Journal of Slavic Linguistics最新文献

This paper is concerned with multiple source left branch extraction in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, where left branch elements of multiple NPs are extracted. It shows that while multiple source left branch extraction is possible, it exhibits ordering restrictions. It demonstrates that these locality effects are based on an important fact that has also been noticed on completely different grounds for Case in left branch extraction by Dadan (2020): left branch elements enter feature-sharing with the elements they modify not in their base position, but after they undergo movement. It is argued that the observed locality effects can be accounted for in a system based on Bošković's (2007) proposal that movement is driven by the presence of an uniterpretable uK feature on the moving element, as well as Bošković's (2020, 2021) proposal that uK disrupts labeling (Chomsky 2013).

Anaphor binding is a broadly-studied and widely-used diagnostic for syntactic structure across languages: since anaphors (which are subject to Principle A of the Binding Theory) require an antecedent that is local, c-commanding and in an A-position, the possibility of anaphor binding is commonly used as a diagnostic for both c-command (e.g. Barss & Lasnik 1986) and A- vs. A'- distinction. This use of anaphor binding as a syntactic diagnostic is not without problems, however, as evidenced from the debate surrounding the structure of OVS sentences in Russian. The goals of this paper are, thus, three-fold: (a) to gain a better understanding of anaphor binding as a syntactic diagnostic, (b) to shed new light on the long-standing and hotly-debated puzzle of OVS sentences in Russian, and (c) to explore the interaction of syntax and semantics, as concerns binding and thematic roles.

This paper builds on the proposal that human languages reconstruct back to an intransitive (one argument) absolutive-like grammar. Such grammars are arguably still found in a variety of constructions across languages, including in verb-noun compounds in e.g. English and Serbian, and in Serbian se "middles." Given the highly productive nature of se middles in Serbian, and given their specialization for low elaboration of events, and for the inanimate end of the Animacy Hierarchy, the proposal is that Serbian is best analyzed as a split-accusative language, on analogy with split-ergative languages, in that its dominant/default grammar is accusative, but the absolutive grammar (ergativity) occupies a significant niche.

The paper reports on an experiment that shows the preference of pair-list interpretations over single-pair interpretations in Russian multiple coordinated and non-coordinated wh-interrogatives and wh-exclamatives. Moreover, the paper points out that neither the Superiority effect nor the distinction between argument and adjunct wh-phrases determines the choice of an interpretation in interrogatives and exclamatives. In general, the results challenge the existing theories of multiple wh-interrogatives and open a new page in investigating multiple wh-exclamatives.

Abstract:

This paper considers components necessary for a successful account of A-binding relations in Polish, a language with subject-oriented reflexives and a binding domain delimited by the Tensed Sentence Condition. Following the presentation of major relevant data points in Polish, two comprehensive theories of binding—the Agree-based theory, presented in Reuland 2011, and the Move-based theory, presented in Boeckx et.al. 2008—are briefly outlined and applied to said data. It turns out that the two theories, in their most orthodox forms, fall short of achieving empirical adequacy. Subsequently, a positive theory of A-binding is proposed which combines upward Agree, movement (and copy pronunciation) of the bound element, similar to movement of clitic/weak pronoun in Polish, and a lexicalization algorithm modeled upon the proposals in Safir 2014 and Nikolaeva 2014. It is shown in a number of derivations with possessives how both the subject and the object engage in binding relations as antecedents and how their dependents become lexicalized as either reflexive or pronominal.

Abstract:

Several recent accounts (Lowenstamm 2014; Nevins 2015; Creemers, Don, and Fenger 2017) couched in the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle and Marantz 1993, 1994) argue for extending the separation between roots and categorial heads to derivational affixes. Such approaches offer a straightforward account of affixes that surface under different categorial embeddings (e.g., -ant, both in the noun defendant and in the adjective defiant) by viewing these affixes as roots. In this article, the affixes-as-roots approach is applied to Slovenian affixes. An account is proposed of the variable prosodic behavior of Slovenian derivational affixes, which behave as either stress-attracting or stress-neutral. It is shown that Slovenian derivational affixes have no lexical stress and all their prosodic effects follow from the structures in which they occur. Specifically, stress-attracting behavior is a result of the fact that sequences of roots with no intermediate functional structure (the so-called radical cores) are spelled out to phonology without any prosodic specification. Phonology then assigns the default final prosody to such sequences, creating the illusion of accented derivational affixes. The proposed account is applied to two affixes, -av and -ov, which occur across categorial embeddings (nominal, verbal, adjectival).

Abstract:

This paper examines sentences with the verbs pomoč' 'help' and pomešat' 'hinder' in Russian and demonstrates that, although they are usually listed among object control predicates, these verbs appear in a wide range of constructions that cannot be accounted for by a straightforward control analysis. To explain the distribution of pomoč' and pomešat', I argue that they are, in essence, ditransitive, similarly to 'give' or 'send': they require a Goal (a person or a situation that will be helped/hindered) and a Theme headed by a silent noun HETP/HINDRANCE. A dative DP, either [+sentient] or eventive, a subjunctive čtoby-clause, or a non-finite clause with an overt subject, when present, should be analyzed as a Goal. A controlled infinitival clause is merged as a modifier within the Theme NP. The approach is extended to control collocations such as 'give a chance'. It further offers an opportunity to develop a uniform structural representation for various verbs of object control that will reduce the differences between them to particular properties of the Theme.