A note on Wh-islands and Finite Control in Brazilian Portuguese

This paper discusses Ferreira’s (2000, 2004, 2009) claim that selective intervention effects in wh-island constructions in Brazilian Portuguese provide evidence for analyzing its referential null subjects as traces of A-movement. Based on the fact that intervening traces of wh-phrases in [Spec,CP] never prevent A-movement of an embedded subject out of an embedded declarative clause, I argue that a filled [Spec,CP] does not block A-movement either. Reinterpreting Ferreira’s data, I propose instead that A-movement is blocked if there is an intervening [Spec,TopP].KEYWORDS: finite control, hyper-raising, wh-islands, movement theory of control, Brazilian Portuguese.RESUMOEste trabalho discute a proposta de Ferreira (2000, 2004, 2009) de que efeitos de intervenção em construções envolvendo ilhas interrogativas em português brasileiro fornecem evidência para analisar seus sujeitos nulos referenciais como vestígios de movimento-A. Baseado no fato de que vestígios de sintagmas-qu em [Spec,CP] nunca impedem movimento-A do sujeito encaixado de uma oração declarativa, eu argumento que [Spec,CP] também não bloqueia movimento-A. Reanalisando os dados de Ferreira, eu proponho que movimento-A é na verdade bloqueado se houver um [Spec,TopP] intervindo.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: controle finito, hiperalçamento, ilha-qu, teoria de controle por movimento, português brasileiro.This paper discusses Ferreira’s (2000, 2004, 2009) claim that selective intervention effects in wh-island constructions in Brazilian Portuguese provide evidence for analyzing its referential null subjects as traces of A-movement. Based on the fact that intervening traces of wh-phrases in [Spec,CP] never prevent A-movement of an embedded subject out of an embedded declarative clause, I argue that a filled [Spec,CP] does not block A-movement either. Reinterpreting Ferreira’s data, I propose instead that A-movement is blocked if there is an intervening [Spec,TopP].KEYWORDS: finite control, hyper-raising, wh-islands, movement theory of control, Brazilian Portuguese

CONSTRUÇÕES DE “TÓPICO SUJEITO” EM PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO E MINIMALIDADE NO MODELO DE AGREE

“Topic-subject” constructions have received considerable attention in the literature on Brazilian Portuguese (BP), as topics appear to be grammaticalized as subjects, triggering verb agreement. Chomsky’s (2000, 2001, 2008) Agree-based model seems to provide the necessary theoretical ingredients to analyze such constructions, as it takes C (a left periphery head generally associated with the mapping from syntax to discourse) to act jointly with T in determining verb agreement and licensing nominative Case. This paper discusses three representative analyses of “topic-subject” constructions developed within the Agree model (AVELAR; GALVES, 2011, 2020; and MUNHOZ; NAVES, 2012) and argues that approaches that attempt to analyze “topic-subjects” in terms of special properties ascribed to the C-T connection in BP are bound to face minimality problems. Following Kato and Ordóñez (2019) in taking the emergence of “topic-subject” constructions in BP to be related to changes within its vPs and DPs and assuming with Nunes and Kato (forthcoming) that these changes have led to a pervasive use of inherent Case in BP, I show that inherent Case provides the key factor in the derivation of “topic-subject” constructions, as it bleeds minimality computations (see NUNES, 2017).Construções de “tópico sujeito” têm recebido bastante atenção na literatura sobre o português brasileiro (PB), dado que tópicos parecem se gramaticalizar como sujeitos, desencadeando concordância verbal. O modelo de Agree de Chomsky (2000, 2001, 2008) parece dispor dos ingredientes teóricos necessários para uma análise adequada dessas construções na medida em que C (um núcleo funcional da periferia esquerda geralmente associado ao mapeamento da sintaxe para o discurso) é tido como responsável, ao lado de T, por determinar concordância verbal e licenciar Caso nominativo. Este artigo discute três análises de construções de “tópico-sujeito” representativas dos tipos de abordagens disponibilizadas pelo modelo de Agree (AVELAR; GALVES, 2011, 2020; e MUNHOZ; NAVES, 2012) e argumenta que análises que tentam derivar “tópicos-sujeitos” com base em propriedades especiais da conexão C-T em PB estão fadadas a enfrentar problemas de minimalidade. Seguindo a proposta de Kato e Ordóñez (2019) de que a emergência de construções de “tópico sujeito” em PB está associada a mudanças em seus vP e DPs e assumindo com Nunes e Kato (no prelo) que essas mudanças levaram a um uso generalizado de Caso inerente em PB, o artigo mostra que Caso inerente provê o fator chave para a derivação de construções de “tópico sujeito” ao tornar ambientes opacos em ambientes transparentes para efeito de movimento-A (cf. NUNES, 2017)

