Article published in:
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXVIII: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Gainesville, Florida, 2014
Edited by Youssef A. Haddad and Eric Potsdam
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 4] 2016
► pp. 193–226

Cyclic Spell-Out Derived Agreement in Arabic Raising Constructions

| University of Connecticut
| University of Florida
Standard Arabic licenses raising structures with three types of verbs known collectively as verbs of appropinquation. Raising structures with these verbs are unique in that they permit different subject positions and an agreement pattern that is not found otherwise in the language. Matching the different word orders to positions that have been proposed for raising constructions in languages like English, we show that a striking similarity holds and that raising in Standard Arabic provides new support for the existence of opacity domains (phases) in raising contexts. The chapter analyzes these raising configurations, along with the different word orders and agreement patterns they allow, by proposing a cyclic spell-out approach in which a particular PF choice at an early cycle (phase) creates certain opacity effects for the agreement options at later cycles.
Keywords: agreement, cyclic spell-out, opacity, raising, verbs of appropinquation
Published online: 25 May 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.4.09wur
References

References

Al-Astrabathy, R.
(1996) ʃarħ l-radˁi: ʕala: l-ka:fija ( Radi’s commentary on Al-Kafiyah ), Vol. 4. Benghazi: Garyounis University Press. Available at https://​archive​.org​/details​/ShrdiK.Google Scholar
Al-Ghalayini, M.
(2003) ʒa:miʕ l-duru:s l-ʕarabijja ( The collection of Arabic lessons ), Vol. 2. Beirut: Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah. Older edition available at https://​archive​.org​/details​/haama.Google Scholar
Alexiadou, A., & Anagnostopoulou, E.
(2001) The subject-in-situ generalization and the role of case in driving computations. Linguistic Inquiry, 32.2, 193–231. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Alexiadou, A., Anagnostopoulou, E., & Wurmbrand, S.
(2014) Movement vs. long distance Agree in raising: Disappearing phases and feature valuation. In H.-L. Huang, E. Poole, & A. Rysling (Eds.), Proceedings of the North Eastern Linguistics Society Annual Meeting 43 (pp. 1-12). Amherst: University of Massachusetts, GLSA. [http://​wurmbrand​.uconn​.edu​/Papers​/NELS43​.pdf].Google Scholar
Alexopoulou, T., Doron, E., & Heycock, C.
(2003) Broad subjects and clitic left dislocation. In D. Adger, C. de Cat, & G. Tsoulas (Eds.), Peripheries: Syntactic edges and their effects (pp. 329–358). Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Aoun, J., Benmamoun, E., & Sportiche, D.
(1994) Agreement, word order, and conjunction in some varieties of Arabic. Linguistic Inquiry, 25, 195–220.Google Scholar
Badawi, E., Carter, M.G., & Gully, A.
(2004) Modern written Arabic: A comprehensive grammar. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Benmamoun, E.
(2000) The feature structure of functional categories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bobaljik, J.D.
(1995) Morphosyntax: The syntax of verbal inflection. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
(2002) Realizing Germanic Inflection: Why Morphology Does not Drive Syntax. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics, 6.2–3, 129–167. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bošković, Ž.
(2007) On the locality and motivation of Move and Agree: An even more minimal theory. Linguistic Inquiry 38.4, 589–644. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bošković, Ž., & Nunes, J.
(2007) The copy theory of movement: A view from PF. In N. Corver & J. Nunes (Eds.), The copy theory of movementThe copy theory of movement (pp. 13–74). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, N.
(1973) Conditions on transformations. In S.R. Anderson & P. Kiparsky (Eds.), A Festschrift for Morris Halle (pp. 232–286). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Doron, E., & Heycock, C.
(1999) Filling and licensing multiple specifiers. In D. Adger, S. Pintzuk, B. Plunkett, & G. Tsoulas (Eds.), Specifiers: Minimalist approaches (pp. 69–89). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fox, D., & Pesetsky, D.
(2005) Cyclic Linearization of Syntactic Structure. Theoretical Linguistics, 31.1–2, 1–46. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, J.
(1966) Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference to the Order of Meaningful Elements. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Universals of Language (pp 73-113). Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Haddad, Y.A.
(2012) Raising in Standard Arabic: Forward, backward, and none. In R. Bassiouney & G. Katz (Eds.), Arabic language and linguistics (pp. 61–78). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Hasan, A.
