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The Internal Syntax of the Chimakonde Determiner Phrase
THE INTERNAL SYNTAX OF THE CHIMAKONDE DETERMINER PHRASE By DOMINICK MAKANJILA Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Professor Marianna W. Visser April 2019 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za DECLARATION By submitting this dissertation electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. Date: April 2019 Copyright © 2019 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved i Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ABSTRACT In the Government-and-Binding theory of generative syntax (cf. Chomsky, 1981), it was posited that a functional head D(eterminer) heads a noun phrase (NP). This view is referred to as a Determiner Phrase (DP) hypothesis (Abney, 1987). English articles are uncontroversially viewed as instantiations of D. Consequently, some scholars hold that a DP projects only in languages with articles (cf. Bruening, 2009). However, the universal view of the DP hypothesis, which this study also invokes, is that both languages with and without articles project a DP (cf. Veselovská, 2014). It is argued that articles (like those found in English) are not the only forms through which the functional category D can manifest. Different languages have different manifestations of the functional category D. The category D is viewed as the locus of (in)definiteness and (non-)specificity). -
A Crossover Puzzle in Hindi Scrambling
Universität Leipzig November òýÔÀ A crossover puzzle in Hindi scrambling Stefan Keine University of Southern California (presenting joint work with Rajesh Bhatt) Ô Introduction Condition C, i.e., if it does not amnesty a Condition C violation in the base position (see Lebeaux ÔÀ, òýýý, Chomsky ÔÀÀç, Sauerland ÔÀÀ, Fox ÔÀÀÀ, • Background and terminology Takahashi & Hulsey òýýÀ). Ô. Inverse linking ( ) a. *He thinks [John’s mother] is intelligent. A possessor may bind a pronoun c-commanded by its host DP (May ÔÀÞÞ, Ô Ô b. * mother thinks is intelligent. Higginbotham ÔÀý, Reinhart ÔÀç). We will refer to this phenomena as [John’sÔ ]ò heÔ ò inverse linking (see May & Bale òýýâ for an overview). • Movement-type asymmetries (Ô) a. [Everyone’sÔ mother] thinks heÔ is a genius. English A- and A-movement dier w.r.t. several of these properties: b. [No one’s mother-in-law] fully approves of her . Ô Ô (â) Weak crossover (WCO) ò. Crossover a. A-movement Crossover arises if a DP moves over a pronoun that it binds and the resulting Every boyÔ seems to hisÔ mother [ Ô to be intelligent ] structure is ungrammatical (Postal ÔÀÞÔ, Wasow ÔÀÞò). b. A-movement (ò) Strong crossover (SCO): pronoun c-commands trace *Which boyÔ did hisÔ mother say [ Ô is intelligent ]? a. *DPÔ ... pronÔ ... tÔ (Þ) Secondary strong crossover (SSCO) b. *WhoÔ does sheÔ like Ô? a. A-movement (ç) Weak crossover (WCO): pronoun does not c-command trace [ Every boy’sÔ mother ]ò seems to himÔ [ ò to be intelligent ] a. *DP ... [ ... pron ...] ... t Ô DP Ô Ô b. -
Pronouns, Logical Variables, and Logophoricity in Abe Author(S): Hilda Koopman and Dominique Sportiche Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol
MIT Press Pronouns, Logical Variables, and Logophoricity in Abe Author(s): Hilda Koopman and Dominique Sportiche Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 555-588 Published by: MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4178645 Accessed: 22-10-2015 18:32 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Linguistic Inquiry. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.97.27.20 on Thu, 22 Oct 2015 18:32:27 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Hilda Koopman Pronouns, Logical Variables, Dominique Sportiche and Logophoricity in Abe 1. Introduction 1.1. Preliminaries In this article we describe and analyze the propertiesof the pronominalsystem of Abe, a Kwa language spoken in the Ivory Coast, which we view as part of the study of pronominalentities (that is, of possible pronominaltypes) and of pronominalsystems (that is, of the cooccurrence restrictionson pronominaltypes in a particulargrammar). Abe has two series of thirdperson pronouns. One type of pronoun(0-pronoun) has basically the same propertiesas pronouns in languageslike English. The other type of pronoun(n-pronoun) very roughly corresponds to what has been called the referential use of pronounsin English(see Evans (1980)).It is also used as what is called a logophoric pronoun-that is, a particularpronoun that occurs in special embedded contexts (the logophoric contexts) to indicate reference to "the person whose speech, thought or perceptions are reported" (Clements (1975)). -
RELATIONAL NOUNS, PRONOUNS, and Resumptionw Relational Nouns, Such As Neighbour, Mother, and Rumour, Present a Challenge to Synt
