Issues in the Structure of Arabic Clauses and Words

Agreement asymmetries in Arabic varieties dissolved: A feature inheritance-based account

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2023

Mustafa Ahmed Al-humari

The paper revisits the issue of the structural representation of subject-verb agreement in Arabic varieties with a particular reference to Standard Arabic and seven Arabic dialects, i.e., Saudi Arabic, Yemeni Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, Jordanian Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Lebanese Arabic. The paper recasts agreement asymmetries proposed in the literature of Arabic syntax: partial agreement in VSO but full agreement in SVO. Empirical evidence shows that such proposed asymmetries should be dissolved as all language varieties display agreement between the verb and the subject in all features except the number feature in the VS order of standard variety. Even in the VS order of this variety, the verb fully agrees with the subject when the latter is a pronoun. Based on empirical observations, the puzzling phenomenon of agreement can receive a straightforwardly unified account based on the Feature Inheritance model of syntax (FI). Irrespective of the possible order used in Arabic, full agreement morphology is always predicted as a result of an Agree relation, via FI, between the probe T and the subject generated at Spec; vP. However, the number feature alternation in the VS order of Standard Arabic is attributed to the PF interface rather than the narrow syntax, i.e., the possibility to spell out the number feature periphrastically rather than affixially.

Pseudo Wh-Fronting: A Diagnosis of Wh-Constructions in Jordanian Arabic

Thesis

Full-text available

Dec 2016

Zeyad Al-Daher

This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of wh-question formation in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and presents a uniform approach that can accommodate all of its various wh-constructions. JA makes use of five different wh-constructions, four of which involve clause-initial wh-phrases and the fifth is a typical in-situ wh-construction. Although wh-phrases surface clause-initially in four different wh-constructions in JA, I propose that bona fide wh-movement to [Spec, CP] does not occur in any of these constructions, whether overtly in syntax or covertly at LF. I abandon the classification of JA as a wh-movement language (Abdel Razaq 2011) and focus instead on identifying the syntactic role that wh-phrases realize and the underlying structures that feed each wh-construction. I propose that the clause-initial position of the wh-phrase results either from the syntactic function that the wh-phrase serves or from other syntactic operations that are independently attested in JA. There are three clause-initial positions that the wh-phrase can occupy: it surfaces in [Spec, TP] when functioning as the subject of a verbal or verbless structure, in [Spec, TopP] when functioning as a clitic-left-dislocated element (as in CLLD questions and ʔilli-interrogatives involving PRON), or in [Spec, FocP] when undergoing focus fronting. Thus, all instances of clause-initial wh-phrases in JA constitute what I refer to as-pseudo wh-fronting‖, as the clause-initial position of the wh-phrase arises from mechanisms other than canonical wh-movement to [Spec, CP]. To account for the interpretation of wh-phrases in JA, I adopt a binding approach in which a null interrogative morpheme (Baker 1970; Pesetsky 1987; Chomsky 1995) unselectively binds the wh-phrase regardless of its surface position, whether clause-initial or clause-internal (in-situ). A major implication of this analysis is that JA is a concealed wh-in-situ language of the Chinese type although it looks at a cursory glance as though it were a wh-movement language of the English type. A broader typological implication of my analysis is the convergence of Cheng's (1991) Clausal Typing Hypothesis to which JA previously appeared to constitute a counterexample. The recognition of the null interrogative particle, or its optional overt realization as the Q-particle huwweh, as the locus of interrogative clause typing in all JA wh-questions entails that JA employs just one unique strategy to type a clause as a wh-question, as predicted by Cheng's Clausal Typing Hypothesis, regardless of whether the wh-phrase surfaces clause-initially or clause-internally. ii

