A novel theory of argument structure based on the order in which verbs and their arguments combine across a variety of languages and language families.
Merge is the structure-building operation in Chomsky's Minimalist Program. In When Arguments Merge, Elise Newman develops a new Merge-based theory of the syntax of argument structure, taking inspiration from wh- questions. She uncovers new connections between disparate empirical phenomena and provides a unified analysis of patterns across many languages and language families, from Mayan to Bantu to Indo-European languages (among others). The result is a syntactic theory with a small inventory of features and categories that can combine in a limited number of ways, capturing the range of argument configurations that we find cross-linguistically in both declarative and interrogative contexts.
Newman's novel approach to argument structure is based on the time at which different kinds of arguments merge and move in the verbal domain. Assuming that all kinds of Merge are driven by features, she proposes that subset relationships between elements bearing different sets of features can constrain the distribution of arguments in unexpected ways and that different feature bundles can predict unusual interactions between arguments in many contexts. The positions of arguments in different contexts have consequences for agreement alignment and case assignment, which are reflected in the Voice of the clause. Examining the order in which verbs and their arguments are combined, she explores the consequences of different orders of combination for the kinds of utterances observed across languages.
Conditions of Use
This book is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND). You can download the ebook When Arguments Merge for free.
- Title
- When Arguments Merge
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Author(s)
- Elise Newman
- Published
- 2024-10-15
- Edition
- 1
- Format
- eBook (pdf, epub, mobi)
- Pages
- 230
- Language
- English
- ISBN-10
- 0262549107
- ISBN-13
- 9780262379960
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND
- Book Homepage
- Free eBook, Errata, Code, Solutions, etc.
Contents Series Foreword Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Merge Features and Structure-Building 2.1 The Order of Operations 2.2 Merge Features and Feature Failure 2.3 A Note on Agree 2.4 The Plausibility of Multiple Feature-Checking 2.5 A Note on Thematic Roles 2.6 Summary 3. Subjects and Wh-Movement 3.1 Background on the Mayan Language Family 3.2 Mayan AF Constructions 3.3 Variation in Agreement Profiles 3.3.1 AF and the Antipassive 3.3.2 AF and the Person Hierarchy 3.4 AF-Obviating Environments 3.4.1 NP Objects 3.4.2 When the Subject Binds into the Object 3.4.3 Multiple Fronting 3.5 Conclusion 4. The Distribution of DPs and Non-DPs 4.1 Two Verbal Categories 4.1.1 Why [·D·] and [·X·]? 4.2 The Space of Possible vPs 4.3 The Dative Alternation 4.3.1 A Binding Theory 4.3.2 Where Is the Verb? 4.4 Conclusion 5. Passives and Wh-Movement 5.1 Weak Economy and Movement 5.2 Passives of Non-questions 5.2.1 The Position of By-Phrases 5.3 Wh-Movement from Passives of Ditransitives 5.3.1 Object Agreement and A-Movement 5.4 Languages with No Indirect Object Passives 5.4.1 Recasting Dative Intervention as a Weak Economy Effect 5.5 Conclusion 6. Interpreting Syntactic Structures 6.1 Linking Thematic Roles to Syntactic Structure 6.2 Argument Introducers and Compositional Rules 6.2.1 L-Selected XPs 6.3 Reflecting on Our Miniature Functional Hierarchy 6.4 Conclusion 7. On Using Wh-Movement to Learn about A-Syntax 7.1 Rejecting an Extraction-Restriction Account of Mayan AF 7.2 Rejecting an Extraction-Restriction Account of the DOMA 7.3 The Ergative Extraction Restriction Revisited 7.3.1 Salish and Nukuoro 7.4 Wh-movement/Voice Interactions at Large 8. Conclusion 8.1 Summary 8.2 Looking Ahead 8.3 In a Nutshell References Index