Same: structural sources of anaphora and relativization

This paper offers a unified view of the structures giving rise to anaphora and relativization within same-expressions. Taking as a point of departure the proposal that indices occupy syntactic positions in anaphoric DPs (Schwarz 2009, Simonenko 2014, a.o.), I examine the open issue of how anaphoric modifiers, particularly same, are predicted to interact with this proposed structural complexity. Based on the morphosyntactic behavior of definite descriptions with same, I argue that indices may be housed in DP structure in different ways. I argue moreover that the behavior of same in both anaphoric and non-anaphoric contexts supports the view that same is syntactically an equative degree head (Alrenga 2007, Oxford 2010), whose selectional properties are mirrored in a range of equative constructions. Finally, I propose an analysis of as-relatives selected by same that accounts for their alternation with anaphora, and offer a comparison with restrictive relatives.

Resumption and Optionality in Arabic Definite Restrictive Relatives

The present study examines the claim that definite relative clauses in Modern Standard Arabic exhibit free variation between resumptive pronouns and gaps. The implication of such a claim presents a problem for minimalist syntax that does not tolerate true optionality. To solve this problem, the study argues that the original claim is incorrect and that despite similarities in the PF outputs, resumptive relatives are syntactically different from gapped relatives. While the latter is derived from a standard VSO structure, I propose, the former is derived from a topic-comment structure that already contains an RP. Thus, the fact that resumptive relatives contain resumptive pronouns has nothing to do with relativization, as is generally assumed. The study demonstrates that both resumptive relatives and gapped relatives are derived by movement in contexts that do not involve islands. As it turns out, resumption in relatives is used only as a last resort strategy to save structures in which movement is genuinely blocked, such as islands, from crash. Altogether the study concludes that the variation observed does not reflect true optionality, a finding that supports robust economy principles of minimalist syntax.

Non-restrictive relative clauses in Arabic

This paper discusses the syntax of non-restrictive relative clauses in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It provides a thorough description of their structures and attempts to offer a preliminary analysis within the transformation framework: Minimalist syntax. Two relativization strategies are available for Arabic non-restrictive relative clauses. The first strategy is similar to that of definite restrictive relatives in which the relative clause is initiated by ʔallaðiwhich is a relative complementizer, whereas the second strategy is a unique one in which the relative clause is initiated by the special particle wa, appears to be a specifying coordinator, along with the complementizer ʔallaði. The paper also argues that De-Vries’s (2006) coordinate approach to appositive relatives can provide a straightforward account for some the facts of non-restrictive relative clauses in Arabic.

Portuguese Relative Clauses in Synchrony and Diachrony

This book sheds light on language variation and change from a generative syntactic perspective, based on a case study of relative clauses in Portuguese and other languages. Concretely, it offers a comparative account of three linguistic phenomena documented in the synchrony and diachrony of Portuguese: remnant-internal relativization, extraposition of restrictive relatives, and appositive relativization. The research methodology adopted involves comparative syntax, both in the diachronic and the synchronic dimensions: Contemporary European Portuguese is systematically compared with earlier stages of Portuguese; moreover, Portuguese is compared with other languages, in particular Latin, English, Dutch, and Italian. The book provides new perspectives on the syntax of relativization. From a theoretical perspective, it shows that competing analyses need not be either false or true universally, but can be instrumental in explaining language variation (both diachronically and synchronically). As for the variation found in the synchronic and diachronic dimensions, it is proposed that languages (and different stages of the same language) might vary according to whether they allow relativization to be derived from specifying coordination. Moreover, the book reports a series of changes that took place in the history of Portuguese after the sixteenth century, which reduced the patterns of nominal discontinuity available in the language.

Extraposition of restrictive relative clauses

Chapter 3 deals with the extraposition of restrictive relative clauses. It demonstrates that different languages and different stages of the same language may differ with respect to the three main properties of extraposition: definiteness effect; extraposition from pre-verbal positions; and extraposition from prepositional phrases. The main descriptive findings are: (1) that earlier stages of Portuguese contrast sharply with Contemporary European Portuguese with respect to the extraposition of restrictive relative clauses; and (2) the extraposition of restrictive relatives in earlier stages of Portuguese is, to a large extent, Germanic-like, unlike Contemporary European Portuguese. From a theoretical point of view, it is argued that the same structural analysis cannot alone derive the contrasting properties of restrictive relative clause extraposition. To account for the variation found in the diachronic and cross-linguistic dimensions, it is claimed that the extraposition of restrictive relatives might involve two different structures: specifying coordination plus ellipsis and VP-internal stranding.

Revisiting the system of English relative clauses: structure, semantics, discourse functionality

The goal of this article is to uncover the system underlying three types of English relative clauses, and to characterise their distinctive uses in discourse: NP-integrated ones, namely restrictive and ‘a-restrictive’ relative clauses, and non-integrated ones, represented by non-restrictive relatives.The area at issue is central, since understanding the functioning of these constructions requires reference to the fundamental interface between grammar (language system) and discourse (language use). The discourse functions of the three subtypes of relatives are claimed to be underlain by their intrinsic morphosyntactic and semantic properties. A major aim is to highlight the relative degree of ‘communicative dynamism’ of each subtype of relative clause, in terms of its respective contribution to the construction of discourse.In doing so, the article focuses on the distinctive properties of presupposed as well as non-presupposed restrictive relatives, and of definite as well as indefinite NPs containing integrated relatives more generally. Along the way, it critically examines certain controversial conceptions of the structural and functional features of the constructions at issue, and, in particular, the claim that there is no essential distinction to be drawn between ‘integrated’ and phrase-external relative clause subtypes at all.

Possessives and relative clauses in Spanish

In this paper, the properties of Spanish DPs including a possessive pronoun and a relative clause are thoroughly described and analyzed. Adopting a raising analysis for both prenominal possessives and restrictive relatives, it is claimed that the incompatibility of a determiner possessive and a restrictive relative in current standard Spanish is due to the violation of an interpretive constraint sanctioning subextraction from [Spec, CP]. It is further proposed that, in constructions in which a possessive pronoun does combine with a relative clause, the possessive is not subextracted from [Spec, CP]. It is finally shown that this proposal accounts for different well-formed dialectal and Old Spanish patterns with a prenominal possessive and a restrictive relative and also applies to data from other Romance languages.