The Syntax of Comitative Structure in Standard Arabic: A Minimalist Approach

Article

Full-text available

May 2022

This paper investigates comitative structures in Standard Arabic from a Minimalist perspective. The main aim is to find generalizations that describe and explain comitative structures. Specifically, the objectives are to distinguish comitative structures from coordinative structures and to analyze comitative structures from syntactic and semantic perspectives. We reach the following results: first, there is a difference between /wa/ in coordination and /wa/ in comitative structures. Second, comitative structures can be symmetric and asymmetric. In the symmetric comitative structures, the concomitate object is an argument and obligatorily agrees with DP1 in terms of the [±animate] feature. In the asymmetric comitative structures, the concomitate object is an adjunct and optionally agrees with DP1 in terms of the [±animate]. In our analysis of comitative structure, we propose the complex DP, headed by /wa/. The difference between the two types of comitative structures is that the derivation of the symmetric one happens at the level of complementation; in contract, the asymmetric one is merged in the adjunct position. Another significant finding is that the verb is not always the one that assigns the accusative Case. The major significance of this study is that it gives a distinction between comitative and coordinative structures, distinguishes between two types of comitative structures, and analyses the structure in the light of the DP hypothesis and the Minimalist program.

Nominal Structure and Ellipsis in Jordanian Arabic

Thesis

Sep 2018

Mohammad Ali Alhailawani

This thesis investigates the structure of DPs in Jordanian Arabic (JA) focusing on Nominal Ellipsis (NE). Cross-linguistically, research on NE has produced a number of perspectives on the mechanisms involved in the licensing of NE. I argue that most of the mainstream approaches to NE cannot capture the full set of the ellipsis facts in JA, and that the ellipsis data in JA can be best captured under the ellipsis and stranding approach of \cite{saab2016movement}. I show that ellipsis takes place at two levels inside the DP, and that pronominalization arises as a by-product of a stranded affix scenario due to the application of ellipsis at the lower NP level. The investigation of NE in JA has implications for the structure of DPs containing numerals and for possessive DPs. It will be shown that that two classes of numerals in JA occupy different structural positions in the extended nominal projection giving rise to different agreement patterns and affecting the possibilities of ellipsis. As concerns possessive DPs, I investigate the behaviour of the Construct State and Free State constructions under ellipsis. I argue that the two constructions behave differently under ellipsis, and that the possessor DP merges in different positions. Overall, this thesis contributes significantly to the debate on the necessary conditions(s) for ellipsis licensing in the DP. It also has implications for the structure of the DP in Arabic.

Concept Based Instruction for Enhancing Understanding and Use of English Tense and Aspect Markers by Algerian Learners of L2 English

Thesis

Full-text available

Feb 2021

Maroua Benhamlaoui

This study reports on an investigation of the potential of Concept-Based Instruction (CBI) for enhancing EFL learners' understanding of the concept of tense/aspect in English and their use of associated forms; past simple, past continuous and present perfect. CBI was compared to a traditional grammar presentation model based on PPP. Two intact classrooms (total N = 45 participants) Arabic native speakers from an Algerian University participated in the study. The study also reports on the role of verbalization as a key component of CBI and compared individual versus dyad-based verbalization. Finally, the study reports on the participants' attitudes towards the two different types of pedagogical intervention. Drawing on a pre-post-delayed post-test research design as well as qualitative analysis of verbalization, the study revealed the effectiveness of the CBI model-over traditional instruction-for improving the participants' understanding of the concept of tense/aspect as well as their use of the three target forms. The qualitative analysis revealed interesting insights into the way the participants used language to enhance their metalinguistic understanding; interestingly, no difference was found regarding verbalization mode with both individual and dyad-based modes appearing to be equally useful as mediational tools to facilitate understanding of the target concept. The study also revealed that participants appeared to have more positive attitudes towards the traditional treatment than CBI even though the latter provided better results. III Acknowledgement

Genitive Case in the Arabic Construct State Construction

Article

Aug 2015

Rania Galal Hamed

The Evolution of Indian Languages and a Scriptological and Linguistic Survey of the World: Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2021

Richard Gauthier

Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) (1922- 1990), was a spiritual guru and self-described master of all languages. In this 2-part article published in the Aligarh Journal of Linguistics, he 1) describes how the languages of India evolved from pre-historic times to the present and 2) presents a detailed survey of the languages and scripts of the world.

