Floating universal quantifier as a base-generated head in the VP periphery

The universal quantifier niz in Kavalan can immediately precede its DP associate or appear in a quantifier-floating construction where it is separated from its DP associate. This paper argues that floating niz is not derived from its non-floating counterpart as a result of stranding. They differ morphosyntactically and semantically. First of all, while non-floating niz in a negative sentence exhibits scope reconstruction, floating niz in a negative sentence induces scope-freezing effect. Secondly, floating niz should be analyzed as a full-fledged verb, whereas non-floating niz is a nominal modifier. Thirdly, floating niz is not sensitive to A/A’ distinction. Fourthly, floating and non-floating niz can co-occur in a sentence. Finally, floating niz can receive interpretations that are not available to non-floating niz. The differences between floating and non-floating niz indicate that they are derivationally distinct. The fact that floating niz is morphosyntactically realized as a verb further suggests that it is base-generated in a functional head in the VP periphery

The syntactic derivations of interrogative verbs in Amis and Kavalan

Interrogative words that denote ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘where’, and ‘how many’ in Amis and Kavalan have the same morphosyntactic distribution as verbs. The present paper argues that their use as verbs is not due to unconstrained lexical idiosyncrasies, but exhibits consistent syntactic and semantic patterns. Their grammatical properties and restrictions follow from the interaction of the following factors: the inherent semantics of interrogative words, the available interpretation of the question where they occur, the verbal structures of the voice markers, and the syntactic principles and constraints like the Head Movement Constraint or the Transparence Condition. The syntactic analysis advocated in this paper can extend to other atypical non-interrogative verbs in the two languages and makes falsifiable predictions about what interrogative words can and cannot be used as verbs