Despite the lack of consensus on English facts, this study demonstrates that both parasitic gap (PG) and across-the-board (ATB) constructions in Mandarin Chinese exhibit paralle effects in variable binding reconstruction, while also displaying asymmetries in gap licensing categories. I argue that these patterns in Mandarin Chinese align with the sideward movement approach, supporting a version of the unified approach to deriving both constructions. Specifically, the gaps in question are filled by variables, consistent with both constructions being derived via sideward movement. The observed asymmetries lend support to the view that the licensing of ATB gaps is more permissive than that of PGs, as additional conditions (such as the Parallelsim Requirement) on coordinate structures can license sideward movement in ATB sentences.
{"title":"A unified approach to parasitic gap and across-the-board constructions: Evidence based on Mandarin Chinese","authors":"Jen Ting","doi":"10.1111/synt.12278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12278","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the lack of consensus on English facts, this study demonstrates that both parasitic gap (PG) and across-the-board (ATB) constructions in Mandarin Chinese exhibit paralle effects in variable binding reconstruction, while also displaying asymmetries in gap licensing categories. I argue that these patterns in Mandarin Chinese align with the sideward movement approach, supporting a version of the unified approach to deriving both constructions. Specifically, the gaps in question are filled by variables, consistent with both constructions being derived via sideward movement. The observed asymmetries lend support to the view that the licensing of ATB gaps is more permissive than that of PGs, as additional conditions (such as the Parallelsim Requirement) on coordinate structures can license sideward movement in ATB sentences.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140044279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines a nominal linker (known as reverse Ezafe) in the Caspian language Gilaki. It is shown that the nominal linker in Gilaki is in fact the realization of two different morphosyntactic elements with distinct properties. In doing so, we also highlight the differences between reverse Ezafe and Ezafe, found in Persian and other Iranian languages. This study has implications for the typology of nominal linkers, leading to the conclusion that superficially similar linking elements, both within a language and across languages, may in fact have different syntactic properties and as such should be analyzed as distinct phenomena.
{"title":"Gilaki reverse Ezafe: The two faces of a nominal linker","authors":"Arsalan Kahnemuyipour, Mansour Shabani, Sahar Taghipour","doi":"10.1111/synt.12277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12277","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines a nominal linker (known as reverse Ezafe) in the Caspian language Gilaki. It is shown that the nominal linker in Gilaki is in fact the realization of two different morphosyntactic elements with distinct properties. In doing so, we also highlight the differences between reverse Ezafe and Ezafe, found in Persian and other Iranian languages. This study has implications for the typology of nominal linkers, leading to the conclusion that superficially similar linking elements, both within a language and across languages, may in fact have different syntactic properties and as such should be analyzed as distinct phenomena.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140037540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines the way in which scope‐taking of again interacts with word order in the English particle verb alternation. Small‐clause approaches to the particle verb alternation differ from most competing approaches in taking both verb‐particle‐object and verb‐object‐particle orders to contain a result state‐denoting small clause. An expectation of this approach on a structural approach to again ambiguity is that both orders should admit restitutive again readings. Results from a controlled judgment survey of 73 North American English speakers bear out this prediction.
{"title":"Some implications of again‐modification for the syntax of English particle verb constructions","authors":"Bill Haddican","doi":"10.1111/synt.12276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12276","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the way in which scope‐taking of <jats:italic>again</jats:italic> interacts with word order in the English particle verb alternation. Small‐clause approaches to the particle verb alternation differ from most competing approaches in taking both verb‐particle‐object and verb‐object‐particle orders to contain a result state‐denoting small clause. An expectation of this approach on a structural approach to <jats:italic>again</jats:italic> ambiguity is that both orders should admit restitutive <jats:italic>again</jats:italic> readings. Results from a controlled judgment survey of 73 North American English speakers bear out this prediction.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"264 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ā‐extraction of possessors in West Circassian is constrained in a puzzling way: the possessor of an ergative or applied argument DP may not undergo clausebound wh‐movement, but long‐distance possessor extraction across a clausal boundary is grammatical. Based on the variable islandhood of these DPs, this paper argues for an agree‐based approach to phasehood. Phase opacity is treated as intervention defective intervention, with the phase intervening between the probe and the goal. Defective intervention does not take place if the corresponding phase has independently entered an Agree relation with the movement‐triggering probe. Islandhood is thus correctly predicted to be contextually determined: in West Circassian, the difference between clausebound and long‐distance possessor extraction is conditioned by the set of agreement features on the local movement‐triggering probe: a wh‐feature on C in the case of clausebound extraction and a successive‐cyclic edge feature on embedded C in the case of long‐distance wh‐movement. Additionally, the account appeals to the opacity of phase edges to explain the contrast between DPs that display islandhood effects (ergative and applied argument DPs) and constituents that are uniformly transparent for subextraction (the absolutive DP and postpositional phrases).