Narrow-syntax and post-spellout movements: evidence from the syntax of idiomatic expressions in Arabic varieties

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2020

This research paper investigates the syntax of idiomatic expressions consisting of the verb and the object/accompanying adjunct (VP idiomatic expressions, henceforth) in two Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Jordanian Arabic (JA). It shows that in order for VP idiomatic expressions to obtain their idiomatic reading, the predominate pattern of the word order in each variety (i.e., the VSO word order in MSA, but the SVO word order in JA) should be used; otherwise idiomaticity is not possible (with few exceptional cases discussed in the paper). We offer evidence that this restriction on the idiomaticity of VP idiomatic expressions in Arabic varieties follows from a proposed condition that the subject (even if it is not part of the idiomatic expression) and the verb (in addition to the object) should maintain a structurally local relation with each other in the narrow syntax, i.e. they should be included in the vP phase before the spell-out point. The paper shows that the movement of the verb to T0 in MSA and JA or lack thereof does not break idiomaticity, nor does the movement of the subject to Spec,TP in JA. These facts are taken as an indication that a distinction between narrow-syntax and post-spellout movements should be made. This provides evidence for proposals that distinguish between pre- and post-spellout movements (cf. Chomsky 2001, among others).

On Topic and Focus in Standard Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2019

Abdulkhaliq Alazzawie

On topic and focus in Standard Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2019

Abdulkhaliq Alazzawie

Adopting the Cartography research program (Rizzi, 1997, 2001, 2004), the present work investigates the CP layer in Standard Arabic (SA); specifically, the nature and position of topicalized and object focused phrases in the left periphery. The paper also seeks to establish that in fact subjects, like objects and obliques, can also topicalize, the difference being that the pronoun is optionally lexically expressed in subject-topicalization. The ‘Subject’ initial-DP will be treated as a topic located high up in the clausal structure - in the specifier position of the Top node above Foc. Elements in this position fill a special pragmatic sense and discourse role of being presumed, given and identifiable topics rather than an argument or a thematic function.Building on Rizzi's (2004) and Ouhalla's (1997) proposals that generate moved objects and wh-phrases in [Spec, Foc], two focus positions will be posited for SA – one is located immediately above vP and the second is right below TopP. It will be proposed that object movement over the subject is triggered by the [F] feature on Foc and derives the VOS order. Triggered by the higher [F] feature, the raised object and the raised wh-word can raise again to the higher [Spec, Foc]. It is concluded that the position occupied by topicalized DP's differs from that of focused DP's. In particular, SA topics occupy a higher position in the left periphery, namely [Spec, TopP]. Keywords: Linguistics, Left periphery, System, Topic, Focus, Left dislocation

Adjectives in Arabic

Article

Mar 2022

Yasir Hameed Alotaibi

The main aim of this paper is to describe the main adjectival constructions in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It contributes a new analysis of an adjectival construction in MSA that was analysed in traditional grammar as a special postnominal adjectival construction, called the unreal adjectival construction. We argue that it is an example of prenominal adjectival constructions in MSA. We also provide a new analysis of the prenominal construction, suggesting that the adjective modifies the following noun, and this noun is the subject of the adjective. Moreover, we provide an analysis of predicate adjectives in MSA, whether with or without a copula, arguing that the single-tier analysis in Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) is the appropriate analysis for predicate adjectival constructions in MSA. Additionally, this paper shows the similarities and differences between adjectival words and participial words, which are both used as modifiers in MSA.

Fin0 and Force0, and complementizer agreement in Arabic: A cross–dialectal perspective

Article

Jan 2023

The present paper explores φ-agreement patterns between C0 ʔinn ‘that’ and the local subject in eight Arabic dialects. Four distinct patterns of φ-agreement are identified. In Pattern I dialects, C0 displays obligatory φ-agreement with a pro subject but optional φ-agreement with the non-pro subject. In Pattern II dialects, C0 shows obligatory φ-agreement with a pro subject but no φ-agreement with the non-pro subject. In Pattern III dialects, C0 shows optional φ-agreement with a pro subject but no φ-agreement with the non-pro subject. Finally, in Pattern IV dialects, C0 displays no φ-agreement with the pro- or non-pro subjects. To account for these asymmetrical patterns of complementizer agreement (or lack thereof), we propose that C0 ʔinn always merges under Fin0 (where it acts as a probe (cf. Chomsky 2000)) and afterward moves to Force0 to check the Force feature. Additionally, we show that these four patterns arise due to the interaction of the interplay of the φ-content of C0 and the structural position and nature of the subject (e.g., whether it is a lexical subject, referential pro, or expletive pro).

