintentional causer" construction: a change-of-state event with a theme + a dat... more • The so-called "unintentional causer" construction: a change-of-state event with a theme + a dative (or genitive/oblique) DP:
Non-Canonically Case-Marked Subjects within and across Languages and Language Families: Stability, Variation and Change, Jun 2012
In this talk, we examine thematically similar PPs expressing possession in Icelandic and Russian ... more In this talk, we examine thematically similar PPs expressing possession in Icelandic and Russian (hjá and u 'at', respectively).
• A question that spans a variety of frameworks: what is the relationship between a particular "v... more • A question that spans a variety of frameworks: what is the relationship between a particular "verb word" and the syntactic rules of a language?
• Talmy (1985, 2000) proposed that English and the Romance languages differ in that the latter ge... more • Talmy (1985, 2000) proposed that English and the Romance languages differ in that the latter generally express “path” in verb roots, whereas the former expresses “path” in satellite morphemes such as prepositions. o English put is a suppletive form expressing a “non-directional 'putting'notion,” its directional component being “determined completely by the particular Path particle and/or preposition present”(Talmy 1985: 71, 2000: 51).
There is a broad consensus across a variety of otherwise-distinct frameworks that morphology is r... more There is a broad consensus across a variety of otherwise-distinct frameworks that morphology is realizational (Siddiqi & Harley 2016:540): morphosyntactic features have a layer of analysis that is distinct from, and systemically prior to, the way they are expressed. When a single morphosyntactic feature gets more than one form, we call it allomorphy. Recent work has embraced the idea that something similar or identical happens in the semantics, sometimes referred to as allosemy: a single morphosyntactic feature can get more than one meaning. In this talk, I show how allosemy resolves a long-standing tension in the analysis of action nominalizations, which have been understood since Grimshaw 1990 to be systematically ambiguous. For example, transmission can have basically the same meaning as the verb transmit (as in ‘Jyn Erso’s transmission of the Death Star plans’) or it can refer to a concrete object (as in ‘The transmission is lying on the floor’). The tension is that the systematic ambiguity suggests that nominalizations should have a uniform structure, but one reading suggests that the structure contains a verb phrase, while the other suggests the opposite. I review arguments based on Icelandic data that all readings of nominalizations can and should be derived from a single structure, by inserting different allosemes into that structure. After showing how this resolves the analytical tension, I compare allosemy and allomorphy more broadly, and suggest that they really are parallel — the same basic mechanism operating in different interfaces — despite two intriguing differences in how they seem to be used.
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