The Cluster-internal Ordering of Clitics in Kavalan (East Formosan, Austronesian)

BLS 38: General Session and Thematic Session on Language Contac

Approximation in Russian and the single-word constraint

Russian quantifiers are known for their complexity. This dissertation investigates expressions of indefinite quantity--specifically, accusative-assigning s 'about' of approximate measure.This preposition has undergone a somewhat unique diachronic change which now requires that its complement consist of only a single word. I chronicle the advent of the single-word restriction (LONE-WD), showing historical data with multi-word complements of s. Adjective-noun and numeral-noun complements were once attested; Russian now requires only one word after s. This study investigates various apparent exceptions to LONE-WD, which are violated only under very specific circumstances. These exceptions clarify the morphosyntax of-- paucal numerals ('two' through 'four' and the fractions pol 'half' and četvert´ 'quarter'),-- 'prequantifier' adjectives,-- syntactic compounds (adjective-noun sequences which inflect separately but are treated by the syntax as a single word), and-- large-quantity numbers (tysjača 'thousand' and greater). Distributions of special genitive-singular and -plural forms, assigned only by quantifiers, are shown to be distinct: Only paucal numerals in morphological nominative case assign 'ADPAUCAL' genitive-singular forms (such as end-stressed čaSA 'hours'); a number of elements, not just numerals, trigger 'COUNT' genitive plural forms (čelovek 'people'). Other constructions discussed include okolo 'approximately', approximative inversion, ètak 'about', and neskol´ko 'several':Quantification is not a syntactic category but a semantic feature for which okolo is unmarked; okolo is quantificational only if its sister is a quantifier. Otherwise okolo is merely proximative: 'near'. Tests confirm that quantificational okolo heads a prepositional phrase within the noun phrase. While most prepositional quantifiers have this structure, accusative-assigning s is the relativized head of a hybrid phrase due to featural deficiencies.Numeral-noun complements of s undergo approximative inversion--the noun moving to specifier position--to circumvent LONE-WD. Approximative inversion is likewise subject to a variant of LONE-WD, which requires a single PROSODIC word in the quantified constituent. When inversion is impossible a pleonastic count noun is inserted instead.An Optimality-theoretic model is proposed, formalizing LONE-WD and constraints requiring prosodic contiguity and exceptions to LONE-WD caused by words expressing more closely defined measure.Ph.D."Corrections added as of June 1999

Eng English Mac Macedonian Sr Serbian

Following Corbett’s (1986) bibliography of the genitive-of-negation construction, we have compiled the following bibliography on the so-called-no/-to construction in Slavic, thus named because the verbal form ends in either-no or-to, two allomorphs of the historically neut sg form of the past passive participle (now distinct from the neut sg form:-ne/-te in both Pol and Ukr). 1 Works on related constructions, primarily in Li and various Slavic dialects, are also included for comparison. This somewhat unusual construction, in which a seemingly passive verb assigns accusative case to its complement, has received considerable attention recently in the generative literature and has long been described because of its uniqueness in the Slavic linguistic literature. We have attempted to include any work that treats this phenomenon from any linguistic (incl. philological) viewpoint. If a title cites another work which itself doesn’t discuss-no/-to per se, then that other work will be relegated to a footnote. Likewise, if a title quotes a-no/-to ex from a literary, dialectological or ethnographic work which does not otherwise discuss-no/-to, then this work will also appear in a footnote. Additionally, because most items (especially journal articles) have proven difficult to find, we have listed the library and call number of the copy we examined. 2 1 The following general abbreviations are used in this bibliography: acc accusative fn footnote neut neuter adv adverb fnn footnotes nom nominative agr agreement gen genitive pf perfective dat dative impf imperfective pl plural emph emphasis incl including refl reflexive ex example inf infinitive sg singular exx examples inst instrumental subj subjunctive fem feminine masc masculine The following abbreviations are adopted for language names

WACKERNAGEL AND VERB-ADJACENT CLISIS IN CENTRAL PHILIPPINES *

This paper reports about how clausal clitics in Tagalog and several closely related languages are positioned relative to the rest of the clause. We show that the distribution of clitics belongs to the following two types: Wackernagel and verb-adjacent. One language, Tausug, attests the former type; most of the rest, only the latter. Tagalog shows a mixture of the two positioning types. In addition, Tausug, unlike other CP languages, allows an initial complementizer to serve as the initial element, which the clitics follow. The other languages ’ clitics are further restricted to being non-initial in the INFL phrase. 1. BACKGROUND Clitichood is explicitly identified through certain syntactic constructions. This is due to the fact that in Central Philippine (hereafter: CP) languages (and in much of Austronesian), the verb tends to be clause-initial; as such, it is hard to identify which of the two types—Wackernagel (W) or verb-adjacent (VA)—is relevant. For ease of exposition, the various syntactic configurations of the verb, other non-clitic elements, and the clitic cluster are sketched in (1a-e). (1) a. Unmarked affirmative order verb cluster (XP(s)) b. Unmarked negated order NEG cluster verb (XP(s)) c. (1a) with a fronted adjunct adjunct cluster verb (XP(s)