An analysis of simple and construct-state noun phrases in Modern Standard Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2015

Issa S. AlQurashi

This paper aims to propose an HPSG analysis for simple and construct-state noun phrases in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). To the best of my knowledge, there are no major HPSG analyses of MSA noun phrases (NPs). A parallel phenomenon in Hebrew has been discussed quite extensively in the same framework by Wintner (2000). Most of the discussion will be devoted for the construct-state noun phrase in which the order of the elements within it is NP AP PP. Three different analyses will be outlined within the HPSG framework: the extra complement analysis, the special complement analysis, and the head-adjunct-complement analysis. These analyses will be evaluated and it will be concluded that the last analysis seems to be the best and the most promising approach to Arabic NPs.

Morphological case, ɸ-agreement, and overt movement interactions in Arabic grammar

Chapter

Nov 2022

Marwan Jarrah

Following Alshamari (2017) and Jarrah (2019), this paper offers evidence in favor of systematic interactions of morphological case, ɸ-agreement and overt movement in Arabic grammar. It argues that these three aspects of grammar serve one specific purpose, i.e., to record (i.e., express) Agree dependencies (of the Agree operation; cf. Chomsky, 2001) at the interface level of Phonetic Form (PF). To this end, constructions that include subject-verb agreement, (non-)agreeing discourse markers, and complementizer agreement in Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects (Jordanian Arabic and Najdi Arabic) are examined. The study proposes that Agree dependencies, which occur in the narrow syntax (before spellout), are recorded at PF through morphological case (assigned by the probe on the goal), and if not, thenby ɸ-inflections (of the goal on the probe) or, if not, by overt movement of the goal to (Spec of XP headed by) the probe. Such an interaction implies that morphological case bleeds ɸ-agreement which in turn is found to bleed overt movement. Exceptions to this rule are discussed and independently motivated.

On Tense and Agreement in the Realization of Negation in Standard Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2017

Ayoub Loutfi

This paper addresses two issues that characterize the (morpho)-syntax of sentential negation in Standard Arabic (SA) and modern Arabic varieties. The first one is parametric and addresses the location of negation in the clause structure. The second issue concerns the agreement markers realized on the negative particle laysa along with the temporal interpretation that some of the negative markers in SA encode, namely lan and lam. Two views have been contrasted in the literature: the Low-Neg analysis, according to which Neg is the complement of TP, and the High-Neg analysis whereby Neg is higher than T. In this study, I will argue that while the two views account form a good range of empirical facts, Low-Neg analysis lacks empirical adequacy. Similarly, the High-Neg view is hard to reconcile within the Spec-head agreement and the standard Agree approach. However, I will show that the High-Neg analysis can be still maintained under the Feature-Inheritance approach, in which T inherits its ø-features and Tense feature from C.

COMPLEMENTIZER AGREEMENT AND T0 -Φ PARAMETER IN JORDANIAN ARABIC

Article

Jun 2019
Stud Ling

Marwan Jarrah

Contra Chomsky (2007, 2008), this paper argues that there is no Φ-dependency between C0 and T0 in Jordanian Arabic (JA) grammar. C0 and T0 are independently endowed with uΦ-content, something that turns them into active probes, which are shown not to agree necessarily with the same goal. This provides evidence for a proposal where T0 and C0 have distinct uΦ-features (Haegeman & van Koppen 2012). The study also shows that C0 in JA, unlike T0 , may agree with a goal whose structural Case is already valued. We account for this variation following Oxford's (2017) microparametric proposal where the Activity Condition is a property of a particular functional head, rather than a property of the language as a whole. With respect to T0 ’s Φ-endowment, this study proposes that such endowment is resulted from a consequence of setting the positive value of the postulated T0 -Φ Parameter which distinguishes languages where T0 is endowed with Φ-features from those where it is not. This accounts for the observation that T0 is always inflected for Φ-agreement in JA, even in situations where C0 is not projected.

