Agreement and Verb Movement The Rich Agreement Hypothesis from a Typological Perspective Published by LOT phone: +31 30 253 6111 Trans 10 e-mail: [email protected] 3512 JK Utrecht http://www.lotschool.nl The Netherlands Cover photo: Brilliant trees, by Alen Djozgić ISBN: 978-94-6093-228-1 NUR: 616 Copyright c 2017 Seid Tvica. All rights reserved. Agreement and Verb Movement The Rich Agreement Hypothesis from a Typological Perspective ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op woensdag 1 maart 2017, te 14.00 uur door Seid Tvica geboren te Priboj, SFR Joegoslavië Promotiecommissie: Promotores: Prof. dr. P.C. Hengeveld Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. F.P. Weerman Universiteit van Amsterdam Copromotores: Dr. O.N.C.J. Koeneman Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen Prof. dr. H.H. Zeijlstra Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Overige Leden: Dr. S.P. Aalberse Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. E.O. Aboh Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. H.J. Bennis Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. J.D. Bobaljik University of Connecticut, USA Prof. dr. A. Holmberg Newcastle University, UK Dr. J.M. van Koppen Universiteit Utrecht Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen To my parents Contents Acknowledgments . xi Glossary . xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Rich agreement hypothesis (RAH) . .2 1.2 Beyond Indo-European . .6 1.3 Overview . .6 2 Theoretical approaches to the RAH 9 2.1 Bidirectional RAH . 11 2.1.1 Vikner 1995 and Rohrbacher 1994,1999 . 11 2.1.2 Predictions . 13 2.2 Unidirectional RAH . 14 2.2.1 Bobaljik and Thráinsson 1998 . 14 2.2.2 Morphology . 15 2.2.3 Analysis . 16 2.2.4 Predictions . 17 2.3 No-RAH hypothesis . 19 2.3.1 Bentzen et al. 2007 . 19 2.3.2 Analysis . 19 2.4 Bidirectional RAH (revived) . 23 2.4.1 Koeneman and Zeijlstra 2014 . 23 2.4.2 Morphology . 25 2.4.3 Analysis . 27 2.4.4 Predictions . 29 2.5 Discussion . 29 2.6 Summary . 30 viii 3 On the universality of person and number 31 3.1 Theoretical Background . 33 3.1.1 Assumptions . 33 3.1.2 Person . 35 3.1.3 Number . 37 3.1.4 Further considerations . 40 3.2 Survey of pronominal systems . 42 3.2.1 Number in disguise . 43 3.2.2 Number in agreement . 50 3.2.3 Person in agreement . 55 3.2.4 Person in disguise . 60 3.2.5 Summary . 62 3.3 Split-systems analyses . 64 3.3.1 Split-pronouns analysis . 65 3.3.2 Pronominal feature-drop analysis . 66 3.4 Core knowledge . 68 3.5 Summary . 69 4 Diagnostic criteria 71 4.1 Agreement . 72 4.1.1 Definitions, observations and terminology . 72 4.1.2 Agreement vs. pronominal argument incorporation . 74 4.1.3 Morpho-syntactic types of agreement markings . 79 4.1.4 Typology . 87 4.2 Verb movement . 88 4.2.1 Standard diagnostics . 89 4.2.2 OV languages . 90 4.2.3 Controlling for agreement-independent movement . 91 4.2.4 Diagnostic prerequisites . 96 4.2.5 Discussion . 109 4.3 Summary . 110 5 Typological methodology 111 5.1 Sampling methodology . 111 5.2 Summary . 114 6 Poor agreement languages 117 6.1 Chapter overview . 118 6.2 Studies of the languages . 120 6.2.1 N|uuki, Haitian, Martuthunira . 120 6.2.2 Bilua . 122 6.2.3 Hatam (Hattam) . 129 6.2.4 Kadiwéu . 136 6.2.5 Ìgbo . 139 6.2.6 Vietnamese . 151 ix 6.2.7 Hawaiian . 156 6.2.8 Thai, Pwo Karen, Hmong Njua . 162 6.2.9 Quiegolani Zapotec . 168 6.3 Summary . 171 7 Rich agreement languages 173 7.1 Chapter overview . 174 7.2 Studies of the languages . 176 7.2.1 Ayoreo . 176 7.2.2 Bukiyip (Bukiyúp, Mountain Arapesh) . 182 7.2.3 Finnish . 187 7.2.4 Hausa . 192 7.2.5 Tiwi . 199 7.2.6 Egyptian Arabic . 206 7.2.7 Wari" ............................ 212 7.2.8 Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel) . 223 7.2.9 Wolof . 231 7.2.10 Lango . 237 7.2.11 Moro . 242 7.3 Summary . 245 8 Conclusions 247 References . 259 Summary: Agreement and Verb Movement, the Rich Agreement Hypoth- esis from a Typological Perspective . 271 Samenvatting: Congruentie en werkwoordverplaatsing, de RAH vanuit het typologische perspectief . 281 Curriculum Vitae . 