scholarly journals The Syntactic Status of Arabic Clauses Introduced by ʔinna A Minimalist Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Mansour Qazan Alotaibi
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Syntactic Status ◽  
Case Feature

A Standard Arabic (SA) complementizer known as ʔinna poses a restriction on word orders in the clause it introduces and induces accusative Case-marking on the otherwise nominative preverbal NPs (Note1). Following Chomsky’s (2001) account of the morphosyntax of Case, this paper argues that ʔinna is a Case assigner and thus it carries an uninterpretable Case feature that determines the value which it assigns to an unvalued Case feature concerning accessible goal within A-bar projection. The paper shows that this argument captures the asymmetrical word order between clauses introduced by ʔinna and those headed by null CPs. 

scholarly journals Remarks on the Arabic complementizer 'inna / Observações sobre o complementizador 'inna em árabe

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1295
Author(s):  
Mansour Alotaibi
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Case Feature

Abstract: A Standard Arabic (SA) complementizer known as 'inna poses a restriction on word order in the clause it introduces and induces accusative Case-marking on the otherwise nominative preverbal NPs. Following Chomsky’s (2001) account of the morphosyntax of Case, this paper argues that 'inna is a Case assigner and thus it carries an uninterpretable Case feature that determines the value which it assigns to an unvalued Case feature concerning accessible goal within A-bar projection. The paper shows that this argument captures the restriction imposed on 'inna-clauses.Keywords: Arabic; complementizer; Case marking; word order; minimalism.Resumo: Um complementizador no árabe padrão, conhecido como 'inna, impõe uma restrição na ordem das palavras da oração por ele introduzida e induz marcação de Caso acusativo nos SNs preverbais que em outras circunstâncias têm marcação de Caso nominativo. Seguindo o modelo de Chomsky (2001) para a morfossintaxe de Caso, este artigo argumenta que 'inna é um designador de Caso e que ele carrega um traço de Caso não interpretável que determina o valor que o mesmo designa para um traço de Caso até então não marcado de uma meta acessível na projeção de A-barra. O artigo mostra que esse argumento captura as cláusulas 'inna impostas pela restrição.Palavras-chave: Árabe; complementizador; marcação de Caso; ordem de palavras; minimalismo.

scholarly journals The syntax of Arabic vocatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-360
Author(s):  
Hussein Al-Bataineh
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Case Feature

Abstract This paper examines the syntactic structure of Arabic vocatives, focusing on case-marking of vocatives. The assignment of accusative and nominative-like case can be accounted for in the light of Hill (2017)’s proposal which provides the basic structure of the vocative phrase. This paper argues that in Arabic vocatives (i) the particle YAA is a transitive probe with valued [ACC-Case] and unvalued [2nd] and [Distance] features; (ii) The D has the unvalued case feature [u-Case], and it has both the [2nd] and [+Distance] features if it is a free pronoun and (iii) The vocative noun carries the valued [2nd] and [+/-Distance] features. Based on these assumptions, I argued that indefinite vocatives are assigned accusative case only if they are merged with an overt D -n, otherwise a nominative-like case surfaces on the noun by default. Proper names have the same analysis since the presence of the indefinite article -n is a prerequisite for accusative case assignment. Concerning vocatives as heads of Construct States, N-to-D movement takes place in order to assign [+def] feature to D and is assigned accusative case by YAA. Regarding vocatives in demonstrative phrases, the existence of a null D prevents the vocative noun from being assigned an overt accusative case. Concerning vocative pronouns, only accusative case is assigned since the determiner carrying the [u-Case] feature is overt.