Argument Structure and Word Order in Saudi Sign Language

Article

Jan 2023

This study focuses on the description of argument structure and word order in Saudi Sign language (SSL). The nature of the syntactic level of the grammar of SSL is clarified. Since word order is often considered the most important part of grammar, this study details the various options that are available for the major constituents (Subject, Verb, and Object) in SSL independent of any connection to spoken Arabic syntax. In SSL, like in other languages, the nature of the arguments (Subject, Object) and the kind of verb can impact the word order. To investigate word order in SSL, which is based on Chomsky’s (1995) Minimalist Program (MP), data were collected through derivation of data from narratives (semi-naturalistic-corpus) and an experiment (picture-description task). This research involved a sample of 10 deaf signing participants who are all fluent in SSL. All the participants have lived in Saudi Arabia for at least 10 years. Results indicate that the SSL is as any natural language and from the spoken language in Saudi Arabia. The most common word order in declaratives and the basic constituent order in SSL is SVO. As in virtually all sign languages, Wh-elements in SSL occur at the end of the clause. According to research on the interaction between word order and grammatical use of facial expressions and head locations (nonmanual marking), nonmanual markings have pragmatic purposes and may have syntactic functions.

Handbook of Literacy in Diglossia and in Dialectal Contexts

Book

Full-text available

Oct 2022

It is generally assumed that learning to read involves a straightforward learning of the mappings from speech to spelling. Yet, the majority of the world’s children learn to read frst in a language or dialect that is not what they speak at home or in the neighborhood with their families and friends. Some of these children must learn to read frst in a foreign language (e.g., Bemba speakers in Zambia learning to read in English), but many are learning to read in a dialect that shares some similarities with the formal written word but that also differs substantially from it. Positioned within an extended ecological approach to literacy development (McBride, 2016), this Handbook highlights some of the theoretical and practical issues that a mismatch between dialect and literacy requirements involves. These include a variety of lin�guistic aspects, but they also affect individuals demonstrably at many levels, includ�ing psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, education, and many aspects of social interactions. A broad understanding of the interface between dialects and literacy acquisition is fundamental for all research that highlights interactions among lan�guage, literacy, and society. The current Handbook studies literacy acquisition at the intersection of sociolin�guistics and psycholinguistics by addressing literacy acquisition in diglossia and in dialectal contexts. The Handbook emanates from an international conference orga�nized in 2018 by Elinor Saiegh-Haddad and Lior Laks at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, under the auspices of the Israel Science Foundation (Grant number 2346/17) and the Arabic Language Academy in Israel. The conference brought together researchers from various regions across the world including Asia, Europe, the Far East, and North America to share research questions, methods, and fndings on literacy devel�opment in diglossic and in dialectal contexts. The Handbook at hand features some of the talks presented at the conference in 2018 and additional chapters addressing similar questions in various other regions and languages in the world. Some of the questions that are addressed include the following: How does dialect factor into literacy development and disorder in children? Which sociolinguistic features of dialectal contexts affect literacy acquisition? Is the role of sociolinguistic features of dialectal variation similar or different in different contexts and languages? Do dif�ferent dialectal contexts differ in the settings and functions of language, and do the differences yield different literacy outcomes for children? What are the milestones of literacy development in different dialectal contexts? How should educational assessment of language and literacy address sociolinguistic features of dialectal contexts? What are the most benefcial instructional practices for children raised in dialectal contexts. Given that the majority of the world’s children learn to read in a context that includes diglossia, dialectalism, and multilingualism, much more of an understand�ing of the complexities of these contexts is needed. The various perspectives offered in this Handbook underscore some of the most important issues in the feld of lit�eracy in relation to diglossia and dialectalism. We hope that this Handbook contrib�utes critically to inquiry that will beneft our children’s well-being and their prospects for success.