{"title":"Phasehood as defective intervention: Possessor extraction and selective DP islandhood in West Circassian","authors":"Ksenia Ershova","doi":"10.1111/synt.12275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12275","url":null,"abstract":"Ā‐extraction of possessors in West Circassian is constrained in a puzzling way: the possessor of an ergative or applied argument DP may not undergo clausebound wh‐movement, but long‐distance possessor extraction across a clausal boundary is grammatical. Based on the variable islandhood of these DPs, this paper argues for an agree‐based approach to phasehood. Phase opacity is treated as intervention defective intervention, with the phase intervening between the probe and the goal. Defective intervention does not take place if the corresponding phase has independently entered an Agree relation with the movement‐triggering probe. Islandhood is thus correctly predicted to be contextually determined: in West Circassian, the difference between clausebound and long‐distance possessor extraction is conditioned by the set of agreement features on the local movement‐triggering probe: a wh‐feature on C in the case of clausebound extraction and a successive‐cyclic edge feature on embedded C in the case of long‐distance wh‐movement. Additionally, the account appeals to the opacity of phase edges to explain the contrast between DPs that display islandhood effects (ergative and applied argument DPs) and constituents that are uniformly transparent for subextraction (the absolutive DP and postpositional phrases).","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Drawing on evidence from the scope patterns and the availability of negative polarity item (NPI) licensing of the negation marker ma‐, we show that NegP is realized in Ewe (Tongugbe) agentive nominals. We conclude that agentive nominals accommodate sentential negation, posing a challenge to previous assumptions. The implication of this work is that agent nominalizations can be more verb‐like than what has been reported in the literature. We further examine where the Ewe agentive suffix ‐lá resides in syntax based on the argument structure of the predicates realized inside agentive nominals.
{"title":"Syntactic negation in Ewe (Tongugbe) agent nominalizations","authors":"Selikem Gotah, Soo‐Hwan Lee","doi":"10.1111/synt.12280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12280","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on evidence from the scope patterns and the availability of negative polarity item (NPI) licensing of the negation marker <jats:italic>ma‐</jats:italic>, we show that NegP is realized in Ewe (Tongugbe) agentive nominals. We conclude that agentive nominals accommodate sentential negation, posing a challenge to previous assumptions. The implication of this work is that agent nominalizations can be more verb‐like than what has been reported in the literature. We further examine where the Ewe agentive suffix <jats:italic>‐lá</jats:italic> resides in syntax based on the argument structure of the predicates realized inside agentive nominals.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pseudosluicing diagnostics have played an important role in wider debates about sluicing. Sluicing is the term used to describe the deletion of an embedded clausal constituent, which leaves only a wh‐phrase overt. Genuine sluicing requires syntactic or semantic identity between the sluiced clause and its antecedent, contrasting with pseudosluicing, in which pro‐drop creates the appearance of a sluice but no identity is required. The underlying structure of sluicing in several Austronesian languages has been argued to be pseudoclefts, which involve a nominal wh‐predicate and a headless relative clause argument. Both Malagasy and Nukuoro have been analysed as having pseudocleft sluicing, and on the basis of this, claims about the type of identity required in sluicing have been made. Both analyses rely on diagnostics that rule out the possibility of pseudosluicing. This paper reexamines the pseudosluicing diagnostics used for Malagasy and Nukuoro and concludes that they have been insufficiently controlled for. This is supported by data from Madurese showing that pseudosluicing diagnostics are inconclusive in these Austronesian languages. Language‐internal support is needed for such diagnostics, especially as they play an important role in the conclusions drawn from Austronesian languages on the wider identity requirement for sluicing. Three language‐specific diagnostics are given which are successfully able to identify pseudosluicing in Madurese.
