The syntax of motion light verbs in Jordanian and Moroccan Arabic

Hamid Ouali | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Juman Al Bukhari | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Motion verbs, when they co-occur with main verbs in what we call motion light verb constructions, have an aspectual function. In this paper, we examine the properties of these motion verbs and the implication of their distribution on clause structure. We argue that motion light verbs and main verbs head different vPs. Motion light verbs select AspP. We show how our analysis explains the aspectual properties of light verb constructions and the distribution of light verbs in relation to the main verb, the subject, and negation. We also explain why these sentences can have a simple tense reading and two possible negative readings depending on the position of negation.

Keywords: argument structure, aspect, light verbs, negation, tense

Published online: 25 May 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.4.08oua

References

Aoun, J., Benmamoun, E., & Choueiri, L.

(2009) The syntax of Arabic. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Bamgbose, A.

(1974) On serial verbs and verbal status. Journal of West African languages, 9(1), 17-48.

Benmamoun, E.

(2000) The feature structure of functional categories: A comparative study of Arabic dialects (Vol. 16). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brustad, K.E.

(2000) The syntax of spoken Arabic: A comparative study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian, and Kuwaiti Dialects. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Carstens, V.

(2002) Antisymmetry and word order in serial constructions. Language, 78(1), 3-50.

Chomsky, N.

(1995) The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Chomsky, M.

(2000) Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In R. Martin, & D. Michaels & J. Uriagerka (Eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik (pp. 89-155). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Collins, C.

(1997) Argument sharing in serial verb construction. Linguistic Inquiry, 28(4), 61-97.

Diesing, M.

(1998) Light verbs and the syntax of aspect in Yiddish. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 1(2), 119-156.

Hussein, L.

(1990) Serial verbs in colloquial Arabic. In B.D. Joseph and A.M. Zwicky (Eds.), When Verbs Collide: Paper presented at the 1990 Ohio State Mini-Conference on Serial Verbs (pp. 340–354). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press.

Larson, R.K.

(1988) On the double object construction. Linguistic Inquiry, 19(3), 35-91.

Mitchell, T.F & El-Hassan, S.

(1994) Modality, Mood and Aspect in Spoken Arabic. New York: Routledge.

Sebba, M.

(1987) The syntax of serial verbs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Soltan, U.

(2007) On Formal Feature Licensing in Minimalism: Aspects of Standard Arabic Morphosyntax. Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.

(2011) On issues of Arabic syntax: An essay in syntactic argumentation. Brill’s Annual of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics, 3(1), 236-280.

Speas, M.J.

(1990) Phrase structure in natural languages. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Sportiche, D.

(1990) Movement, agreement and case. Ms., UCLA.

Travis, L.

(1992) Inner aspect and the Structure of VP. Ms., McGill University.

Versteegh Kees

(2003-2005) Some remarks on verbal serialization in Arabic dialects. Cahiers de Linguistique d’INALCO, 5, 59-69.

Woidich, M.

(1995) Some cases of grammaticalization in Egyptian Arabic. In J. Cremona, C. Holes, & G. Khan (Eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of l’Association Internationale pour la Dialectologie Arabe held at Trinity Hall in the University of Cambridge, 10-14 Septembre 1995, (pp. 259-268). Cambridge: University of Cambridge.

(2002) Verbalphrasen mit Asyndetischem Perfekt im Agyptisch-Arabischen. Estudios de dilectologia norteafricana y andalusi, 6, 121-192.