Linguistics and Philosophy (2005) 28:375–446 Ó Springer 2005 DOI 10.1007/s10988-005-2656-7 ASH ASUDEH RELATIONAL NOUNS, PRONOUNS, AND RESUMPTIONw ABSTRACT. This paper presents a variable-free analysis of relational nouns in Glue Semantics, within a Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) architecture. Rela- tional nouns and resumptive pronouns are bound using the usual binding mecha- nisms of LFG. Special attention is paid to the bound readings of relational nouns, how these interact with genitives and obliques, and their behaviour with respect to scope, crossover and reconstruction. I consider a puzzle that arises regarding rela- tional nouns and resumptive pronouns, given that relational nouns can have bound readings and resumptive pronouns are just a specific instance of bound pronouns. The puzzle is: why is it impossible for bound implicit arguments of relational nouns to be resumptive? The puzzle is highlighted by a well-known variety of variable-free semantics, where pronouns and relational noun phrases are identical both in category and (base) type. I show that the puzzle also arises for an established variable-based theory. I present an analysis of resumptive pronouns that crucially treats resumptives in terms of the resource logic linear logic that underlies Glue Semantics: a resumptive pronoun is a perfectly ordinary pronoun that constitutes a surplus resource; this surplus resource requires the presence of a resumptive-licensing resource consumer, a manager resource. Manager resources properly distinguish between resumptive pronouns and bound relational nouns based on differences between them at the level of semantic structure. The resumptive puzzle is thus solved. The paper closes by considering the solution in light of the hypothesis of direct compositionality. -
Linguistics 21N - Linguistic Diversity and Universals: the Principles of Language Structure
Linguistics 21N - Linguistic Diversity and Universals: The Principles of Language Structure Ben Newman March 1, 2018 1 What are we studying in this course? This course is about syntax, which is the subfield of linguistics that deals with how words and phrases can be combined to form correct larger forms (usually referred to as sentences). We’re not particularly interested in the structure of words (morphemes), sounds (phonetics), or writing systems, but instead on the rules underlying how words and phrases can be combined across different languages. These rules are what make up the formal grammar of a language. Formal grammar is similar to what you learn in middle and high school English classes, but is a lot more, well, formal. Instead of classifying words based on meaning or what they “do" in a sentence, formal grammars depend a lot more on where words are in the sentence. For example, in English class you might say an adjective is “a word that modifies a noun”, such as red in the phrase the red ball. A more formal definition of an adjective might be “a word that precedes a noun" or “the first word in an adjective phrase" where the adjective phrase is red ball. Describing a formal grammar involves writing down a lot of rules for a language. 2 I-Language and E-Language Before we get into the nitty-gritty grammar stuff, I want to take a look at two ways language has traditionally been described by linguists. One of these descriptions centers around the rules that a person has in his/her mind for constructing sentences. -
Publ 106271 Issue CH06 Page
REMARKS AND REPLIES 151 Focus on Cataphora: Experiments in Context Keir Moulton Queenie Chan Tanie Cheng Chung-hye Han Kyeong-min Kim Sophie Nickel-Thompson Since Chomsky 1976, it has been claimed that focus on a referring expression blocks coreference in a cataphoric dependency (*Hisi mother loves JOHNi vs. Hisi mother LOVES Johni). In three auditory experiments and a written questionnaire, we show that this fact does not hold when a referent is unambiguously established in the discourse (cf. Williams 1997, Bianchi 2009) but does hold otherwise, validating suggestions in Rochemont 1978, Horvath 1981, and Rooth 1985. The perceived effect of prosody, we argue, building on Williams’s original insight and deliberate experimental manipulation of Rochemont’s and Horvath’s examples, is due to the fact that deaccenting the R-expres- sion allows hearers to accommodate a salient referent via a ‘‘question under discussion’’ (Roberts 1996/2012, Rooth 1996), to which the pro- noun can refer in ambiguous or impoverished contexts. This heuristic is not available in the focus cases, and we show that participants’ interpretation of the pronoun is ambivalent here. Keywords: cataphora, focus, deaccenting, question under discussion 1 Focus and Cataphora Since Chomsky 1976, it has often been repeated that backward anaphora is blocked if the ‘‘anteced- ent’’ receives focus. This is illustrated by the purported contrast in the answers to the questions in (1). These examples, and judgments, are from Bianchi 2009.1 (1) a. As for John, who does his wife really love? ?*Hisi wife loves JOHNi. b. As for John, I believe his wife hates him. -
Syntax of Elliptical and Discontinuous Nominals