{"title":"Reassessing pseudosluicing in Austronesian","authors":"John Middleton","doi":"10.1111/synt.12272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12272","url":null,"abstract":"Pseudosluicing diagnostics have played an important role in wider debates about sluicing. Sluicing is the term used to describe the deletion of an embedded clausal constituent, which leaves only a wh‐phrase overt. Genuine sluicing requires syntactic or semantic identity between the sluiced clause and its antecedent, contrasting with pseudosluicing, in which <jats:italic>pro</jats:italic>‐drop creates the appearance of a sluice but no identity is required. The underlying structure of sluicing in several Austronesian languages has been argued to be pseudoclefts, which involve a nominal wh‐predicate and a headless relative clause argument. Both Malagasy and Nukuoro have been analysed as having pseudocleft sluicing, and on the basis of this, claims about the type of identity required in sluicing have been made. Both analyses rely on diagnostics that rule out the possibility of pseudosluicing. This paper reexamines the pseudosluicing diagnostics used for Malagasy and Nukuoro and concludes that they have been insufficiently controlled for. This is supported by data from Madurese showing that pseudosluicing diagnostics are inconclusive in these Austronesian languages. Language‐internal support is needed for such diagnostics, especially as they play an important role in the conclusions drawn from Austronesian languages on the wider identity requirement for sluicing. Three language‐specific diagnostics are given which are successfully able to identify pseudosluicing in Madurese.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although various works on African American English (AAE) offer significant and insightful analyses of the semantic interpretation of its aspectual elements, including in particular stressed remote past BIN and habitual be (behab), the syntactic analysis of these elements is problematic. BIN and behab are claimed to be invariant lexical elements with fixed semantic values, and to not interact with INFL (Tense) as auxiliaries do, thus not displaying subject–verb agreement or undergoing any operations typical of finite auxiliaries. However, considerations including syntactic positioning, accompanying auxiliaries, patterns of verb affixation, and the formation of active and passive sentences point instead to BIN and behab being in most instances phonetic manifestations of any of the various ordinary auxiliary verbs be (progressive, passive, and copular), elements of the system of auxiliaries common to both AAE and Mainstream American English (MAE). The surface forms BIN and be are sufficient to trigger their special meanings in logical representation. Semantically dedicated lexical elements are unnecessary. The various interpretations of sentences containing these forms are due to constructional semantic interpretation of various combinations of surface elements. This analysis further reveals the existence of another AAE innovation, a fourth auxiliary verb be unique to AAE indicating simple past.
尽管有关非裔美国人英语(AAE)的各种著作对其方面性要素的语义解释(尤其包括强调的远程过去时 BIN 和习惯性 be(behab))进行了重要而深刻的分析,但对这些要素的句法分析却存在问题。BIN 和 behab 被认为是具有固定语义值的不变词素,不像助词那样与 INFL(时态)相互作用,因此不显示主谓一致,也不进行任何有限助词的典型操作。然而,从句法定位、伴随助动词、动词词缀模式以及主动句和被动句的构成等方面考虑,BIN 和 behab 在大多数情况下都是各种普通助动词 be(进行时、被动时和共时态)的语音表现形式,是 AAE 和主流美式英语(MAE)共同的助动词系统的组成部分。表面形式 BIN 和 be 足以在逻辑表述中触发其特殊含义。没有必要使用语义专用词汇元素。包含这些表层形式的句子的各种解释是由于表层元素的各种组合的构造语义解释造成的。这一分析进一步揭示了 AAE 的另一项创新,即 AAE 独有的表示简单过去时的第四个助动词 be。
{"title":"The lexical source of BIN and habitual be in African American English","authors":"Nicholas Sobin","doi":"10.1111/synt.12269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12269","url":null,"abstract":"Although various works on African American English (AAE) offer significant and insightful analyses of the semantic interpretation of its aspectual elements, including in particular stressed remote past <jats:italic>BIN</jats:italic> and habitual <jats:italic>be</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>be</jats:italic><jats:sub>hab</jats:sub>), the syntactic analysis of these elements is problematic. <jats:italic>BIN</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>be</jats:italic><jats:sub>hab</jats:sub> are claimed to be invariant lexical elements with fixed semantic values, and to not interact with INFL (Tense) as auxiliaries do, thus not displaying subject–verb agreement or undergoing any operations typical of finite auxiliaries. However, considerations including syntactic positioning, accompanying auxiliaries, patterns of verb affixation, and the formation of active and passive sentences point instead to <jats:italic>BIN</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>be</jats:italic><jats:sub>hab</jats:sub> being in most instances phonetic manifestations of any of the various ordinary auxiliary verbs <jats:italic>be</jats:italic> (progressive, passive, and copular), elements of the system of auxiliaries common to both AAE and Mainstream American English (MAE). The surface forms <jats:italic>BIN</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>be</jats:italic> are sufficient to trigger their special meanings in logical representation. Semantically dedicated lexical elements are unnecessary. The various interpretations of sentences containing these forms are due to constructional semantic interpretation of various combinations of surface elements. This analysis further reveals the existence of another AAE innovation, a fourth auxiliary verb <jats:italic>be</jats:italic> unique to AAE indicating simple past.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"303 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper offers a critique of the cyclic linearization account of Cantonese dislocation recently advocated by Lee (2021). It shows that the ordering‐based analysis encounters a number of nonobvious problems when compared with the existing parallel‐chain account (Lai, 2019) and that the latter can be maintained under a broadened empirical landscape. The discussion bears on the development of a general theory of dislocation.