Shaping modern Indo-Aryan isoglosses

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-552
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Stroński ◽  
Saartje Verbeke
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Constituent Order

AbstractSince the pioneering paper by Emenau (1956) there have been many attempts (cf. Masica 1976, 2001; Ebert 2001; among many others) to select areal features which are shared among languages spoken in South Asia. However, there has been little consent on the number of such features and the possible direction of their spread.In this paper we are focusing on two selected isoglosses, namely alignment and constituent order. Both of them have been used to define the Indo-Aryan linguistic area: alignment is one of the key elements to distinguish western from eastern Indo-Aryan (Peterson 2017) and word order is one of the innovations which differentiates some of the “Outer” languages from “Inner” Indo-Aryan languages (Zoller 2017: 15).This article focuses on two languages which are said to determine these isoglosses: Awadhi and Kashmiri. Our study of Awadhi shows that the isogloss delineating ergative or accusative case marking zones is situated in the area where the so-called Eastern Hindi dialects (among them Awadhi) are spoken. As we will demonstrate, this specific isogloss is substantially supported by diachronic evidence. The second language under consideration, namely Kashmiri, is an example of an “Outer” language with a quite stable V2 feature. Both Awadhi and Kashmiri are compared with Pahari, a language branch which functions as a link between the two of them. Our comparison of Kashmiri with certain Western Pahari Himachali languages shows that there is no clear borderline between two language groups supported by word order. We conclude from these case studies that the study of isoglosses is by definition a study of fluid boundaries, and qualitative, historical studies of one language can prove or disprove hypotheses based on synchronic similarities between languages.

Record your Agree: A case study of the Arabic complementizerʔinn

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARWAN JARRAH
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Interface Condition ◽  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Lebanese Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

This research investigates the morpho-syntactic behaviour of the Arabic complementizerʔinnin a range of Arabic varieties (Modern Standard Arabic, Jordanian Arabic, and Lebanese Arabic). It essentially argues that this complementizershares(notdonatesorkeeps,paceOuali 2008, 2011) its unvalued$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-features with its complement$\text{T}^{0}$, something that makesʔinnand$\text{T}^{0}$separate agreeing heads. An inflectional suffix attached toʔinnis treated as a PF reflex (i.e. an overt morphological realization) of valuation ofʔinn’s unvalued$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-features or lack thereof. This research also argues that the occurrence of such an inflectional suffix is ruled by the postulatedAgree Chain Record, an interface condition that demands an Agree relation to have a PF reflex, called aRecord(i.e. an overt Case marking on the goal or, if not, a$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-affix on the probe). This way, we account for the complementary distribution of overt Case and$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-Agree in Arabic. We also show how a host of other phenomena, including word order agreement asymmetries in Modern Standard Arabic and lack of such asymmetries in Arabic vernaculars, fares well with this view.

The emergence of functional case marking in initial varieties of Polish L2

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Saturno ◽  
Marzena Watorek
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Target Sentence ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Case Markings

Abstract This paper addresses the acquisition of L2 inflectional morphology after only a few hours of exposure. Eighty-nine participants with five different L1s and no experience of the L2 took part in a specially designed 14-hour L2 Polish course, during which they were tested on their developing morphosyntactic skills at various times. The present paper uses a Comprehension task and an Elicited Imitation task to probe learners’ ability to use nominative and accusative case markings to infer and express the subject and object. The study is designed to isolate variables such as the task employed to elicit L2 data, target sentence word order, time of exposure to the L2 input, and learners’ L1. The results show that while the majority of learners stick to a word order principle, some managed to identify and systematically apply the target-like use of inflectional morphology. Various intermediate strategies make it possible to identify a hierarchy of task difficulty. Both time of exposure and the learner’s L1 proved to be significant predictors of performance.

scholarly journals The Morphosyntax of Arabic Exceptives: A minimalist approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein Al-Bataineh
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Domain Restriction ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Focus Particle ◽  
Minimalist Approach ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Syntactic Restrictions ◽  
Case Feature