Reading and Writing in a Diglossic Context: A Multifaceted Perspective

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Arabic is considered a classical case of diglossia because conventionally, one form of Arabic is spoken (SA) and another is used in the domain of written language (MSA). In the recent past, globalization of English-based technology, together with the absence of Arabic supporting keyboards, had resulted in the reliance on Latin script as the main writing system when communicating through computers (CMC). This writing was known as ‘Arabizi’, which represents Spoken Arabic (SA). The advent of Arabic supporting software has allowed the writing of SA in Arabic letters, but has not completely eradicated Arabizi. Although the use of Arabizi today is less ubiquitous than it was half a decade ago, its effects on the cognitive processes involved in literacy are scientifically interesting. The present chapter explores the way that Arabizi affected reading, writing, and personal and social dynamics in a sample of Arabic-speaking adolescents in 2014. We focused on three areas of inquiry: The first aimed to provide a description of writing practices, perceptions, and attitudes for the two writing systems, Arabizi and MSA. The second examined literacy skills and abilities in MSA and Arabizi. And the third tried to evaluate the stability of the Arabizi orthography in order to evaluate to which extent it is standardized.

Auxiliary verbs in Jordanian Arabic

Article

Oct 2021

The Problem of Word Order and Verbal Movement in Moroccan Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2021

Inass Announi

This paper attempts to investigate word order and verbal movement in Moroccan Arabic in the Minimalist framework. We observe that the unmarked word order in MA is SVO while the derived structure is VSO. SVO follows an English-like derivation where the subject moves from [Spec, vP] to [Spec, TP] whilst the verb moves from v to T. This paper raises the issue of the verbal movement when it comes to VSO order in languages that have VSO as the derived order and SVO as the underlying order. To derive VSO, we propose that the verb moves from T to Focus based on pragmatic reasons: verbs positioned in the left-periphery denote new information that is focused compared to SVO. We also test our new proposal against the marginal word orders OSV and OVS and propose that object topicalization is the result of the object moving to [Spec, TopicP] which dominates FocusP. Moreover, we go back to the issue of verbal movement and trace the verbal cyclic movement. We argue that the verb moves from V to v based on the position of the adverb. The verb further moves to T based on the quantifier evidence and feature checking: Focus and T form a complex and probe into v to check [TNS] and [V] features. Moreover, T-to-Focus occurs in wh-constructions except when /lli/ 'that' is present. In WH-VO (WH as a wh-subject), the verb stays in T while the wh-subject stays in [Spec, TP]. If /lli/ 'that' is present, then the wh-subject is forced to move further to [Spec, FocusP]. In WH-SV, the wh-elements move to [Spec, FocusP] while the subject moves to [Spec, TopicP] and the verb moves to Topic. In WH-VS, the wh-elements move to [Spec, FocusP] while the verb moves to Focus.

Subject extraction in Jordanian Arabic

Thesis

Full-text available

Sep 2017

Marwan Jarrah

This thesis proposes a minimalist and cartographic analysis of A-bar movement in Jordanian Arabic (JA) with a particular focus on subject extraction. Adopting the Criterial Freezing approach to A-bar movement and chain formation (Rizzi 2005, 2006, 2014, Rizzi and Shlonsky 2006, 2007), it argues that Spec,SubjP in this Arabic variety is a criterial position and, hence, subject to the effects of the so-called Subject Criterion that prevents movement from this position. In order to facilitate subject extraction from root clauses, the thesis argues that JA resorts to a set of skipping strategies ruled by the postulated D(iscourse)-linking condition of the Subject Criterion which requires Spec,SubjP to be filled with an element with the same D-linking status as the extracted subject wh-word. When the subject wh-word of a root clause is D-linked, Spec,SubjP is filled with the D-linking element ʔilli. The thesis also shows that Spec,SubjP in such cases may alternatively be filled with a deictic temporal/locative adjunct. Deictic temporal adjuncts may fill Spec,SubjP, regardless of the type of the verb used (i.e. transitive, unergative, or unaccusative), whereas deictic locative adjuncts only fill Spec,SubjP in questions with unaccusative verbs. The thesis shows that this discrepancy is due to the effects of the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC) (Chomsky 2000, 2001, 2005), which blocks Subj° from probing goals within the complement of v*P. The study provides evidence to the effect that locative adjuncts are adjoined to VP, whereas temporal adjuncts are adjoined to TP, something that makes them immune to the effects of the PIC. On the other hand, when the subject wh-word is not D-linked, Spec,SubjP is filled with an expletive pro. In pursuit of exploring subject extraction from embedded clauses (introduced by the complementizer ʔinn ‘that’), the thesis explores the derivations of the possible word orders used in such clauses. It also provides an account of the bound forms attached to the complementizer ʔinn, arguing that such forms are better treated as inflectional suffixes whose PF form is a consequence of the locality-ruled Agree relation between C° ʔinn and the closest c-commanded visible DP. Contra Chomsky’s (2007) feature inheritance, the present thesis assumes that C° in JA retains its uΦ-features, while T° is separately endowed with a bundle of uΦ-features, given its positive setting of the postulated T°-Φ parameter (i.e. Tº is endowed with Φ-features). Additionally, the thesis shows that factivity is a key factor that determines the possibility of (subject) extraction from embedded contexts or lack thereof. Unlike the clauses embedded under a nonfactive predicate such as jifkkir ‘to believe’, no extraction is possible out of clauses embedded under a factive predicate such as jiħzan ‘to regret’. A full analysis of subject extraction from nonfactive complements is provided, and the relevant observations such as the impossibility of A-bar movement of some elements within the same clause while the subject of the embedded clause is extracted are accounted for, using the feature-based approach to locality (Starke 2001). As for the ban against extraction out of factive complements, the thesis argues that such clauses are DPs, headed by a null determiner. In so doing, the thesis provides substance to the Kiparskian stand that the structural difference between factive and non-factive complements lies in subcategorization of the matrix verb. At the same time, the proposed analysis challenges several recent approaches to factive complements that have argued either for a reduced left periphery for factive complements (e.g. Haegeman 2006, de Cuba 2007) or for the presence of an operator that has the effect to block movement out of these clauses (e.g. Zubizaretta 2001, Starke 2004, Haegeman 2012).

