Demonstratives and Definite Articles as Nominal Auxiliaries

Abstract

Written in the cartographic tradition, this monograph is concerned with the inner structure and derivation of noun phrases. It proposes that demonstratives and definite articles are similar to auxiliaries in the clause. Referencing mostly Germanic languages, the book argues that determiners are base generated below adjectives and subsequently move to the left periphery in a successive-cyclic fashion. Demonstrating that determiners are complex elements, it is proposed that languages vary with regard to when and what part of the determiner they move. This provides a novel account of the variation in the Scandinavian noun phrase. With various copies left behind by moving the determiner, the restrictive and non-restrictive readings of adjectives and relative clauses are suggested to follow from the interpretation of these different copies. The system is extended to the strong and weak adjective inflections in German. Proposing that determiners are auxiliaries in the nominal domain explains these apparently unrelated data in a uniform way.Demonstratives and Definite Articles as Nominal Auxiliaries -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Dedication -- Table of contents -- Preface -- Chapter1. Introduction -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Basic proposal -- 3. Assumptions and their motivation -- 3.1 The structure of the DP -- 3.2 Concord and movement inside the DP -- 4. Overview of the chapters -- 4.1 Chapter 2 -- 4.2 Chapter 3 -- 4.3 Chapter 4 -- Chapter 2. The syntactic distribution of determiners -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Word order possibilities of demonstratives and articles in Early Scandinavian -- 2.1 Proto-Scandinavian -- 2.2 Common Scandinavian -- 2.3 Old Norse -- 2.4 Schematic summary -- 3. Formalizing the development of the suffixed article -- 3.1 Demonstratives are phrases -- 3.2 Three options to derive the order N-Dem -- 3.3 Reanalysis from demonstrative to article -- 3.4 Some immediate consequences -- 4. Unifying the different determiner systems -- 4.1 Demonstratives in different positions -- 4.2 "Split" demonstratives -- 5. "Split" articles in the Scandinavian languages -- 5.1 The basic data -- 5.2 The semantic and syntactic relations of the two determiners -- 5.2.1 Semantic differences overtly reflected -- 5.2.2 The syntactic relation -- 5.2.3 "Split" determiners -- 5.3 Induced agreement domains -- 5.3.1 Assumptions -- 5.3.1.1 The suffixal determiner -- 5.3.1.2 The free-standing determiner -- 5.3.2 Modified DP -- 5.3.3 Unmodified DP -- 5.3.4 "Violations" of the double definiteness effect -- 5.4 Summary -- 6. An alternative proposal: Julien (2002 [2005]) -- 7. Conclusion -- Chapter 3. The syntax and semantics of non-/restrictive modifiers -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The syntax and semantics of restrictive modifiers -- 2.1 Derivation of the restrictive reading -- 2.2 Syntactic consequences: Scandinavian relative clauses3. The syntax and semantics of non-restrictive modifiers -- 3.1 Derivation of the non-restrictive reading -- 3.2 Syntactic consequences: more on Scandinavian relative clauses -- 4. Extension to Romance adjectives -- 5. Some further issues -- 5.1 Summary of the syntax of modifiers -- 5.2 Some differences and idiosyncracies -- 5.3 Some restrictions on the "free" interpretation of the determiner -- 6. Conclusion -- Chapter 4. The strong and weak alternation in German -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The strong and weak inflections: The traditional endings -- 3. The problem: Determiners with different endings -- 3.1 The definite article -- 3.2 The indefinite article -- 4. The proposal: Weak and strong null endings more generally -- 5. Null endings as no endings: The new inflections -- 6. Distribution of inflections: The traditional picture -- 7. The new picture -- 8. The strong and weak alternation as a reflex of Impoverishment -- 9. Basic derivations -- 9.1 The stereotypical cases -- 9.2 The genitive masculine and neuter -- 10. Special cases -- 10.1 Split-NPs -- 10.2 Indefinite pronoun constructions -- 10.3 Lexically ambiguous elements -- 10.3.1 Determiner-like pronouns -- 10.3.2 Determiner-like adjectives -- 10.3.3 Determiner-like intensifiers -- 10.3.3.1 Alle -- 10.3.3.2 Ein -- 10.4 Summary and feature realization -- 11. Conclusion -- Chapter 5. Conclusion -- References -- Language Index -- Subject index -- The series Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics TodayWritten in the cartographic tradition, this monograph is concerned with the inner structure and derivation of noun phrases. It proposes that demonstratives and definite articles are similar to auxiliaries in the clause. Referencing mostly Germanic languages, the book argues that determiners are base generated below adjectives and subsequently move to the left periphery in a successive-cyclic fashion. Demonstrating that determiners are complex elements, it is proposed that languages vary with regard to when and what part of the determiner they move. This provides a novel account of the variation in the Scandinavian noun phrase. With various copies left behind by moving the determiner, the restrictive and non-restrictive readings of adjectives and relative clauses are suggested to follow from the interpretation of these different copies. The system is extended to the strong and weak adjective inflections in German. Proposing that determiners are auxiliaries in the nominal domain explains these apparently unrelated data in a uniform way.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. 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