Generalized phasal defectivity in Brazilian Portuguese

Acknowledgments. Earlier versions of the material discussed here have been presented at the Linguistics Symposium on Romance Languages 51 (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 4/9/21), the III Encontro de Gramática Gerativa (Universidade Federal da Bahia, 9/2/21), and the workshop Romance Languages: Recent Contributions to Linguistic Theory (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro/Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 4/28/22). I am thankful to these audiences and three anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Jonathan MacDonald and Janayna Carvalho. I would also like to acknowledge partial funding for this research provided by CNPq (grant 303195/2019-3).Brazilian Portuguese displays a cluster of apparently unrelated properties that set it aside within Romance. On the one hand, it has lost its third person possessive pronouns (cf. Oliveira e Silva 1985, Perini 1985, Cerqueira 1996, and Müller 1996), its third person accusative and dative clitics (cf. Omena 1978, Duarte 1986, Galves 1987, Kato 1993, Nunes 1993, Cyrino 1997, and Berlinck 2006), and its null subjects and null possessors have become severely restricted (cf. Duarte 1995, Figueiredo Silva 1996, Kato 1999, Ferreira 2000, Modesto 2000, Galves 2001, Floripi 2003, and Rodrigues 2004). On the other hand, it came to allow hyper-raising constructions (cf. Ferreira 2000 and Nunes 2020b), as well as the so-called 'topic subject' constructions, where a putative topic controls verbal agreement (cf. Pontes 1987, Galves 1987, Nunes 2017, and Kato and Ordóñez 2019). Moreover, it makes a pervasive use of preposition deletion in relative clauses (cf. Tarallo 1983) and its directional verbs came to select the preposition em 'in' instead of a 'to' (cf. Wiedemer 2013). In this paper, I argue that these and other seemingly independent changes can be accounted for if there is a general process of underspecification affecting phases in Brazilian Portuguese

Some Notes On Feature Mismatch

Chomsky (1995) propõe que a incompatibilidade de traços em configuração de checagem (“feature mismatch”) causa o cancelamento de um derivação sintática. Este trabalho discute a base conceptual e empírica dessa proposta, apontando alguns problemas e delineando possíveis abordagens alternativas.34

Adjunction, Labeling, and Bare Phrase Structure

The primary aim in this paper is to propose a phrase structure for adjunction that is compatible with the precepts of Bare Phrase Structure (BPS). Current accounts are at odds with the central vision of BPS and current practice leans more to descriptive eclecticism than to theoretical insight. A diagnosis for this conceptual disarray is suggested here: It stems from a deeply held though seldom formulated intuition; the tacit view that adjuncts are the abnormal case while arguments describe the grammatical norm. In actuality, it is argued, adjuncts are so well behaved that they require virtually no grammatical support to function properly. Arguments, in contrast, are refractory and require grammatical aid to allow them to make any propositional contribution. This last remark should come as no surprise to those with neo-Davidsonian semantic sympathies. Connoisseurs of this art form are well versed in the important role that grammatical (aka, thematic) roles play in turning arguments into modifiers of events. Such fulcra are not required for meaningfully integrating adjuncts. into sentences. In what follows, we take this difference to be of the greatest significance and we ask ourselves what this might imply for the phrase structure of adjunction

