Manifestations of oblique case in Serbian/Croatian (specifically, the dative and the instrumental... more Manifestations of oblique case in Serbian/Croatian (specifically, the dative and the instrumental) present a puzzling pattern of distribution. The paper proposes an analysis for the source of the relevant case phenomena that can resolve the puzzle, rendering it a direct consequence of an independently attested property, namely, the Case Realization Condition of oblique case in the language. It also provides striking evidence regarding the nature and assigner of oblique case in general. The phenomena and their account will lead to the conclusion that contrary to appearances, and in contrast to the standard assumption, lexically governed cases can only be assigned by (overt or null) instances of the category P.
Cross-language studies of linguistic phenomena often reveal facts which are unknown to the lingui... more Cross-language studies of linguistic phenomena often reveal facts which are unknown to the linguist who is concerned with the study of one particular language or language family. Certain rules or processes repeat themselves in unrelated languages and this is expected, since all mankind is subject to the same neurological, physiological and psychological constraints upon his language. In phonology, for example, velar palatalization before high front vowels, word-final devoicing of obstruents and the assimilation of nasal stops in point of articulation to following consonants are commonly found and, if these processes vary from language to language, it is probably a matter of degree only. One such process will be examined here in some detail: voicing assimilation (VA). The starting point is the seemingly recalcitrant behavior of the voiced labio-dental fricative [v] in Russian. Evidence brought from a Finno-Ugric language, Hungarian, and from a Semitic language, Hebrew, shows that the intransigence of [v] in the Slavic language is also found in these two genetically unrelated languages. Implications will be discussed and an explanation, based on a sonority hierarchy, will be offered.
Based on data from different types of parasitic gap (PG) constructions drawn primarily from Hunga... more Based on data from different types of parasitic gap (PG) constructions drawn primarily from Hungarian, the present study investigates and reassesses the longstanding issue of the ränge and possible source(s) of the so-called 'anti-ccommand' effects in PG constructions. Special attention will be paid to the facts of PG licensing by subject variables, and to the way particular theories of PG licensing asymmetries bear on hypotheses of nonconfigurationality of clausestructure, äs in the allegedly nonconfigurational Hungarian. We will address the question of whether the füll ränge of subject/object asymmetries observable in PG licensing are to be derived (a) based on notions of hierarchical structure — such äs c-command — (see e.g. Chomsky 1982; Kayne 1983; Browning 1987), (b) based on some nonstructural difference between subjects vs. objects, such äs, e.g., the particular Case they bear (äs argued in Kiss 1985), or (c) jointly by (a) and (b). First we will argue that the theory of parasitic chain licensing proposed in Kiss (1985) which crucially excludes the relevance of anti-c-command, and replaces it by a 'Case-compatibility' requirement fails to provide an adequate alternative (nonconfigurational) account for the pattern of subject/object asymmetries involved both on empirical and on conceptual grounds. It will be shown that the Case-compatibility requirement is only a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for deriving the subject/object asymmetries observable with respect to the licensing of parasitic chains, and furthermore that the neutralization of Condition C within PG constructions attempted in Kiss (1985) leads to a paradox and hence her framework would end up retaining anti-c-command effects in any case. Given these points, the cases to be discussed not only indicate the relevance of hierarchical structure in the licensing of PGs (contrary to purely Case-based accounts, such äs in Kiss 1985), they also constitute an
Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Relexiflcation in Creole and Non-Creole languages: w... more Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Relexiflcation in Creole and Non-Creole languages: with special attention to Haitian Creole, modern Hebrew, Romani, and Rumanian/ ed. by Julia Horvath and Paul Wexler.-Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997 ( ...
Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, May 1, 1987
... Note in particular the verb a termina 'to finish', which occurs in (5a), (12a) and (1... more ... Note in particular the verb a termina 'to finish', which occurs in (5a), (12a) and (13a), and which was shown in (19) not to ... Although the grammatical realization of this semantic property in languages often does involve non-finite forms (eg, in English ORIOD constructions), it can ...
