On the syntax of ditransitive sentences in Slovenian

In this paper we discuss Slovenian ditransitive sentences with respect to the two possible word orders of the objects found with neutral intonation, DAT≫ACC and ACC≫DAT. We follow the idea in the Gračanin-Yuksek (2006) paper on Croatian that these two word orders instantiate different structures. In Slovenian, the DAT≫ACC order has an applicative structure (either high or low), while the ACC≫DAT is a prepositional dative construction. The applicative analysis provides a novel argument for this type of analysis. Other supporting arguments examined are scope properties, binding of possessives, the possibility of the causative reading, non-contrastive focus and heavy NP shift, and properties of idioms

!? (Where's the Ban on Imperative Questions?)

This paper argues for a re-evaluation of the common assumption that imperatives cannot appear in (true information seeking) questions. This is challenged based on new data from Slovenian, which show that imperatives can occur in scope marking questions. It is proposed that instead of a categorical exclusion of imperative questions based on clause type, the ban on imperative questions is the result of a matrix clause version of subject obviation. The proposed analysis not only reduces the putative "ban on imperative questions" to another independent phenomenon, but also correctly predicts the behavior of imperatives in scope marking questions

Unifying V-C Movement in Algonquian and Germanic: A View from Morphology

This paper suggests that V-C movement can be detected in polysyntetic languages via its morphological correlates. The claim is based partly on the striking parallelism between the contexts where a particular agreement paradigm (Independent Order) can occur in Algonquian languages and the contexts where V-C movement/V2 can occur in Germanic languages, and partly on the morphological properties of the relevant agreement paradigm in Arapaho (Plains Algonquian). We argue that the existence of agreement allomorphy and the partial prosodic independence of agreement proclitics in this paradigm result from V-C movement feeding into C-triggered allomorphy and m-merger of the proclitic

Person on the Edge: Lessons from Crosslinguistic Variation in Syntactic Person Restrictions

This thesis presents the findings of a large-scale crosslinguistic survey of person restrictions—a phenomenon where the co-occurrence of multiple pronouns in a clause is allowed or disallowed depending on their person value. It examines both person restrictions holding between indirect and direct objects, those holding between subjects and objects and includes languages with direct/inverse systems and person-based argument indexing, in addition to the traditional Person-Case Constraint. The study establishes a number of typological generalizations and establishes two previously unnoticed typological gaps. The first gap concerns the interaction between the strength and the domain of the person restriction. The second gap concerns the direction of the restriction. A new analysis of person restrictions is proposed where the pronouns subject to person restrictions start the syntactic derivation unspecified for a person value, getting valued during the derivation. Only phase heads may provide a value to such pronouns by way of a strictly local syntactic operation: Agree. This analysis derives the existence of the two gaps and also explains why certain patterns of person restrictions are much less frequent than others. All this is shown to follow from independently needed assumptions concerning syntactic domains, argument structure, syntactic movement, and the timing of grammatical operations. Finally, the special syntactic status of person features, which is responsible for the existence of person restrictions, is tied to the semantic properties that set person apart from other categories such as number or gender which do not constrain the distribution of pronouns in the way person does

The pa/wa of imperative alternatives

This paper deals with topic markers interacting with discourse information in imperatives. It compares two topic markers from Slovenian (‘pa’) and Japanese (‘-wa’) and shows that while they mostly match in terms of the foci they associate with, their functions differ in imperatives: only ‘pa’ may yield a concessive imperative reading. It is shown that this reading can be derived while keeping a single entry for ‘pa’ by making attitudes of discourse participants part of the focus ‘pa’ associates with. The split between Slovenian and Japanese can then be attributed to minor differences in terms of which foci ‘pa’ and ‘-wa’ may associate with