Zu satzfinaler Subjektposition, Unakkusativität und C-Domäne im Jiddischen

The article examines structures of Yiddish clauses in which the kernel verb contains only one NP. The thematic role of an accessible NP is patient/theme, whereas the agent-NP remains vacant. It is assumed that a direct object of the type “X efent Y” (‘X opens Y’) and an accessible NP of the type “exists Y” appear in Yiddish in the clause-final position as a focalized subject. The study combines minimalist investigations and the cartographic approach, especially with regard to CP and IP/TP structures proposed in Rizzi (1997, 2004) and Belletti (1999) among others, and adopts the concept of functional topic/focus projections in the syntax of Yiddish. Investigations reveal possibilities of case assignment and feature checking in lower projection areas as well as the correlation between the topic projection of the C-domain and the clause-internal focus projection. A mechanism is assumed to combine precisely clause-final focalized subjects, unaccusatives and the C-domain including the following alternatives: (i) unmarked adverbials (PPs), (ii) expletive es and (iii) verb fronting. The analyzed structures have been observed in texts of Isaac Bashevis Singer (1931), Isaac Leib Peretz, (ed. 1920) and Fishl Bimko (1921) as well as in Yiddish daily newspaper Forverts

Esse y sta: selección de auxiliar en el dialecto del Aquila

This paper presents data on auxiliary selection in Aquilan dialect. It focuses on the two auxiliary verbs esse and sta, which respectively express a permanent and temporary property that holds for a given predicate. The goals of the paper are twofold. A first goal is to offer data on the distribution of these auxiliary verbs, filling an empirical void in the literature. A second goal is to offer a formal syntactic and semantic treatment of these two auxiliaries. This treatment is shown to make several predictions on the properties of these auxiliaries, and their interaction with other parts of speech.En este trabajo se presentan datos sobre la selección de auxiliar en el dialecto del Aquila. Se centra en los dos verbos auxiliares esse y esta, que respectivamente expresan una característica permanente y temporal que se mantiene para un predicado dado. Los objetivos del artículo son dos. El primero es ofrecer datos sobre la distribución de estos verbos auxiliares, llenando un vacío empírico en la bibliografía. El segundo es ofrecer un tratamiento formal de carácter sintáctico y semántico de estos dos auxiliares. Este tratamiento permite hacer varias predicciones sobre las propiedades de estos auxiliares y su interacción con otras partes del discurso

"Algún" indefinite is not bound by adverbs of quantification

Some indefinites cannot be bound by adverbs of quantification or the generic operator. I argue that this datum follows from the internal syntax of indefinites: only those indefinites consisting of a minimal structure can be bound, bigger indefinites cannot. I present evidence from Spanish, Russian and English to support this claim. Two theoretical consequences follow. The first one is about wh-dependencies: I argue that wh-phrases cannot be regarded as noun phrases with an extra [wh] feature, but rather as very small indefinites without additional features. The second one involves exceptional scope: choice function approaches seem to run into a paradox that alternative approaches, such as Schwarszchild's Singleton Indefinite approach, avoid. I also argue that an alternative semantic approach to binding resistance yields no fruit. Finally, I show that only small indefinites can be used as predicates, thus bolstering the approach taken in these pages

General linguistics and cartography : an interview with ur shlonsky

This issue of Revista Letras is dedicated to the publication of some selected papers presented at the “Intermediate Meeting” of the Grammar Theory Working Group (GTTG) of the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Letters and Linguistics (ANPOLL), held at the Federal University of Roraima, July 2019. Currently, GTTG members are researchers from different fields (such as Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics and Language Acquisition), affiliated to Brazilian universities and institutes of research. At the 2019 meeting, in addition to discussions related more specifically to grammar theory, it was sought to establish dialogues with different ANPOLL working groups, in particular with members of the Psycholinguistics and Indigenous Languages groups. Another topic covered was grammar teaching at the Basic Education. Basic Education has been a concern of many group members, who have come up with proposals to show how grammar theory can contribute to the study of grammar and to the learning of (spoken and written) standard Portuguese. We are delighted to interview in this issue the renowned linguist Ur Shlonsky, professor at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Geneva. His main areas of expertise are syntactic theory and comparative syntax. With research on aspects of Semitic languages syntax, especially Modern Hebrew, and work on Romance languages and Romance dialectology, Professor Shlonsky has provided important contributions to syntax theory and, more recently, to the Cartographic Approach. Among his various research topics, we can cite the syntax of null subjects, relative sentences, resumptive pronouns, cliticization and wh-interrogatives. For a more detailed view of his cv, as well as a list of some of his publications, the reader can consult the link https://www.unige.ch/lettres/linguistique/collaborateurs/profs/shlonsky/. Surely, the topics addressed in this interview with Professor Ur Shlonsky will definitely bring important contributions to Revista Letras readers—specially those of the present issue—once some of the GTTG priority axes for the 2019-2020 biennium have been addressed in this interview. Some more personal questions make it possible for readers to know when and how Shlonsky’s interest for theoretical Linguistics—and, particularly, for cartographic studies—arose. The interview will also cover some topics on the cartographic program which are more related to Shlonsky’s current research, namely issues on the syntax of the left periphery and the study of the Subject10

X-within-X Structures and the Nature of Categories

This paper discusses the existence of X-within-X structures in language. Constraints to same-category embedding have been the focus in a number of recent studies. These studies follow a long-standing tradition in linguistic theory that assumes a ban on the adjacency of same-category elements. In the present work, data drawn from a typologically broad variety of languages suggest that the postulated constraints are not so robust. It is shown that X-within-X structures do exist in language. In this context, an argument is made in favor of an unrestricted conceptualization of Merge, independent from category distributions, while recursion is taken to be a property of procedures and not of structures. The discussion of X-within-X patterns provides insights with respect to the attested category distributions, the nature of categories, and the language faculty, from a biologically plausible point of view

Notes on cartography and further explanation

This article addresses one particular aspect of the cartographic enterprise, the cartographic study of the left periphery of the clause, the system of criteria, and the "syntacticisation” of scope-discourse semantics that rich and detailed syntactic maps make possible. I will compare this theoretical option with the conceivable alternative, the "pragmaticization” of a radically impoverished syntax, and will discuss some simple kinds of empirical evidence bearing on the choice between these alternative perspectives. I will then turn to the issue of whether the properties of the functional sequence (ordering, cooccurrence restrictions) are amenable to "further explanations” in terms of more basic principles constraining linguistic computations. I will argue that the search for deeper explanations is an integral part of the cartographic endeavour: it presupposes the establishment of reliable maps, and nourishes the pursuit of further cartographic questions. I will conclude by illustrating the issue of further explanation by comparing certain properties of topicalization in English and Italian, in particular the fact that DP topics are fundamentally unique in English, while they can be freely reiterated in Italian. This pattern can be plausibly traced back to intervention locality, once certain independent properties distinguishing Italian and English topicalization are taken into accoun