293 Acknowledgments I feel deeply honored and privileged to have been able to spend four years of my life as a PhD student at the Amsterdam Center for Language and Commu- nication (ACLC). While my education before my time at the ACLC involved a great deal of learning and not much else, perhaps the most important aspect of getting my PhD has been learning to let go of everything I had previously learned and looking for new ways to think about a linguistic puzzle that lay before me. It is this that is one of the most worthwhile (out of many) lessons that I have learned from my advisors. First of all, I am grateful to my co-promotors, Olaf Koeneman and Hedde Zeijlstra, who had worked on this topic and without whose work this disserta- tion would have never seen the light of day. Thank you for selecting me to carry out this project. It was sometimes a struggle to figure out how the structures of some of the languages are put together. But, very often, it was a joy to bounce my ideas of off you. You both taught me how to argue, how to reason, and how to think. Olaf, I owe you a debt of gratitude for having read and reread countless drafts of my papers and the chapters of my dissertation, for tirelessly going over every argument down to the minutest detail, and for always insisting that each potential analysis must be thoroughly considered. Thank you! Hedde, thank you for all the invaluable insights, for all the late night an- swers, and for never failing to put me on the right track. You are an endless source of positive energy, enthusiasm, and inspiration, both as a person and as a linguist. In the words of Henry James: “three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” Hedde, you are the master in all three of them! It is impossible for me to think about the extent to which you have supported me over the years, both personally and professionally, without feeling emotionally moved. Thank you! I am grateful to my promotors, Fred Weerman and Kees Hengeveld, who, along with reading many drafts of my dissertation and providing invaluable xii suggestions, have been very supportive over the years, especially during the final stages of writing, right when I needed it the most. Thank you! This dissertation would have been impossible without the help of the ex- perts and the native speakers of the languages that I studied. In no particular order many thanks to Mona Hegazy, Liesbeth Zack, and Leston Buell (Egyp- tian Arabic); Luca Ciucci (Ayoreo); Daniel Everett and Joshua Birchall (Wari"); Alan Dench (Martuthunira); Nuttanart Muansuwan (Thai); Trang Phan (Viet- namese); Taweesak Kunyot (Hmong Njua); Ger Reesink (Hatam); Chris Collins (N|uuki); Chukwuma Okeke and Greg Obiamalu (Ìgbo); Heimir Viðarsson (Ice- landic); Cheikh Bamba Dione (Wolof ); Johannes Helmbrecht (Winnebago); Jing Lin (Mandarin); Peter Jenks, Sharon Rose, and Hannah Rohde (Moro); Patrick Pithua (Lango); Atsuhiko Kato (Pwo Karen); Ville Lahtinen (Finnish); and George Broadwell (Kaqchikel). Many thanks to the PhD students at the Dutch department (in no particular order): Sanne Berends, Caitlin Meyer, Jing Lin, Camille Welie, Margreet van Koert, Maja Ćurčić, and others. A very special thanks to my office buddy Matthias Passer (a.k.a. ‘jochie’) for the many great experiences that we have shared in and outside the office. In particular, I am grateful for the the most unique friendship that grew ever so stronger despite our very different views on a vast range of issues “in endless discussions on everything under the sun.” In my third year, I was fortunate to spend a semester as a visiting student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I would like to thank my MIT sponsor, David Pesetsky, for setting aside a lot of time to discuss with me all matters pertaining to verb movement and the syntax of adverbs. Thanks to Milena Sisovics for inviting me to give a Linglunch talk (MIT). During this time in the US, I also visited University of Massachusetts and University of Connecticut. My thanks to Rajesh Bhatt (UMass) and Jonathan Bobaljik (UConn) for organizing talks for me. Opting for linguistics would not have happened had it not been for the support of many inspiring teachers at the University of Groningen, all of whom have in varying degrees helped steer me in the direction of linguistics as a career choice. A very special thanks to Angeliek van Hout and Jan-Wouter Zwart. My thanks also go to Mark de Vries and Jan Koster. Many thanks to Tijmen Klous and Sanne Berends for their help in editing this dissertation. Finally, I am grateful to my family for supporting me in my endeavors. In particular I thank my brother, Muamer, for his unwavering support over the years in all matters of life. Finally, I thank my parents Mevlida and Murat for inspiring me to pursue learning, for inspiring me to be a better man each day, and, above all, for their unconditional love.