The Analysis of the Thematic Structure of the Standard Arabic Clause: A Special Focus on Verb-initial Structures. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)

Article

Nov 2020

Maha El Biadi

The objective of the present paper is to give a detailed presentation of how the thematic structure is expressed in Standard Arabic (SA) and how different it is from that of English language. SA is a language which displays different linguistic properties in comparison to English, the language around which the Systemic Functional Grammar theory (SFG) was first developed (Halliday, 1994). Very few studies have been carried out to study the thematic structure of SA and none of them deals with all types of sentence structures in this language. Abdul-Raof's study is a case in point (Abdul-Raof, 1998); he is mainly concerned with studying the thematic structure of nominal clauses i.e. clauses starting with nouns, despite the fact that Arabic is a language where VSO structures are frequently used. It is precisely at the level of VSO structures that the analysis of thematic structure in Arabic becomes problematic. Contrary to what previous studies in this area of enquiry say, I will mainly argue that the verb cannot be considered Theme in SA. It is also worth noting that the present work is part of a general endeavour to develop a Systemic Functional Grammar of SA.

A neurophysiological study of noun-adjective agreement in Arabic: The impact of animacy and diglossia on the dynamics of language processing

Article

May 2021
J NEUROLINGUIST

We used event-related brain potentials to identify the neurophysiological responses of Arabic speakers to processing full and deflected agreement in plural noun-adjective constructions in (written) Standard Arabic. Under full agreement, an adjective fully agrees in number and gender with a preceding plural noun; but this happens only when this noun is human. However, under deflected agreement, the adjective is marked feminine singular when the noun is non-human. We recorded grammaticality judgment and ERP responses from 32 speakers of Arabic to sentences violating full and deflected agreement and their well-formed counterparts. The participants were relatively fast and accurate in judging all the sentences, although violations, especially deflected agreement violations, were not always deemed ungrammatical. However, the ERP responses show a differential processing of human versus non-human violations. Violations of full agreement involving human nouns elicited larger N400 and P600 components than did violations of deflected agreement involving non-human nouns, whose ERP signatures were statistically identical to those of their acceptable counterparts. Our results present clear evidence for animacy (more specifically, humanness) effects on language processing and may also be taken to suggest possible effects of diglossia on the dynamics of language processing. We discuss these results in light of the ERP literature on agreement processing and the role of animacy/humanness in grammar, and the emerging results on idiosyncratic patterns of agreement as found in Spanish. Although it is not a central point in the paper, we discuss the potential effect of diglossia on the architecture of the mental grammar of Arabic speakers.