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Syntax of Elliptical and Discontinuous Nominals A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics by Dimitrios Ntelitheos 2004 1 The thesis of Dimitrios Ntelitheos is approved. _________________________________ Anoop Mahajan _________________________________ Timothy A. Stowell _________________________________ Hilda Koopman, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2004 2 στον Αλέξανδρο … για κείνον που ήρθε ανάµεσά µας να σφίξει τα δαχτυλά µας στην παλάµη … Μ. Αναγνωστάκης 3 CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 Nominal Ellipsis and Discontinuity as Sister Operations 6 2.1 Nominal Ellipsis as NP-Topicalization 6 2.1.1 Ellipsis and Movement 6 2.1.2 On a Nominal Left Periphery 10 2.1.3 On the Existence of a Nominal FocusP 12 2.1.4 On the existence of a Nominal TopicP 18 2.2 Focus as a Licensing Mechanism for Nominal Ellipsis 25 2.2.1 Against a pro Analysis of Nominal Ellipsis 25 2.2.2 Focus Condition on Ellipsis 30 2.3 Topicalization and Focalization in Discontinuous DPs 33 2.4 Ellipsis and rich morphology 38 2.5 Fanselow & Ćavar (2002) 51 3 Common Properties Between Nominal Ellipsis and Discontinuous DPs 54 3.1 Same Type of Modifiers 54 3.2 Morphological Evidence 58 4 Some Problems 60 4.1 Restrictions on Discontinuity 60 4.2 Discontinuity without Nominal Ellipsis 64 5 Conclusion 69 References 70 4 ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Syntax of Elliptical and Discontinuous Nominals by Dimitrios Ntelitheos Master of Arts in Linguistics University of California, Los Angeles, 2003 Professor Hilda Koopman, Chair This thesis proposes a new analysis of two superficially different phenomena – nominal ellipsis and discontinuous DPs. -
Weak Crossover and the Syntax-Phonology Interface
BLS 40, 2014. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v40i0.3130 (published by the Berkeley Linguistics Society and the Linguistic Society of America) Weak Crossover and the Syntax-Phonology Interface CALIXTO AGÜERO BAUTISTA Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières1 1 Introduction Postal (1971) shows that when a wh-operator is fronted over a position containing a pronoun, the pronoun cannot be understood as a variable bound by the crossing operator. Consider the contrast in (1). (1) a. Who1 does his ?*1/2 mother love t1? b. Who1 t1 loves his1 mother? In languages like English, a subject wh-phrase cannot possibly cross over a pronoun inside an object DP, when fronted, as subjects are structurally higher than objects to begin with. Thus, in (1b) who has not crossed over the object DP containing the pronoun his. (1b) can be understood as a question about the identity of the person x, such that x loves x’s mother. In that reading of the sentence, the pronoun is undeniably interpreted as a bound variable, given that its value covaries with that of the wh-phrase. Postal’s observation is that whereas the bound variable interpretation (BVI) of the pronoun is available in examples like (1b), the pronoun cannot be so interpreted in (1a). That the BVI of the pronoun is the problem in (1a) is shown by the fact that the sentence is acceptable under a deictic interpretation of the pronoun. Postal (1971) refers to the data exemplified in (1) as crossover phenomena. Later, Wasow 1979 shows that the deviance found in crossover sentences is greater when the pronoun c- commands the gap than when it doesn’t. -
Anaphoric R-Expressions As Bound Variables1
Berkeley Linguistics Society . 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v28i1.3833 28 Published by the Linguistic Society of America Anaphoric R-Expressions as Bound Variables1 FELICIA LEE University ofBritish Columbia 0. The Problem San Lucas Quiavini Zapotec (SLQZ), an Otomanguean language of southern Mexico, regularly allows apparent Principle B and C violations.2 R-expressions may bind identical R-expressions (1-2) and pronouns may locally bind identical pronouns (3): (I) R-yu'laaa'z Gye'eihlly Gye'eihlly hab-like Mike Mike "Mike likes himself." (2) R-caaa'z bxuuhahz ch-iia bxuuhahz hab-want priest irr-go priest "The priest wants to go." (3) R-yu'laaa'z-eng la'anng hab-like-3s.prox 3s.prox "He/she likes himself/herself." Thai also allows apparent Principle C violations: (4) John koonnuat John John shaved John "John shaved himself." [Thai] 1 I am grateful to Rodrigo Garcia and Sugunya Ruangjaroon for providing the SLQZ and Thai data and judgments in this paper. I am also grateful to Irene Heim, Jim Huang, Pamela Munro, Tim Stowell, and audiences at UBC, University of Canterbury, and NELS 32 for their suggestions and questions on earlier stages of this project. Any remaining errors are my own. 2 This pattern was described in detail in Munro 1994. Some of the grammaticality judgments reported in this earlier work differ from those found here. 177 Felicia Lee (5) Aajarn kit waa puak rau chyyp aajarn teacher think that all we like teacher "The teacheri thinks we like himi." [Thai] 1. Proposal This paper will show that Principles B and C do indeed hold in SLQZ and Thai. -
Possessive Nominal Expressions in GB: DP Vs. NP
