Inherent case in Archaic Chinese

This paper proposes an analysis of subject case in Late Archaic Chinese (LAC). By examining the distribution of first person pronominal subjects, I conclude that there were two distinct morphological cases for subjects in LAC. One of these pronouns, 我 wǒ, valued structural nominative case, while the other one, 吾 wú, was marked with a different case. The occurrence of 吾 wú as the external argument of experiencer and modal predicates clearly suggests that this case was at least sometimes inherent case assigned to the external argument in [Spec, vP]. 吾 wú also functioned as the subject of relative clauses, embedded subjunctive clauses, and irrealis matrix clauses. Since the case valued in these clause types was not sensitive to predicate types, I propose that the source of the case valued by the subject in these environments was T. Working within Chomsky’s (2008) C-T Inheritance framework, I propose that Inheritance did not take place in indicative clauses, so the subject moved to [Spec, CP] to value nominative case. A first person pronoun with nominative case was spelled out as 我 wǒ. But Inheritance was forced if another constituent needed to occupy [Spec, CP]. I propose that relative clauses and irrealis/subjunctive clauses are all derived through operator movement. Because the operator must occupy [Spec, CP], C-T Inheritance must also take place, forcing the subject to move to [Spec, TP] to value its case. The case valued in this position was also the non-nominative form exemplified by the first person pronoun 吾 wú

Cliticization and Old Chinese word order

This paper addresses the controversial question of whether Old Chinese was an OV or VO language. Evidence frequently cited for the OV analysis is the fact that objects sometimes surface in preverbal position. In this paper, I argue that basic word order in Old Chinese was uniformly VO. Preverbal objects achieved their position via movement. This is unsurprising, given that preverbal objects were typically wh-words and pronominal clitics. The primary evidence for the movement analysis, however, comes from the demonstration that it accounts for constraints on pronoun positioning which would be mysterious on a base-generation approach

〈客員教員の研究紹介〉 上代日本語における疑問詞の位置について

ワシントン大学シアトル本校言語学科現代日本語と違って,上代日本語の疑問詞は,一定の条件下において主語に先行することを義務付けられていた。本論は,従来の研究と同様に,この語順をWH移動の結果として捉える。ただし,移動先の着地点に関しては,英語の場合と同じCP指定部ではなく,文中(TP内部)にある焦点位置であると提案する。その根拠の1つとしては,疑問詞が先行する主語は,TP指定部にある主格主語ではなく,vP指定部にある属格主語のみであることを指摘する。TP内の焦点位置を裏付けるもう1つの根拠としては,項と付加詞との相対的位置を挙げる。vP内部に結合される項は移動するのに対し,vPの外側に結合される付加詞は,移動の対象にならず,元の位置に現れる。In contrast to modern Japanese, wh-phrases in Old Japanese were often required to precede the subject of the clause. This paper follows previous accounts in analyzing this word order as the result of wh-movement. However, I argue that the landing site is not [Spec, CP], as is the case in English, but rather a TP-internal focus position. I provide evidence first from the fact that wh-phrases typically precede only genitive subjects located in [Spec, vP] and not nominative subjects in [Spec, TP]. I also show how the proposal accounts for an asymmetry between argument and adjunct wh-phrases. Arguments appear in the focus position just above vP, clearly suggesting that they have moved to this position. On the other hand, high adjuncts, which are not base generated within the c-command domain of the focus head, do not move to the focus projection but rather appear in their base positions outside of vP

Thematic role assignment in the L1 acquisition of Tagalog: use of word order and morphosyntactic markers

It is a common finding across languages that young children have problems in understanding patient-initial sentences. We used Tagalog, a verb-initial language with a reliable voice-marking system and highly frequent patient voice constructions, to test the predictions of several accounts that have been proposed to explain this difficulty: the frequency account, the Competition Model, and the incremental processing account. Study 1 presents an analysis of Tagalog child-directed speech which showed that the dominant argument order is agent-before-patient, and that morphosyntactic markers are highly valid cues to thematic role assignment. In Study 2, we used a combined self-paced listening and picture verification task to test how Tagalog-speaking adults and 5- and 7- year-old children process reversible transitive sentences. Results showed that adults performed well in all conditions, while children’s accuracy and listening times for the first noun phrase indicated more difficulty in interpreting patient-initial sentences in the agent voice compared to the patient voice. The patient voice advantage is partly explained by both the frequency account and incremental processing account

Two Components of Long-Distance Extraction: Successive Cyclicity in Dinka

This article presents novel data from the Nilotic language Dinka, in which the syntax of successive-cyclic movement is remarkably transparent. We show that Dinka provides strong support for the view that long-distance extraction proceeds through the edge of every verb phrase and every clause on the path of movement (Chomsky 1986, 2000, 2001, 2008). In addition, long-distance dependencies in Dinka offer evidence that extraction from a CP requires agreement between v and the CP that is extracted from (Rackowski and Richards 2005, Den Dikken 2009b, 2012a,b). The claim that both of these components constrain long-distance movement is important, as much contemporary work on extraction incorporates only one of them. To accommodate this conclusion, we propose a modification of Rackowski and Richards 2005, in which both intermediate movement and Agree relations between phase heads are necessary steps in establishing a long-distance dependency

School of Public Accounting. Volume 16 No. 22 November 1991

Este informe es un estudio mundial, patrocinado por AICPA, que analiza el estado actual de la preparación y presentación de información financiera, a partir de lo cual propone los cambios que se requieren implementar.Editorial. Documentos. Profesores. Estudiantes.This report is a worldwide study, sponsored by AICPA, that analyzes the current state of the preparation and presentation of financial information, based on which it proposes the changes that need to be implemented

Introduction

This introduction surveys the prospects for developing a systematic comparative approach to Austronesian syntax and outlines the benefits of such an approach for syntactic theory. We begin with a brief overview of Austronesian languages, focusing on some typologically unusual aspects of their grammar, and the theoretical explanations that have been proposed for these features. We then survey the articles in the rest of this volume and the theoretical questions they address. A novel feature of this special issue is that each article is followed by a commentary by another Austronesian linguist which engages the same issues from a different perspective. The pairings of article and commentary should give readers a window into the study of Austronesian syntax and its current contributions to linguistic theory