Definiteness Effect in the PP

This paper demonstrates that abessive PPs impose the same type of definiteness restriction on their complements that existential predicates impose on their subjects. The DE in PPs is accounted for in the framework of the DE theory of Szabolcsi (1986a,b), who derives the DE from the incompatibility of a presuppositional subject and a logical predicate of existence that is present in a wide class of predicates (including verbs meaning ‘(cause to) come to exist in a particular fashion’, and nominal predicates meaning ‘(non-)existence at a particular location’). The analysis points out this predicate of existence in the small clause complements of abessive Ps.

Predicação secundária depictiva

Este artigo relata os principais resultados de Ferreira (2017), dissertação que investiga construções de predicação secundária no português brasileiro (PB), como “O João leu a carta cansado” e “O João comeu a carne crua”, caracterizadas pelo fato de um mesmo argumento ser partilhado por dois predicados: o predicado da oração matriz e o adjetivo, predicado secundário depictivo (cf. HIMMELMANN; SCHULTZE-BERNDT, 2005). Há na literatura um intenso debate sobre essas construções, voltado especialmente a determinar se o depictivo e seu sujeito formam ou não um constituinte small clause (SC) e se, havendo uma SC, seu sujeito seria PRO (cf. WINKLER, 1997). Outra questão importante, mas menos explorada na literatura, refere-se ao mecanismo de concordância operante nessas sentenças. Diante desse cenário, abordaremos neste artigo: (i) argumentos apresentados em Ferreira (2017) em defesa de uma SC adjunta; (ii) a proposta minimalista de derivação dessas construções apresentada pela autora, que assume não haver PRO na SC, e sim o movimento lateral do DP (NUNES, 2004) da SC para uma posição-θ na oração matriz, sendo o núcleo da SC um Asp φ-incompleto, que estabelece com o DP uma relação de Agree (CHOMSKY, 2000, 2001). Tal proposta, entendida como uma consequência da teoria de controle como movimento (HORNSTEIN, 1999, 2001), tem a vantagem de dispensar PRO e unificar o tratamento de concordância no âmbito das predicações primária e secundária. A dupla atribuição de papel-θ ao DP partilhado pelos dois predicados também é abordada no trabalho.

Mismatching nominals and the small clause hypothesis

I propose a comprehensive analysis of what has been commonly referred in the literature to as split, discontinuous noun phrases or split topicalization. Based on data from Basaá, a Narrow Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, I partly capitalize on previous authors such as Mathieu (2004), Mathieu & Sitaridou (2005) and Ott (2015a), who propose that this morphosyntactic phenomenon involves two syntactically unrelated constituents which are only linked semantically in a predication relation in a small clause (Moro 1997, 2000; Den Dikken 1998). According to these analyses, split noun phrases are obtained as a result of predicate inversion across the subject of the small clause. Contrary to/but not against these views, I suggest that what raises in the same context in Basaá is rather the subject of the small clause as a consequence of feature-checking under closest c-command (Chomsky 2000, 2001), and for the purpose of labelling and asymmetrizing an originally symmetric syntactic structure on the surface (Ott 2015a and related work). The fact that the target of movement is the subject and not the predicate of the small clause follows from agreement and ellipsis factors. Given that the subject of predication is a full DP while the predicate is a reduced DP with a null head modifier, the surface word order is attributed to the fact that noun/noun phrase ellipsis is possible if the elided noun is given in the discourse and is recoverable from the morphology of the stranded modifier. This paper offers a theoretical contribution from an understudied language to our understanding of this puzzling nominal construction.

Demonstratives, definiteness effects and the type-token distinction

Definiteness effects have been attested in the literature for some DPs complementing HAVE (= English have and their counterparts in other languages). In this paper, which focuses on English and Spanish, demonstrative DPs are shown to be affected by the type-token distinction in HAVE contexts: the internal argument of HAVE receives a type reading in these cases and rejects a to-ken interpretation. The “type restriction on demonstrative DPs” (TRD) is shown to follow from the need for narrow focus NPs complementing HAVE to receive a hearer-new reading, a well-known property of presentational structures. Type readings of demonstrative DPs are shown to meet this condition. Apparent exceptions to the TRD effect include (i) DPs in so-called “remainder contexts”; (ii) structures in which the relevant DP is the subject of a small clause (sometimes with a non-overt predicate); and (iii) structures containing a number of anti-assertive operators. The contexts in (i) are shown to be hearer-new, in spite of being definite. Those in (ii) and (iii) provide DPs which escape the narrow focus interpretation that gives ride to this variety of the definiteness effect.

Depictive secondary predicates in Turkish

This paper provides an overview of depictive secondary predicates within the Turkish language, particularly surrounding the small clause phenomenon. These constructions function as adjuncts in the matrix clause. However, it may be difficult to distinguish between depictives and adverbial adjuncts in Turkish because of their morphosyntactic shape. Primarily, I will address the distinction between depictives and adverbial adjuncts based on studies founded by Schultze-Berndt & Himmelmann (2004) and Himmelmann & Schultze-Berndt (2006) based on a description of the depictive secondary predicates in Turkish. Furthermore, I will specifically focus on the adjectivals as a depictive secondary predicate. These establish a predicative relationship with their controllers, which are the subject or object of the main clause. In this context, I will also analyze this predicative relationship at a semantical, syntactical and morphosyntactical level. I will then analyze the difficulties faced when referring to these structures as constituents in an analysis of the complex sentence as a whole.