Possessive Nominal Expressions in GB: DP vs. NP Daniel W. Bruhn December 8, 2006 1 Introduction 1.1 Background Since Steven Abney's 1987 MIT dissertation, The English Noun Phrase in Its Sentential Aspect, the so- called DP Hypothesis has gained acceptance in the eld of Government and Binding (GB) syntax. This hypothesis proposes that a nominal expression1 is headed by a determiner that takes a noun phrase as its complement. The preexisting NP Hypothesis, on the other hand, diagrams nominal expressions as headed by nouns, sometimes taking a determiner phrase as a specier.2 This basic dierence is illustrated in the following trees for the nominal expression the dog: NP DP DP N0 D0 D0 N0 D0 NP dog the D0 N0 the N0 dog The number of dierent types of nominal expressions that could serve as the basis for an NP vs. DP Hypothesis comparison is naturally quite large, and to address every one would be quite a feat for this squib. I have therefore chosen to concentrate on possessive nominal expressions because they exhibit a certain array of properties that pose challenges for both hypotheses, and will present these according to the following structure: Section 2.1 (Possessive) nominals posing no problem for either hypothesis Section 2.2 Problem nominals for the NP Hypothesis Section 2.3 How the DP Hypothesis accounts for the problem nominals of the NP Hypothesis Section 2.4 Problem nominals for the DP Hypothesis Section 2.5 How the NP Hypothesis accounts for the problem nominals of the DP Hypothesis By problem nominals, I mean those which expose some weakeness in the ability of either hypothesis to: 1. -
The German Prepositional Phrase in Second Language Acquisition a Research Report
The German Prepositional Phrase in Second Language Acquisition A Research Report Katharina Turgay Abstract Due to their complex morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties, PPs in German are a challenge for acquisition, especially for children who learn German as their second language. This research report presents the results of an experiment conducted with Turkish and Italian speak- ing children in the process of acquiring German as an L2 to study the particular difficulties the complex nature of PPs poses for learners. The data drawn from the experiments is evaluated with respect to two pos- sible influence factors on the L2 acquisition: the L1 of the L2ers and the age that the learners had been at when they had their first contact with the target language. The results of the study suggest that both factors may have an influence on the L2 acquisition of the German PP,at least in some domains. Tendencies that the subjects’ L1 matters for the L2 acquisition are attested for many properties of the PP – the position of the preposi- tion and the cliticization of prepositions and determiners being the main exceptions. Regarding the relevance of the age of first contact, my data shows that the younger the children were when starting to acquire Ger- man, the better they perform. 1 Introduction In this paper, I will present the findings of my research on the German preposi- tional phrase in second language (L2) acquisition. Due to their complex mor- phological, syntactic, and semantic properties, prepositional phrases (PPs) al- ready raise challenges to children acquiring German as a first language (L1ers). -
Donkey Anaphora Is In-Scope Binding∗
Semantics & Pragmatics Volume 1, Article 1: 1–46, 2008 doi: 10.3765/sp.1.1 Donkey anaphora is in-scope binding∗ Chris Barker Chung-chieh Shan New York University Rutgers University Received 2008-01-06 = First Decision 2008-02-29 = Revised 2008-03-23 = Second Decision 2008-03-25 = Revised 2008-03-27 = Accepted 2008-03-27 = Published 2008- 06-09 Abstract We propose that the antecedent of a donkey pronoun takes scope over and binds the donkey pronoun, just like any other quantificational antecedent would bind a pronoun. We flesh out this idea in a grammar that compositionally derives the truth conditions of donkey sentences containing conditionals and relative clauses, including those involving modals and proportional quantifiers. For example, an indefinite in the antecedent of a conditional can bind a donkey pronoun in the consequent by taking scope over the entire conditional. Our grammar manages continuations using three independently motivated type-shifters, Lift, Lower, and Bind. Empirical support comes from donkey weak crossover (*He beats it if a farmer owns a donkey): in our system, a quantificational binder need not c-command a pronoun that it binds, but must be evaluated before it, so that donkey weak crossover is just a special case of weak crossover. We compare our approach to situation-based E-type pronoun analyses, as well as to dynamic accounts such as Dynamic Predicate Logic. A new ‘tower’ notation makes derivations considerably easier to follow and manipulate than some previous grammars based on continuations. Keywords: donkey anaphora, continuations, E-type pronoun, type-shifting, scope, quantification, binding, dynamic semantics, weak crossover, donkey pronoun, variable-free, direct compositionality, D-type pronoun, conditionals, situation se- mantics, c-command, dynamic predicate logic, donkey weak crossover ∗ Thanks to substantial input from Anna Chernilovskaya, Brady Clark, Paul Elbourne, Makoto Kanazawa, Chris Kennedy, Thomas Leu, Floris Roelofsen, Daniel Rothschild, Anna Szabolcsi, Eytan Zweig, and three anonymous referees.