This paper addresses the issue of "COMP Accessibility" in free relative constructions, ... more This paper addresses the issue of "COMP Accessibility" in free relative constructions, initially raised by Groos and van Riemsdijk in a 1979 paper, and proposes a refinement of it in terms of the notion "Pseudo Head" (PH). The proposed theoretical refinement is motivated through a detailed discussion of a hitherto unanalyzed type of free relative construction found in Rumanian (and referred to in the text as the CEL-ΌΈΕ. construction), with respect to which earlier COMP Accessibility proposals make incorrect predictions. The usefulness of the notion PH is further demonstrated with respect to constructions other than free relatives; in particular, it is argued that this notion plays a role in deciding the distribution of interrogative complement clauses within the framework of the strict version of X-bar theory proposed in Chomsky (1986, forthcoming).
Hungarian is widely considered as a paradigm case of a language exhibiting a designated "Foc... more Hungarian is widely considered as a paradigm case of a language exhibiting a designated "Focus position " in its clause structure. The existence of the structural position and of overt syntactic movement targeting it has been firmly established in the extensive literature on the topic, and is by now not subject to controversy. Similarly
The paper presents results of our investigation of the distribution of idioms across diatheses (v... more The paper presents results of our investigation of the distribution of idioms across diatheses (voice alternations) in English and Hebrew. We propose an account and discuss its consequences for idiom storage and its implications for alternative architectures of grammar. We provide evidence that idioms split into two distinct subtypes, which we label "phrasal" versus "clausal" idioms. Based on idiom surveys, we observe that phrasal idioms can be specific to the transitive, the unaccusative or the adjectival passive diathesis, but cannot be specific to the verbal passive. Clausal idioms, in contrast, do not discriminate between diatheses: they tend to be specific to a single diathesis. These findings, we argue, cannot be accommodated by a Construction Grammar approach, such as Goldberg (2006), which assumes knowledge of language consists merely of an inventory of stored 'constructions', and does not distinguish between a storage module versus a computationa...
Manifestations of oblique case in Serbian/Croatian (specifically, the dative and the instrumental... more Manifestations of oblique case in Serbian/Croatian (specifically, the dative and the instrumental) present a puzzling pattern of distribution. The paper proposes an analysis for the source of the relevant case phenomena that can resolve the puzzle, rendering it a direct consequence of an independently attested property, namely, the Case Realization Condition of oblique case in the language. It also provides striking evidence regarding the nature and assigner of oblique case in general. The phenomena and their account will lead to the conclusion that contrary to appearances, and in contrast to the standard assumption, lexically governed cases can only be assigned by (overt or null) instances of the category P.
Cross-language studies of linguistic phenomena often reveal facts which are unknown to the lingui... more Cross-language studies of linguistic phenomena often reveal facts which are unknown to the linguist who is concerned with the study of one particular language or language family. Certain rules or processes repeat themselves in unrelated languages and this is expected, since all mankind is subject to the same neurological, physiological and psychological constraints upon his language. In phonology, for example, velar palatalization before high front vowels, word-final devoicing of obstruents and the assimilation of nasal stops in point of articulation to following consonants are commonly found and, if these processes vary from language to language, it is probably a matter of degree only. One such process will be examined here in some detail: voicing assimilation (VA). The starting point is the seemingly recalcitrant behavior of the voiced labio-dental fricative [v] in Russian. Evidence brought from a Finno-Ugric language, Hungarian, and from a Semitic language, Hebrew, shows that the intransigence of [v] in the Slavic language is also found in these two genetically unrelated languages. Implications will be discussed and an explanation, based on a sonority hierarchy, will be offered.