(1975) l-naħu l-wa:fi (The complete grammar), Vol. 1. Egypt: Dar El Maref.Google Scholar
Hornstein, N.
(1999) Movement and control. Linguistic Inquiry, 30.1, 69–96. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Jamal-El-Din, A.
(1996) ʔawdˁaħ l-masa:lik (The clearest methods). Beirut: Al Maktaba Al Assrya.Google Scholar
Kroeger, P.
(1993) Phrase structure and grammatical relations in Tagalog. Standford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Legate, J.A.
(2003) Some Interface Properties of the Phase. Linguistic Inquiry, 34.3, 506–516. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012) Subjects in Acehnese and the nature of the passive. Language, 88.3, 495–525. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mohammad, M.
(1990) The problem of subject-verb agreement in Arabic: Towards a solution. In M. Eid (Ed.), Perspectives in Arabic Linguistics I (pp. 95–125). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2000) Word order, agreement and pronominalization in Standard and Palestinian Arabic. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ouhalla, J.
(1994) Verb movement and word order in Arabic. In D. Lightfoot & N. Hornstein (Eds.), Verb movementVerb movement (pp. 41–72). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pesetsky, D., & Torrego, E.
(2001) T-to-C movement: Causes and consequences. In M. Kenstowicz (Ed.), Ken Hale: A life in language (pp. 355–426). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
(2007) The syntax of valuation and the interpretability of features. In S. Karimi, V. Samiian, & W. Wilkins (Eds.), Phrasal and clausal architecture (pp. 262–294). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Polinsky, M., & Potsdam, E.
(2002) Backward Control. Linguistic Inquiry, 33.2, 245–282. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2006) Expanding the scope of control and raising. Syntax, 9,171–192. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012) Backward Raising. Syntax, 15.1, 75–108. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Potsdam, E.
(2009) Malagasy Backward Object Control. Language, 85, 754–784. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Richards, N.
(1997) What moves where when in which language? Ph.D dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Rida, A.
(1962) l-marʒaʕ fi: l-luɣa l-ʕarabijja (The reference in the Arabic language). Syria: Al-Matabaa Al-Arabiyah.Google Scholar
Sauerland, U.
(2003) Intermediate adjunction with A-movement. Linguistic Inquiry, 34.2, 308–314. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mancini, S., Postiglione, F., Laudanna, A., & Rizzi, L.
(2014) On the person-number distinction: Subject-verb agreement processing in Italian. Lingua 146, 28–38. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Soltan, U.
(2007) On formal feature licensing in Minimalism: Aspects of Standard Arabic morphosyntax. Ph.D dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.
Walters, K.
(2003) Fergie’s prescience: The changing nature of diglossia in Tunisia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 163, 77–109.Google Scholar
Wright, W.
(2007) A grammar of the Arabic language. New York: Simon Wallenberg.Google Scholar
Wurmbrand, S.
(2012a) Parasitic participles in Germanic: Evidence for the theory of verb clusters. Taal en Tongval 64.1, 129–156. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012b) The syntax of valuation in auxiliary–participle constructions. In J. Choi et al. (Eds.), Coyote Working Papers: Proceedings of the 29th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL 29) University of Arizona: Tucson. [http://​hdl​.handle​.net​/10150​/253431].Google Scholar
(2013a) QR and selection: Covert evidence for phasehood. In S. Keine & S. Sloggett (Eds), Proceedings of the North Eastern Linguistics Society Annual Meeting 42 (pp. 277–290). Amherst: University of Massachusetts, GLSA.Google Scholar
(2013b) Tagalog infinitives: Consequences for the theory of phases, voice marking and extraction. Ms. Storrs.Google Scholar
(2014) The Merge Condition: A syntactic approach to selection. In P. Kosta, L. Schürcks, S. Franks, & T. Radev-Bork (Eds.), Minimalism and Beyond: Radicalizing the interfaces, (pp. 139–177). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Zeijlstra, H.
(2012) There is only one way to Agree. The Linguistic Review, 29.3, 491–539. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Jarrah, Marwan
2020.  Complementizer Agreement and the T 0 ‐Φ Parameter in Jordanian Arabic . Studia Linguistica 74:1 ► pp. 139 ff. Crossref logo
Wurmbrand, Susi
2017. Stripping and Topless Complements. Linguistic Inquiry 48:2 ► pp. 341 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 january 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.