On measure phrase alternation and smuggling

This chapter examines the phenomenon of M(easure) P(hrase) alternation from a cross-categorial perspective. An illustration of this phenomenon is given by the minimal pair (i) John is two inches too tall; (ii) John is too tall by two inches. The former features a bare MP, the latter by+MP. Interestingly, clauses permit only one order: *Mary two years outlived her husband; (ii) Mary outlived her husband by two years. It is proposed that the pattern featuring the bare MP is the base order. The pattern featuring by+MP is the derived order. This derived order results from leftward movement of a phrasal constituent past MP. In clauses, this phrasal constituent is a VP which smuggles the subject across MP. The ill-formedness of the clause featuring a bare MP is due to a locality violation: a subject moves across an intervening MP. In non-clausal configurations, this violation does not occur since the (small clause) subject is located higher than MP.

Resultatives, goal PPs, and postverbal subjects: From Scotland to Belfast

This paper investigates postverbal imperative subjects (e.g., get you to school), ungrammatical in standard English but grammatical in certain contexts in dialects of Scottish and Belfast English. Henry (1995) reports that unaccusative verbs generally allow postverbal subjects in Belfast English, but in the Scottish English (ScotE) dialect considered here, only a very restricted subset of verbs allow it. Moreover, in ScotE, the preposition away can appear without an overt verb (I’ll away to my bed); this also allows a postverbal subject in imperatives (away you to school). The ScotE data cast doubt on Henry’s (1995) proposal that the licensor of postverbal subjects is weak agreement. The paper argues that the subjects in these constructions are actually external arguments of small clauses (of which goal PPs are taken to be a subset following, e.g., Beck & Snyder 2001). The differences between dialects are located in the structure of resultatives; Belfast English allows Case to be assigned to the subject of small clauses in resultative constructions via a functional head endowed with a causation feature, allowing them to remain in situ in imperatives. In standard English, the causation feature is directly merged onto the verb, not allowing for Case assignment and forcing raising of the subject of the small clause. The ScotE data is argued to arise from the availability of a very ‘light’ verb which is realized as get in some contexts and as silence in others.

Exclamativas e interrogativas com ‘ques’ em português brasileiro dialetal

Neste artigo, examinam-se exclamativas e interrogativas que contêm o determinante ‘ques’, em dialetos do português do Brasil. Diferentemente do português padrão, nestas estruturas, ‘que’ é o único constituinte do DP marcado com o morfema ‘-s’ de plural. Para explicar esses fatos, propõe-se uma análise não apenas da hierarquia do CP/DP na qual ‘ques’ se insere, mas também da distribuição do morfema de plural no DP. Para a derivação sintática, assume-se, seguindo propostas vigentes, que ‘ques’ é um determinante, e, portanto, um núcleo D. No que se refere a sentenças interrogativas, o DP ao qual ‘que’ pertence passa por movimento wh da posição de argumento interno do VP para o domínio do CP. No que se refere a sentenças exclamativas, assume-se que o DP se move da posição de predicado de uma small clause para o domínio do CP. Em ambos os casos, o movimento se dá por força ilocucionária. Para a distribuição do morfema de plural, assume-se que o cardinal divide o DP em dois domínios, sendo que sintagmas à sua esquerda são marcados com o morfema de plural, enquanto sintagmas à sua direita são não marcados. Como resultado, porque ‘ques’ é o único item mais alto que o cardinal nessas estruturas, ele é o único marcado com o morfema de plural. Portanto, desenvolve-se uma análise capaz de explicar: primeiramente, a estrutura oracional (CP) à qual o DP contendo ‘ques’ pertence; posteriormente, a hierarquia do DP; e finalmente a distribuição do morfema de plural na estrutura interna do DP. Palavras-chave: ‘Ques’. CP. Movimento wh. DP. NumP.

Adjetivos stage-level e individual-level em construções depictivas

Neste trabalho, revejo a proposta de análise apresentada em Ferreira (2017) para construções de predicação secundária depictiva, como O João leu a carta cansado. Mais especificamente, rejeito a hipótese de Ferreira (2017) de que, em tais sentenças, nas quais ocorreria adjunção de uma small clause aspectual à oração matriz, uma categoria funcional Asp atribuiria a propriedade stage-level a um adjetivo como cansado. Neste artigo, defendo que a relação entre Asp e o adjetivo não seja de atribuição de propriedade, mas de compatibilidade de traços semânticos na seleção, e que o adjetivo entraria na derivação carregando a informação de que veicula uma propriedade transitória ou permanente. Nesse sentido, suponho que essas construções de predicação secundária possam apresentar um dos dois tipos de Asp: um que entra na derivação com um subconjunto de traços semânticos [+pers], que denota persistência temporal e seleciona adjetivos individual-level, ou um que entra na derivação com o subconjunto [–pers], que denota eventualidade temporária e seleciona adjetivos stage-level. Em minha argumentação, recorro a McNally (1993) e a Cinque (2010): a primeira, para tratar de predicações secundárias com predicados individual-level e da influência da pragmática nesses contextos; o último, para tratar brevemente de adjetivos stage-level e individual-level no âmbito do DP.

Postpositional complements

Postpositions can be classified according to several criteria, one of which is the type of complement one of them can take. In this chapter person-bound complements are distinguished from temporal phrases and from purpose phrases. The reason is that person-bound complements all contain a nominalized verb plus a personal (possessive) ending, whereas the other two types have other verbal forms. Temporal phrases have a deverbal suffix, and purpose phrases are all based on an infinitival verb form. A type of complement which typically occurs with the instrumental and case-marker annex postposition is phrases specifying circumstance or detail. This specification is based on a kind of sentence, a “small clause,” which always contains a locative phrase, including an element reminiscent of the anticipatory possessive. The final section discusses the properties of postpositions in predicate and attributive position.