Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Part of a Book (15)
- Article (6)
- Conference Proceeding (2)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Keywords
- Englisch (10)
- Syntax (8)
- Deutsch (4)
- Kopulasatz (4)
- Spaltsatz (4)
- Kontrastive Grammatik (3)
- Freezing principle (2)
- Grammatik (2)
- Icelandic (2)
- Präpositionalobjekt (2)
Publicationstate
- Veröffentlichungsversion (11)
- Zweitveröffentlichung (5)
- Postprint (3)
Reviewstate
Publisher
- Benjamins (6)
- de Gruyter (5)
- Cambridge University Press (3)
- Buske (1)
- De Gruyter (1)
- Elsevier (1)
- GLSA Publications (1)
- IDS-Verlag (1)
- LOT (1)
- Mouton de Gruyter (1)
In this paper, I argue against the analyses of the there-construction by Moro (1997) and Hoekstra & Mulder (1990) and for an analysis in the frame of Williams (1994), Hazout (2004) from two angles. First of all, Moro and Hoekstra & Mulder do not correctly predict the behaviour of the there-construction under wh-movement; second, from a semantic point of view, the predicate in the small clause structure is the postverbal DP and not there. Alternatively, I follow the proposal by Williams (1994) in which there is the subject of predication and I will point out a direction to analyse the problematic wh-movement data within this framework.
The paper contributes to the raising vs. control debate with respect to modals through (A) novel data; (B) the investigation of a domain in which it has proven particularly problematic: volitional modality. We analyze oblique arguments of experiencer verbs embedded under German wollen ‘want’ and propose that they support both generalized raising and the abandonment of the classical version of the Theta Criterion. Byproducts of the analysis include a syntactic account involved in a class of datives in the language together with the initial characterization of a related modal in German which is expressed through the same item as volition and which we term weak.
Pseudoclefts in Hungarian
(2013)
Based on novel data from Hungarian, this paper makes the case that in at least some languages specificational pseudocleft sentences must receive a ‘what-you- see-is-what-you-get’ syntactic analysis. More specifically, it is argued that the clefted constituent is the subject of predication (underlyingly base-generated in Spec, Pr), whereas the cleft clause acts as a predicate in the structure. Alongside connectivity effects characteristic of specificational pseudoclefts, we also discuss a range of anti-connectivity effects, which we show to receive a straightforward explanation under the proposed analysis. It follows that attested connectivity effects, in turn, require a semantic, rather than a syntactic account, along the lines of Jacobson (1994) and Sharvit (1999).
Freezing in it-clefts
(2013)
This paper discusses the interaction of Freezing with movement and focus on the basis of subextraction from the pivot of it-cleft sentences. It shows that subextraction is in principle possible, and that it is not sensitive to whether the pivot is related to a derived subject or real object. However, if the context induces an additional contrastive focus on the pivot, extraction is less acceptable. It is suggested that the problem is that two different sets of alternatives need to be construed on the basis of one and the same syntactically marked focus phrase, the pivot. Once the two sets of alternatives are syntactically separated, interpretation is less complex and licit.
This paper discusses a specific subclass of English it-clefts posited in the theoretical literature, so-called predicational clefts. The main point of the paper is to show that there is no need to postulate such a separate class. Predicational clefts look special because of the narrow focus on the adjective within an indefinite pivot, but their special properties can all be derived from this narrow focus in a focus analysis in which it-clefts express contrasting focus. Contrasting focus means that besides the assertion of the proposition expressed in the cleft, there is one contrasting proposition which is excluded. The focus on the adjective in apparent predicational clefts gives rise to a narrow set of relevant alternatives, all of which differ only in the adjectival property within the pivot. The analysis developed here can account for many of the observations for apparent predicational clefts. Other properties are shown to be not conclusive. Thus, predicational clefts need not be considered a special subclass beyond their special focus characteristics.
In a number of languages, agreement in specificational copular sentences can or must be with the second of the two nominals, even when it is the first that occupies the canonical subject position. Béjar & Kahnemuyipour (2017) show that Persian and Eastern Armenian are two such languages. They then argue that ‘NP2 agreement’ occurs because the nominal in subject position (NP1) is not accessible to an external probe. It follows that actual agreement with NP1 should never be possible: the alternative to NP2 agreement should be ‘default’ agreement. We show that this prediction is false. In addition to showing that English has NP1, not default, agreement, we present new data from Icelandic, a language with rich agreement morphology, including cases that involve ‘plurale tantum’ nominals as NP1. These allow us to control for any confound from the fact that typically in a specificational sentence with two nominals differing in number, it is NP2 that is plural. We show that even in this case, the alternative to agreement with NP2 is agreement with NP1, not a default. Hence, we conclude that whatever the correct analysis of specificational sentences turns out to be, it must not predict obligatory failure of NP1 agreement.
In diesem Beitrag werden Präpositionalobjektsätze – also Sätze, die in der Funktion von präpositionalen Objekten stehen, – aus ausgewählten germanischen und romanischen Sprachen sprachvergleichend betrachtet. Dabei zeigen sich zwei verschiedene Strategien, die Verbindung von Präposition und Satz herzustellen: direkt, indem die Präposition einen Satz selegiert, und indirekt über die Anbindung mit einer komplexen Proform. Erstere Strategie sehen wir im Schwedischen (stellvertretend für die nordgermanischen Sprachen) und auch im Französischen und Italienischen (mit einer coverten Präposition). Im Niederländischen und Deutschen findet sich die zweite Strategie, bei der Sätze mithilfe eines Pronominaladverbs angebunden werden. Eine genauere Analyse dieser beiden germanischen Sprachen zeigt, dass im Deutschen Pronominaladverb und Satz eine Konstituente bilden können, während dies im Niederländischen nicht möglich ist. Alle analysierten Sprachen haben gemeinsam, dass das präpositionale Element (Präposition oder Pronominaladverb) abwesend sein kann oder muss. Dabei lässt sich anhand von Pronominalisierung, Topikalisierung und W-Extraktion zeigen, dass das P-Element syntaktisch präsent als leeres Element (covert) realisiert werden muss, da diese Sätze mit und ohne P-Element Eigenschaften der PO-Sätze haben und mit DO-Sätzen kontrastieren.