Identity Avoidance with Reflexive Clitics in European Portuguese and Minimalist Approaches to Control

In this paper we discuss two types of co-occurrence restrictions involving reflexive clitics in European Portuguese and examine their implications for obligatory control. We argue that these restrictions may shed some light on where the “controller” is generated, thus making it possible to empirically test three minimalist approaches to control: the predicate attraction approach (see Manzini and Roussou 2000), the PRO-based approach (e.g. Chomsky and Lasnik 1993, Landau 2000, 2004, and Martin 2001), and the movement approach (e.g. Hornstein 1999, 2001 and Boeckx, Hornstein, and Nunes 2010). We show that neither of the approaches is able to capture all the relevant data if pursued under a strong lexicalist perspective such as Chomsky’s (1993, 2000) and that only the movement approach can account for all the data in a uniform way under Chomsky’s (2001) weak lexicalist perspective.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SOME NOTES ON FEATURE MISMATCH

Chomsky (1995) propõe que a incompatibilidade de traços em configuração de checagem (“feature mismatch”) causa o cancelamento de um derivação sintática. Este trabalho discute a base conceptual e empírica dessa proposta, apontando alguns problemas e delineando possíveis abordagens alternativas

The role of neutrophil recruitment in the pathogenesis of salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium-induced enteritis in calves

The role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of Salmonella typhimurium-induced ruminant and human enteritis and diarrhea remains incompletely understood. To address this question, the in vivo bovine ligated ileal loop model of non-typhoidal salmonellosis was used in calves with the naturallyoccurring Bovine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (BLAD) mutation whose neutrophils are unable to extravasate and infiltrate the extravascular matrix. Data obtained from BLAD calves were compared to those from genetically normal calves negative for the BLAD mutation. Morphologic studies showed that the absence of significant tissue influx of neutrophils in intestine infected by S. typhimurium resulted in less tissue damage, reduced luminal fluid accumulation, and increased bacterial invasion compared to regular calves. Study of gene expression profile of cytokines by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRTPCR) revealed that the massive tissue influx of neutrophils during acute infection is mainly driven by the CXC chemokine GRO- α especially in the last stages of acute infection and to a lesser extent, IL-8. In contrast, the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1 β and TNF- α were not significantly correlated with the presence or absence of tissue neutrophils. The precise in situ localization of gene expression of these major cytokines and chemokines was investigated by qRTCPR from specific groups of intestinal cells captured by Laser Capture Microdissection in S. typhimuriuminfected ileal loops from BLAD animals. Our data confirmed that gene expression of IL-8, GRO- α, and IL-1 β was predominantly localized to enterocytes of crypts with less expression in enterocytes of villi tips and cells that form the domed villi were not an important source of TNF- α gene expression. Microarray technology was used to determine the global transcriptional profile of bovine intestinal loops inoculated with S. typhimurium. The host samples were hybridized on a 13K bovine-specific oligoarray and microarray data was analyzed using a suite of gene expression analysis and modeling tools. Analysis of our data revealed that the tissue influx of neutrophils in ileal loops greatly influenced the host gene expression. Major differences in gene expression in relevant fields of Salmonella research including inflammation and immune response, Toll-like receptor signaling, cytokine profiles, apoptosis, and intracellular defense against infection are discussed

De clítico à concordância: o caso dos acusativos de terceira pessoa em português brasileiro

Uma das propriedades sintáticas que mais caracteriza o português brasileiro (PB) é a perda dos clíticos acusativos de terceira pessoa o(s)/a(s) e seus alomorfes. Como amplamente documentado na literatura, em PB esses elementos estão associados a escolarização e registros formais de fala e escrita. Neste trabalho investigo o estatuto teórico desses elementos após serem “acrescentados” à gramática nuclear do PB via escolarização sintática. Como base em seu intrincado padrão de colocação, argumentarei que o(s)/a(s) não são incorporados como clíticos nos registros relevantes de PB, mas como marcas de concordância (de objeto)