Based on data from different types of parasitic gap (PG) constructions drawn primarily from Hunga... more Based on data from different types of parasitic gap (PG) constructions drawn primarily from Hungarian, the present study investigates and reassesses the longstanding issue of the ränge and possible source(s) of the so-called 'anti-ccommand' effects in PG constructions. Special attention will be paid to the facts of PG licensing by subject variables, and to the way particular theories of PG licensing asymmetries bear on hypotheses of nonconfigurationality of clausestructure, äs in the allegedly nonconfigurational Hungarian. We will address the question of whether the füll ränge of subject/object asymmetries observable in PG licensing are to be derived (a) based on notions of hierarchical structure — such äs c-command — (see e.g. Chomsky 1982; Kayne 1983; Browning 1987), (b) based on some nonstructural difference between subjects vs. objects, such äs, e.g., the particular Case they bear (äs argued in Kiss 1985), or (c) jointly by (a) and (b). First we will argue that the theory of parasitic chain licensing proposed in Kiss (1985) which crucially excludes the relevance of anti-c-command, and replaces it by a 'Case-compatibility' requirement fails to provide an adequate alternative (nonconfigurational) account for the pattern of subject/object asymmetries involved both on empirical and on conceptual grounds. It will be shown that the Case-compatibility requirement is only a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for deriving the subject/object asymmetries observable with respect to the licensing of parasitic chains, and furthermore that the neutralization of Condition C within PG constructions attempted in Kiss (1985) leads to a paradox and hence her framework would end up retaining anti-c-command effects in any case. Given these points, the cases to be discussed not only indicate the relevance of hierarchical structure in the licensing of PGs (contrary to purely Case-based accounts, such äs in Kiss 1985), they also constitute an
Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Relexiflcation in Creole and Non-Creole languages: w... more Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Relexiflcation in Creole and Non-Creole languages: with special attention to Haitian Creole, modern Hebrew, Romani, and Rumanian/ ed. by Julia Horvath and Paul Wexler.-Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997 ( ...
Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, May 1, 1987
... Note in particular the verb a termina 'to finish', which occurs in (5a), (12a) and (1... more ... Note in particular the verb a termina 'to finish', which occurs in (5a), (12a) and (13a), and which was shown in (19) not to ... Although the grammatical realization of this semantic property in languages often does involve non-finite forms (eg, in English ORIOD constructions), it can ...
This paper addresses the issue of "COMP Accessibility" in free relative constructions, ... more This paper addresses the issue of "COMP Accessibility" in free relative constructions, initially raised by Groos and van Riemsdijk in a 1979 paper, and proposes a refinement of it in terms of the notion "Pseudo Head" (PH). The proposed theoretical refinement is motivated through a detailed discussion of a hitherto unanalyzed type of free relative construction found in Rumanian (and referred to in the text as the CEL-ΌΈΕ. construction), with respect to which earlier COMP Accessibility proposals make incorrect predictions. The usefulness of the notion PH is further demonstrated with respect to constructions other than free relatives; in particular, it is argued that this notion plays a role in deciding the distribution of interrogative complement clauses within the framework of the strict version of X-bar theory proposed in Chomsky (1986, forthcoming).
Hungarian is widely considered as a paradigm case of a language exhibiting a designated "Foc... more Hungarian is widely considered as a paradigm case of a language exhibiting a designated "Focus position " in its clause structure. The existence of the structural position and of overt syntactic movement targeting it has been firmly established in the extensive literature on the topic, and is by now not subject to controversy. Similarly
The paper presents results of our investigation of the distribution of idioms across diatheses (v... more The paper presents results of our investigation of the distribution of idioms across diatheses (voice alternations) in English and Hebrew. We propose an account and discuss its consequences for idiom storage and its implications for alternative architectures of grammar. We provide evidence that idioms split into two distinct subtypes, which we label "phrasal" versus "clausal" idioms. Based on idiom surveys, we observe that phrasal idioms can be specific to the transitive, the unaccusative or the adjectival passive diathesis, but cannot be specific to the verbal passive. Clausal idioms, in contrast, do not discriminate between diatheses: they tend to be specific to a single diathesis. These findings, we argue, cannot be accommodated by a Construction Grammar approach, such as Goldberg (2006), which assumes knowledge of language consists merely of an inventory of stored 'constructions', and does not distinguish between a storage module versus a computationa...
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