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Case in Standard Arabic: a Dependent Case Approach

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Case in Standard Arabic: a Dependent Case Approach CASE IN STANDARD ARABIC: A DEPENDENT CASE APPROACH AMER AHMED A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO August 2016 © AMER AHMED, 2016 ABSTRACT This dissertation is concerned with how structural and non-structural cases are assigned in the variety of Arabic known in the literature as Standard Arabic (SA). Taking a Minimalist perspective, this dissertation shows that the available generative accounts of case in SA are problematic either theoretically or empirically. It is argued that these problems can be overcome using the hybrid dependent case theory of Baker (2015). This theory makes a distinction between two types of phases. The first is the hard phase, which disallows the materials inside from being accessed by higher phases. The second is the soft phase, which allows the materials inside it to be accessed by higher phases. The results of this dissertation indicate that in SA (a) the CP is a hard phase in that noun phrases inside this phase are inaccessible to higher phases for the purpose of case assignment. In contrast, vP is argued to be a soft phase in that the noun phrases inside this phase are still accessible to higher phases for the purposes of case assignment (b) the DP, and the PP are also argued to be hard phases in SA, (c) case assignment in SA follows a hierarchy such that lexical case applies before the dependent case, the dependent case applies before the Agree-based case assignment, the Agree-based case assignment applies before the unmarked/default case assignment, (d) case assignment in SA is determined by a parameter, which allows the dependent case assignment to apply to a noun phrase if it is c-commanded by another noun phrase in the same Spell-Out domain (TP or VP), (e) the rules of dependent case assignment require that the NPs involved have distinct referential indices. The major conclusion of the dissertation is that the functional head v in SA is a soft phase head, due to its deficient ɸ-specification. That is why it is incapable of establishing an Agree ii relation with the object and assigning the structural accusative case to it. The structural accusative case on the object is, therefore, always the result of the dependent case mechanism. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people who contributed in one way or another to this thesis. First, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Gabriela Alboiu of York University for reading previous versions of this manuscript and providing feedback. Her contribution to the ideas expressed in this thesis is much appreciated. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Ruth King of York University for her input on a previous version of this manuscript. I would also like to thank Dr. Philipp Angermeyer and Dr. Amila Buturovic of York University for their feedback on an earlier version of this thesis. Third, a very special thank you should go to Dr. Arsalan Kahnemuyipour of the University of Toronto for his meticulous comments on earlier versions of this thesis. His insightful comments have greatly helped improve the quality of this thesis. Fourth, a very big thank you is due to Dr. Youssef Haddad of the University of Florida for agreeing to be the external examiner of my PhD thesis committee and for his insightful comments on an earlier version of this thesis. Fifth, Dr. Usama Soltan of Middlebury College was always there when I had questions about his PhD work on Standard Arabic syntax. Never once did he fail to respond to my questions. He is by all standards a role model for all scholars in the field of academia. Sixth, Dr. Dinha Tobiya Gorgis of the Defence Language Institue has always been there fore me both when I needed answers to some of my questions about Standard Arabic and when I needed emotional support. He was the first person who started me thinking about linguistic issues. He is truly a Godfather, a dedicated defender of science, an excellent educator and teacher and a great moral figure in my life. Seventh, Dr. Rashid Al-Balushi of Sultan Qabuus University kindly responded to my questions about his PhD work on the syntax of case in Standard Arabic. Another thank you for Dr. Fassi Fehri of Mohammed V University for kindly responding to one of my e-mails. Eighth, a word of thanks should also go to Dr. Elizabeth Ritter of the University of Calgary, Dr. Elizabeth Cowper and Dr. Diane Massam of the University of Toronto and Dr. Martha McGinnes of the University of Victoria, Matthew A. Tucker of NYU Abu Dhabi University, and Dr. Tue Trinh of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for their valuable input on some of the ideas expressed in this thesis, which were presented in a number of linguistic conferences both in Canada and in the States. I would like to end with a very big thank you to Noam Chomsky. It was through some of his words about science that I started seriously entertaining the idea of doing a PhD in theoretical Linguistics. His words, “Science is tentative, explorative, questioning, and largely learned by doing.” (Chomsky Rationality/science: 91), have an everlasting impact on me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of contents ..............................................................................................................................v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations used in glosses ....................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Case in generative grammar…………………………………………………………...6 2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………… 6 2.2 On binding (Chomsky 1980)………………………………………………………………... 6 2.3 The Government and Binding (GB) approach to case……………………………………… 10 2.4 Case in Early Minimalism…………………………………………………………………... 14 2.5 Case in later Minimalism……………………………………………………………………. 16 2.6 Refinements to case theory…………………………………………………………………. 19 2.6.1 On two types of nonstructural cases (Woolford 2006)………………………………….. 19 2.6.2 On default case (Schütze 2001)…………………………………………………………. 24 2.7 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..27 Chapter 3: Introduction to SA and previous accounts of case…………………………………...28 3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..28 3.2 The syntax of SA: A brief overview…………………………………………………………28 3.3 Case in Medieval Arabic grammar…………………………………………………………..39 3.4 Previous generative accounts of case in SA…………………………………………………47 3.4.1 Agree-based accounts of case in SA……………………………………………………….48 3.4.2 A mixed approach to case (Fassi Fehri 1993)……………………………………………...79 3.5 The proposed account………………………………………………………………………..86 3.6 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..88 Chapter 4: Alternate accounts of case with a focus on Baker’s dependent case theory and relavant theoretical assumptions…………………………………………………………………89 4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..89 4.2 Alternative accounts of case: The Case Tier theory…………………………………………89 4.2.1 Problems with the Case Tier theory………………………………………………………100 4.3 The proposed account of case for SA………………………………………………………105 4.3.1 The original version of dependent case (Marantz 1991)…………………………………105 4.3.1.1 Problems with the original version of dependent case theory………………………….114 4.3.2 The updated version of dependent case (Baker 2015)……………………………………116 4.3.3 Theoretical assumptions…………………………………………………………………..131 4.3.4 The rules of dependent case assignment………………………………………………….135 4.3.5 The preverbal position is a subject position………………………………………………138 4.3.6 Nominative is the unmarked/default case in SA………………………………………….145 4.4 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………....146 v Chapter 5: Case assignment of core arguments in Standard Arabic…………………………… 147 5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 147 5.2 vP is a soft phase in SA……………………………………………………………………..147 5.3 Case assignment in simple transitive sentences……………………………………………. 150 5.4 Case assignment in simple intransitive sentences………………………………………….. 151 5.5 Case assignment in sentences with double object constructions…………………………... 154 5.6 Case assignment in sentences introduced by the indicative (emphatic or neutral) Complementizer……………………………………………………………………………….. 162 5.7 Case assignment in sentences with backgrounding encliticized topics……………………. 168 5.8 Case assignment in sentences with existential constructions……………………………… 169 5.9 Case assignment in sentences with believe-type predicates……………………………….. 176 5.10 Case assignment in sentences with control structures……………………………………. 185 5.11 Case assignment in sentences with adjectival/nominal predicates……………………….. 193 5.12 Case assignment in passive sentences……………………………………………………. 200 5.13 Case assignment in imperative sentences………………………………………………… 202 5.14 Case assignment in sentences with participials…………………………………………... 203 5.15 Case assignment in the PP domain……………………………………………………….. 211 5.16 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………..222 Chapter 6: Case assignment of non-arguments
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