Arabic exceptive constructions involve an intricate interaction among word order, negation, and case assignment resulting from syntactic restrictions imposed on the argumental, appositional, and adjunctive functions of exceptive phrases. The morphosyntactic complexities in Arabic exceptives cast doubt on the adequacy of previous analyses that exceptive particles are prepositions, focal adverbs, or coordinating conjunctions, and they also lead the paper to argue for more principled accounts in which exceptive particles are analyzed as functional heads that project into an ExP ‘exceptive phrase’ which exists in two distinct configurations. The first includes an exceptive marker carrying [Acc-Case] ‘accusative case’ and [DS] ‘domain subtraction’ features when the ExP is an adjunct introduced by late Merge. The second includes a negative determiner which selects and c-commands the exceptive particle and deactivates/ suspends its [Acc-Case], consequently, the case feature of the ExP-complement is valued by percolation from D which combines with the exceptive marker to form a discontinuous focus particle with a [DR] ‘domain restriction’ feature.

Why verbless sentences in Standard Arabic are verbless

2012 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashid Al-Balushi
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Visibility Condition ◽  
Relevant Case ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Structural Case ◽  
Case Feature ◽  
Verbless Sentences

AbstractThis article aims to account for why verbless sentences in Standard Arabic lack a copular verb. In contrast to previous accounts which attribute the absence of the copula to some defect of present tense, I claim that a verbless sentence does not take a copula because its nominais do not need structural Case. The proposed analysis argues that structural Case is licensed by a “Verbal Case” feature on the relevant Case-checking heads, and assumes the Visibility Condition. The present analysis is based on a unique interaction between tense and word order, and on the observation that verbless sentences are finite clauses composed of a topic and a predicate, as well as on the observation that they do not involve licensing of structural Case.

scholarly journals Honorifics: A sociocultural verb agreement cue in Japanese sentence processing

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUKI YOSHIMURA ◽  
BRIAN MACWHINNEY
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Role Assignment ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
New Type

ABSTRACTCase marking is the major cue to sentence interpretation in Japanese, whereas animacy and word order are much weaker. However, when subjects and their cases markers are omitted, Japanese honorific and humble verbs can provide information that compensates for the missing case role markers. This study examined the usage of honorific and humble verbs as cues to case role assignment by Japanese native speakers and second-language learners of Japanese. The results for native speakers replicated earlier findings regarding the predominant strength of case marking. However, when case marking was missing, native speakers relied more on honorific marking than word order. In these sentences, the processing that relied on the honorific cue was delayed by about 100 ms in comparison to processing that relied on the case-marking cue. Learners made extensive use of the honorific agreement cue, but their use of the cue was much less accurate than that of native speakers. In particular, they failed to systematically invoke the agreement cue when case marking was missing. Overall, the findings support the predictions of the model and extend its coverage to a new type of culturally determined cue.

scholarly journals Typological Shift in Bilinguals’ L1: Word Order and Case Marking in Two Varieties of Child Quechua

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Kalt ◽  
Jonathan A. Geary
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
New Information ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Case Morphology ◽  
Grammatical Roles

We compare speech production and find morphosyntactic change among children and adolescents speaking two closely related varieties of Quechua in Cuzco, Peru, and Chuquisaca, Bolivia. Quechua languages traditionally employ Object-Verb (OV) word order in main clauses, but robust case marking permits other orders, especially to focalize new information through constituent fronting. In Chuquisaca, but not Cuzco, we find that schoolchildren often omit the accusative suffix -ta from direct objects while retaining a prosodic trace of -ta. In other varieties, loss of accusative marking is associated with a shift towards Verb-Object (VO) word order, as in Spanish. However, we find that Chuquisaqueños use more canonical OV and possessor-possessed order in declarative sentences than do Cuzqueños, who employ a wide range of word orders at the sentence level and deviate from the possessor-possessed norm for Quechua noun phrases. Our finding of more rigid word order in Chuquisaca highlights the complex factors contributing to typological shift in word order and morphology: Omission of case morphology places a greater burden on word order to identify grammatical roles. Further, we find that Chuquisaqueño schoolchildren alone have begun to use huk, “one,” to mark indefiniteness, perhaps to replace determiner-like functions ascribed to -ta and to obsolescent markers such as evidentials.

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