{"title":"Cantonese dislocation: Parallel chains or cyclic linearization?","authors":"Jackie Yan‐Ki Lai","doi":"10.1111/synt.12279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12279","url":null,"abstract":"This paper offers a critique of the cyclic linearization account of Cantonese dislocation recently advocated by Lee (2021). It shows that the ordering‐based analysis encounters a number of nonobvious problems when compared with the existing parallel‐chain account (Lai, 2019) and that the latter can be maintained under a broadened empirical landscape. The discussion bears on the development of a general theory of dislocation.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is no consensus in the literature on the analysis of phrasal comparatives. Both reduced clause analyses, in which the standard phrase contains elided clausal structure, and direct analyses, in which the standard of comparison is a direct complement to the standard marker, have been proposed. This paper argues for a direct analysis of the phrasal comparative in Malagasy, an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Madagascar. Evidence for the direct analysis comes from the lack of overt clausal comparatives, Binding Theory, scope, and Malagasy‐specific characteristics of the standard. The conclusion contributes to the rapidly expanding picture of cross‐linguistic variation in comparative syntax.
{"title":"The Malagasy phrasal comparative","authors":"Eric Potsdam","doi":"10.1111/synt.12268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12268","url":null,"abstract":"There is no consensus in the literature on the analysis of phrasal comparatives. Both reduced clause analyses, in which the standard phrase contains elided clausal structure, and direct analyses, in which the standard of comparison is a direct complement to the standard marker, have been proposed. This paper argues for a direct analysis of the phrasal comparative in Malagasy, an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Madagascar. Evidence for the direct analysis comes from the lack of overt clausal comparatives, Binding Theory, scope, and Malagasy‐specific characteristics of the standard. The conclusion contributes to the rapidly expanding picture of cross‐linguistic variation in comparative syntax.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"167 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Previous works have explored the options of Pair Merging R and v as well as T and C, respectively, yielding R‐v and T‐C with various consequences. This paper proposes that v and T can yield the complex head v‐T, an amalgam formed by external Pair Merge. Some empirical ramifications for the verb cluster and the middle field in German are explored. If tenable, the current approach supports the idea that heads can Merge freely, either by internal or external Set Merge, as well as by internal or by external Pair Merge.
以往的研究分别探讨了 R 和 v 以及 T 和 C 的配对合并方案,得出了 R-v 和 T-C,结果各不相同。本文提出,v 和 T 可以产生复合词头 v-T,这是一个由外部配对合并形成的混合体。本文探讨了德语动词群和中间域的一些经验性影响。如果可行的话,目前的方法支持了这样一种观点,即词头可以自由合并,既可以通过内部或外部集合合并,也可以通过内部或外部成对合并。
{"title":"A case study in underspecification of UG: External Pair Merge of v and T","authors":"Andreas Blümel","doi":"10.1111/synt.12266","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12266","url":null,"abstract":"Previous works have explored the options of Pair Merging R and <jats:italic>v</jats:italic> as well as T and C, respectively, yielding R‐<jats:italic>v</jats:italic> and T‐C with various consequences. This paper proposes that <jats:italic>v</jats:italic> and T can yield the complex head <jats:italic>v</jats:italic>‐T, an amalgam formed by external Pair Merge. Some empirical ramifications for the verb cluster and the middle field in German are explored. If tenable, the current approach supports the idea that heads can Merge freely, either by internal or external Set Merge, as well as by internal or by external Pair Merge.","PeriodicalId":501329,"journal":{"name":"Syntax","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}