From juxtaposition to incorporation: an approach to Generic-Specific constructions

In this paper, we present an analysis of classifier noun incorporation in Gunwinyguan languages from northern Australia, focussing particularly on generic-specific constructions. We show how the analysis of Sadler and Nordlinger (2006) for generic-specific constructions formed through nominal juxtaposition can be extended to account for incorporated generic-specific constructions also. In this analysis, each nominal (or incorporated noun) is treated as belonging to a set at f-structure, on a par with the standard LFG treatment of coordination. The difference between the various set-based constructions (including coordinations, generic-specific constructions and part-whole constructions) arises in the mapping to the semantic structure. We show how this provides a single unified analysis for all generic-specific constructions in these languages, whether incorporated or juxtaposed. In doing so, we provide the first LFG analysis of classifier incorporation with doubling

Putting it All Together: Agreement, Incorporation, Coordination and External Possession in Wubuy (Australia)

In this paper we examine the interaction of a number of grammatical phenomena in Wubuy, a polysynthetic language from northern Australia, and show how they can be given a comprehensive analysis within the framework of LFG. While each of these phenomena ? noun incorporation, verbal agreement, coordination and external possession ? has received various treatments within the LFG literature, no one study has addressed the compatibility of these analyses under interaction, despite the fact that they frequently co-occur in the world?s languages. We use data from Wubuy to showcase the effects of this interaction, and investigate the implications for LFG and for LFG analyses of polysynthetic languages more generally

Relating Morphology to Syntax

B1 - Research Book Chapter

Nominal juxtaposition in Australian languages: An LFG analysis

It is well known that Australian languages make heavy use of nominal juxtaposition in a wide variety of functions, but there is little discussion in the theoretical literature of how such juxtapositions should be analysed. We discuss a range of data from Australian languages illustrating how multiple nominals share a single grammatical function within the clause. We argue that such constructions should be treated syntactically as set-valued grammatical functions in Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG). Sets as values for functions are well-established in LFG and are used in the representation of adjuncts, and also in the representation of coordination. In many Australian languages, coordination is expressed asyndetically, that is, by nominal juxtaposition with no overt coordinator at all. We argue that the syntactic similarity of all juxtaposed constructions (ranging from coordination through a number of more appositional relations) motivates an analysis in which they are treated similarly in the syntax, but suitably distinguished in the semantics. We show how this can be achieved within LFG, providing a unified treatment of the syntax of juxtaposition in Australian languages and showing how the interface to the semantics can be quite straightforwardly defined in the modular LFG approach. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Nominal Tense in Crosslinguistic Perspective

It is a general assumption in linguistic theory that the categories of tense, aspect, and mood (TAM) are inflectional categories of verbal classes only. In a number of languages around the world, however, nominals and other NP constituents are also inflected for these categories. In this article we provide a comprehensive survey of tense/aspect/mood marking on NP constituents across the world's languages. Two distinct types are identified: PROPOSITIONAL, NOMINAL TAM, whereby the nominal carries TAM information relevant to the whole proposition, and INDEPENDENT NOMINAL TAM, in which the TAM information encoded on the nominal is relevant only to the NP on which it is marked - independent of the TAM of the clause as a whole. We illustrate these different types and their various properties using data from a wide range of languages showing that, while certainly unusual, the phenomenon of nominal tense/aspect/mood marking is far less marginal than is standardly assumed. Nominal TAM inflection must be accepted as a real possibility in universal grammatical structure, having significant implications for many aspects of linguistic theory

Tense Beyond the Verb: Encoding Clausal Tense/Aspect/Mood on Nominal Dependents

It is generally held that clausal temporal, aspectual and modal features, when encoded morphologically, are expressed by or on clausal heads. However nominals and modifiers within NP can also be inflected for tense, aspect and modal features interpreted with respect to the clausal predication rather than with respect to the nominal argument itself. Such nominals (and dependents within NP) therefore contribute syntactic tense, aspect and mood features to the clause, but do not themselves have syntactically active TAM features. Building on previous work we show how a simple account of this phenomenon can be given in the lexicalist, constraint-based theory of LFG. In particular, the use of inside-out function application in LFG permits us to capture directly the role of nominal morphology in defining clausal TAM properties without recourse to derivational or feature passing mechanisms