ABA revisited : evidence from Latin and Czech degree morphology

We present a novel account of root suppletion in comparatives and superlatives, and show how it accounts for the presence of ABB and ABC patterns, as well as the absence of ABA patterns. The account assumes that suppletive roots, despite appearances to the contrary, are not contextual allomorphs, but portmanteaus spelling out two distinct features, one belonging to the lexical root, and another one belonging to the comparative. The regular comparative affix then spells out an additional feature relating to the comparative domain. In other words, we show that the comparative (CMPR) head that enters into the morphological makeup of the comparative (Bobaljik 2012) is to be split up into two distinct heads, C1 and C2 (see also Caha 2016). We extend this idea to SPRL, which we show is likewise to be split up into S1 and S2, in order to account for suppletive ABC patterns. These four distinct heads receive empirical support from facts of the degree morphology in Czech and Latin. The new account of root suppletion allows a straightforward way of deriving the attested and unattested patterns of (root) suppletion in degree comparison. The analysis developed supports the hypothesis that the absence of AAB patterns in degree comparison is due to a constraint of a different nature altogether

Splitting up the comparative : evidence from Czech

We argue that the comparative head that enters into the mor- phologicalmakeupofthecomparative (Bobaljik 2012) is to be split up into two distinct heads(see Caha 2016). Evidence for this claim comes from Czech comparative morphology, root suppletion, and the inter- action of Czech suppletion with negation. We further argue that the account for root suppletion that we provide captures the data better than a Distributed Morphology (DM) account

Unmerging analytic comparatives

We look at the internal structure of the English analytic comparative marker more, arguing that it spells out nearly all the features of a gradable adjective. When this marker is merged with an adjective in the positive degree, it creates a situation of feature recursion or overlap, where more duplicates certain features that are also present in the adjective that it modifies. We argue that such overlap must be disallowed as a matter of principle. We present an empirical argument in favour of such a restriction, which is based on the generalization that comparative markers which occur to the left of the adjectival root are incompatible with suppletion. This generalization can be shown to follow from a restriction against overlapping derivations. In order to achieve such nonoverlapping derivations, an Unmerge operation may remove previously created structure

The Syntax of Spatial Anaphora

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive Minimalist analysis of the apparent free variation between pronouns and anaphors in snake-sentences. Three sets of data provide the basis for the analysis: hitherto unobserved restrictions on quantifier-pronoun relationships, classical observations about the role of perspective or point of view (Cantrall 1974), and interpretive effects concerning the nature of the locative relationship (Kuno 1987). We propose an analysis of spatial prepositions in terms of Svenonius’ (2006) AxPartP. Spatial interpretations may be object-centered or observer-centered. We correlate these two interpretations with two distinct grammatical representations. The object-centered interpretation involves an Agree relation between AxPart and the complement of P, the observer-centered interpretation is the result of a binding relationship between AxPart and the Speaker, represented in MoodEvid P. An Agree relation requires the presence of the complex anaphor himself, whereas binding of AxPart by the Speaker is only compatible with the pronoun him

Derived verbs in Dutch

There are three ways of deriving verbs in Dutch: through zero marking (e.g. adem), through suffixation (e.g. modern-iseer), and through prefixation (eg ver-breed). We focus on the prefixed verbs, contrasting two views. According to the first view (De Haas & Trommelen 1993), prefixed verbs are left-headed: the prefix is responsible for the change in category, i.e. [V ver [A breed]]. The second view (Neeleman & Schipper 1993) holds that prefixed verbs are right-headed, and involve a zero verbalizing suffix, i.e. [V ver [V [A breed] ø ]]]. We present evidence for the second view, in line with the position of Neeleman & Schipper (1993), but we in addition argue that the causative-inchoative ambiguity of many of these derived verbs requires the introduction of an additional head in the structure. Finally, we present an interpretation of these heads in terms of the nanosyntactic mechanism of phrasal lexicalization

Odspajanje analitičkih komparativa

We look at the internal structure of the English analytic comparative marker more, arguing that it spells out nearly all the features of a gradable adjective. When this marker is merged with an adjective in the positive degree, it creates a situation of feature recursion or overlap, where more duplicates certain features that are also present in the adjective that it modifies. We argue that such overlap must be disallowed as a matter of principle. We present an empirical argument in favour of such a restriction, which is based on the generalization that comparative markers which occur to the left of the adjectival root are incompatible with suppletion. This generalization can be shown to follow from a restriction against overlapping derivations. In order to achieve such nonoverlapping derivations, an Unmerge operation may remove previously created structure.U radu istražujemo unutarnju strukturu engleskog analitičkog komparativnog obilježivača more ‘više’ te iznosimo tvrdnju da ona iskazuje gotovo sve značajke stupnjevanog pridjeva. Kad se taj obilježivač spoji s pridjevom u pozitivu, dolazi do rekurzije ili preklapanja u obilježjima, pri čemu more umnaža određena obilježja koja su već sadržana u pridjevu koji modificira. Tvrdimo da takva vrsta preklapanja ne smije biti dopuštena iz načelnih razloga te predstavljamo empirijski argument u prilog takvu ograničenju. Naš se argument temelji na poopćenju, prema kojemu komparativni obilježivači koji se pojavljuju lijevo od pridjevnog korijena nisu kompatibilni sa supletivizmom. Ukazujemo na mogućnost da spomenuto poopćenje proizlazi iz ograničenja preklapajućih derivacija. Da bi se postigle nepreklapajuće derivacije, operacija odspoji uklanja prethodno stvorenu strukturu

How to be positive

In this paper, we discuss a cross-linguistically rare pattern of comparative formation found in Slovak. This pattern is theoretically interesting, because it violates a candidate universal on the relationship between the positive and the comparative degree. The universal, discussed in Grano & Davis (2018), says that the comparative is always either identical to, or derived from, the positive degree. This universal is violated by a number of adjectives in Slovak. These adjectives have a suffix -k in the positive degree, which is absent in the comparative. We capture this pattern in terms of a non-containment structure of the positive and the comparative degrees and the nanosyntax model of spellout (Starke 2009 et seq.)