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Bare Nouns in Persian: Interpretation, Grammar and Prosody

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Bare nouns in Persian: Interpretation, Grammar and Prosody by Fereshteh Modarresi A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the PhD degree in Linguistics Department of Linguistics Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa and Philosophische Fakultät II Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin In partial fulfillment For the degree Dr. phil. January 17, 2014 Gutachter Prof. Dr. Manfred Krifka Institut für deutsche Sprache und Linguistik Philosophische Fakultät II der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Dr. Robert Truswell Department of Linguistics, University of Edinburgh School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences Department of Linguistics, University of Ottawa April 22,2014 Bare nouns in Persian: Interpretation, grammar, and prosody Abstract This thesis explores the variable behavior of bare nouns in Persian. Bare singular nouns realize different grammatical functions, including subject, object and indirect object. They receive different interpretations, including generic, definite and existential readings. However, the task of understanding the reasons for, and limits on, this variation cannot be achieved without understanding a number of pivotal features of Persian sentential architecture, including Information Structure, prosody, word order, and the functions of various morphological markers in Persian. After a brief introduction, chapters 2-3 deal with bare noun objects, firstly comparing them with nominals marked with indefinite morpheme -i suffixed to the noun, and the determiner yek. A bare noun object differs from morphologically marked nominals as it shows properties associated with noun incorporation in the literature (chapter 2). Of particular interest are the discourse properties of these ‘quasi-incorporated’ nominals. With respect to the discourse transparency of Incorporated Nominals, Persian belongs to the class of discourse opaque languages within Mithun’s classification (1984). However, under certain circumstances, Persian bare nouns show discourse transparency. These circumstances are examined in chapter 3, and it is proposed that bare nouns do introduce a number neutral discourse referent. There are no overt anaphoric expressions that could match such number- neutral antecedents in Persian. But covert anaphora lack number features, and hence can serve as means to pick up a number-neutral discourse referent. Also, in case world knowledge tells us that the number-neutral discourse referent is anchored to an atomic entity or to a collection, then an overt singular pronoun or an overt plural pronoun might fit the combined linguistic and conceptual requirements, and may be used to pick up the number-neutral discourse referent. This proposal is phrased within ii Discourse Representation Theory. In the second half of the dissertation, the interpretation of bare nouns in different positions and with different grammatical functions are discussed. Under the independently supported hypothesis of position>interpretation mapping developed by Diesing (1992), we will see the role of the suffix -ra in indicating that an object has been moved out of VP. Following Diesing, I assume that VP-internal variables are subject to an operation of Existential Closure. In many cases, VP-external –ra- marked objects have a different interpretation to their VP-internal, non-ra-marked, counterparts, because of escaping Existential Closure. For subjects, there is no morphological marking corresponding to –ra on objects, and we have to rely on prosody and word order to determine how a VP is interpreted using theories of the interaction of accent and syntactic structure. We assume that VP-internal subjects exist, under two independent but converging assumptions. The first is prosodic in nature: Subjects can be accented without being narrowly focused; theories of Persian prosody predict then that there is a maximal constituent that contains both the subject and the verb as its head. The second is semantic in nature: Bare nouns require an external existential closure operation to be interpreted existentially, and we have to assume existential closure over the VP for our analysis of the interpretation of objects. So, this existential closure would provide the necessary quantificational force for bare noun subjects as well. It is proposed that both subject and object originate within the VP, and can move out to the VP-external domain. The motivation for these movements are informational-structural in nature, relating in particular to the distinctions between given and new information, and default and non-default information structure. iii Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to a number of people who, in many different ways, contributed to the writing and completion of this thesis and my well-being in general while I was writing it. First and foremost I am very grateful to my supervisors, Manfred Krifka in Berlin and Robert Truswell in Ottawa for their constant support, encouragement, ideas and very many insightful comments I benefited from over the past two years while I was writing this dissertation. Manfred Krifka patiently walked me through different approaches presenting various solutions and ideas for any questions I had. I learned a lot from him in every single meeting where he often had ten different solutions and came up with a variety of interesting sources. His ideas and comments were fundamental and profound and often went beyond topics discussed in this dissertation. Above all Manfred is a great human being who cares about the well-being and progress of his students. It was great honor to work with him. Without his support, niether this dissertation, nor the journey from Canada to Germany would have been possible. From long distance in Ottawa, Robert Truswell helped me greatly and enthusiastically by reading different versions of each chapter, answering my emails promptly and giving constructive feedback. His encouragement and his comments were always very helpful; they varied from the fundamental predictions that I had failed to see to spelling and stylistic corrections. Though he supervised me from Ottawa I did not feel the long distance; a constant presence for which I am indebted. I also wish to thank members of my dissertation committee, Malte Zimmerman, Sima Paribakht, Ana Arregui and Aria Adli for taking the time to read the manuscript and providing me with insightful comments. The same goes for Markus Egg who presided over the defense session. Victor Manfredi in Boston read parts of the dissertation with constructive iv feedback and provided me with great advice during a difficult passage of my life when his encouragements helped me overcome obstacles. He has my enduring recognition. Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft has offered a welcoming, stimulating and friendly environment for my research during my time in Berlin. Special thanks also go to Malte Zimmermann and the research group SFB 632 at Potsdam University for giving me the opportunity to start my work in an enriching environment proper to the Berlin linguistics community. Many other people from different walks of life have also given me impulses and support along the way, among them, I am grateful to Darioush Bayandor in Geneva and Mireille Gervais in Ottawa for their friendship and valuable advice. They both answered all my emails commented on my writings, called or skyped and cared about me and my progress a lot. My thanks also go to the following individuals who have influenced the present thesis, directly or indirectly, through comments and discussions at conferences or elsewhere and/or through e-mail correspondence: Victor Manfredi, my good friend Alexandra Simonenko, Luis Lopez, Carmen Sorin, Olga Borik, Berit Gehrke, Vaneeta Dayal (at Pseudo-Incorporation workshop and elsewhere). Jana Götze, my nice and warm-hearted friend, read my dissertation summary in German. The dissertation in Berlin was sponsored by a dissertation stipend at the SFB 632 “Information Structure”, funded by DFG, at the Universities of Potsdam and Humboldt-University Berlin, and by a dissertation stipend funded by the Bundesminsterium für Bildung und Forschung (Förderkennzeichen 01UG0711) at the Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft in Berlin. Furthermore, it was funded by a cotutelle scholarship from Ottawa. I am grateful for their generous support. Thanks also to Uta Kabelitz and Anina Klein at the Humboldt-University Berlin and Elke Dresner and Jörg Dreyer at Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft in Berlin for their administrative and technical support, assistances and kindness. v I am also grateful to several other linguistics teachers at the University of Ottawa whose positive presence in the department filled me with good memories; I mention in this connection Marc Brunelle, Stephen Levey and Ana Arregui. Thanks also to Donna Desbiens at the Linguistics department for all her help and kindness, to Johanne C. Bruyère and her colleague in Cotutelle at the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral studies at the University of Ottawa for all their assistance from long distance. During my graduate studies in Berlin, Potsdam and Ottawa and other places, I met amazing friends and colleagues, whom I like to thank for their support and the great time and memories. They shared their friendship, stories, jokes, political views, treats, offices, postcards, positive presence etc. Each of them knows what makes me thankful. They are, Anton Benz, Hamidreza Bohluoli, Ricardo
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