Syntactic Haplology

Chapter

Nov 2017

Hidden Trilogies of Universal Quantifiers: A syntactically based analysis of arabic kull and its kins

Article

Sep 2020

Abdelkader fassi fehri

Distinct senses of universal quantification are expressed not only by vocabulary inventory variation, but also through features and categories which build the various quantifier types. It can be shown that the most productive Arabic universal kull (and arguably its kins in Semitic and other languages) conveys three universal quantifier senses, roughly equivalent to English all, every, and each (and not only just two, as commonly assumed). Similar trilogies are observed in Greek, French, or Hebrew (with two Q words, or just one). Thanks to their feature and category specifications, universal subtypes are more appropriately characterized in terms of Merge and Move syntactic operations, as in Chomsky (1995), Beghelli and Stowell (1997), and they conform to internal composition of variational quantifier meaning (as in e.g. Szabolcsi 2010, Mathewson 2013), and appealing results about distributivity (Tunstall 1998 & Champollion 2017, among others).

“Agent Exclusivity” Effects in Hebrew Nominalizations

Chapter

Full-text available

Jul 2020

Odelia Ahdout

This paper discusses restrictions on the type of external arguments available in clauses headed by nominalizations in Hebrew. Previous work has identified a bias against causers in English nominalizations corresponding to transitive verbs (DP-causers), despite the congruence of both causers and agents in the base verb. Most accounts of this bias have attributed it to the defective nature of nominalizations compared to verbs, more specifically the lack of the Voice projection. Based on the behaviour of two nominal structures in Hebrew, one of which claimed here to contain Voice, it emerges that the presence of Voice does not seem to alter the prevalence of this bias, as both structures – with and without Voice – reject causers. An additional observation is that prepositional-causers (comparable to English from-phrases), are perfectly grammatical in Hebrew nominalizations based on anticausative verbs. This class of verbs, believed to lack (active) Voice to begin with, suggests that the notions of nominalization and causation are not in principle incompatible, and that the degraded nature of DP-causers has to do with some other factor (possibly syntactic), but not the absence of Voice.

On the Syntax and Semantics of the Transitivity of Prepositional Verbs in Arabic

Article

Jan 2020

Basem Al-Raba’a

Arabic prepositional verbs, verbs obligatorily forming a combination with a certain preposition they select, differ from single (one‐word) transitive verbs or intransitive verbs in that they display distinctive syntactic behaviors concerning theta and Case assignment. This article will offer a syntactic account of the transitivity feature of prepositional verbs by examining their structural configuration and thematic representation. I will show that prepositional verbs are two‐place predicates, that the prepositions in such constructions are semantically vacuous but serve a Case‐checking function, and that such prepositions are defective due to their being obligatorily selected by the verb, which results in the formation of a head‐licensing chain that renders them transparent to theta and Case assignment. While I will argue that theta licensing allows the verb to directly theta‐mark the object of the preposition, Case licensing of objects of prepositions differs in that the preposition obligatorily assigns genitive Case only to the specifier of its complement, optionally permitting the verb to assign accusative Case to the rest of the elements in the complement. Such theta and Case licensing is possible only in configurations wherein a prepositional phrase occurs as a complement of the verb.

Nominal Constructions in Modern Standard Arabic With Reference to English

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2019

The aim of this study is to investigate nominal constructions of modern standard Arabic in terms of their types, their patterns and selectional restrictions and compare them with their counterparts in English so as to arrive at points that will be productive for pedagogical and translation purposes. The analysis of the data focuses on morphsyntactic processes to see in order to show the constructions morphologically as one word nominal or syntactically as a group of nouns in nominal positions. The objective of this study is to provide an account on a specific syntactic structure with special reference to English, in efforts to promote the importance of modern standard Arabic studies as an appropriate mean to better understand the standard and formal form of a language. The study concludes with the investigation as well as the main conclusions reached and offers a suggestion for further studies.

Ad hoc properties and locations in Maltese

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2015

Grete Dalmi

This paper aims to show that the four-way BE-system of Maltese can best be accommodated in a theory of non-verbal predication that builds on alternative states, without making any reference to the Davidsonian spatio-temporal event variable. The existing theories of non-verbal predicates put the burden of explaining the difference between the ad hoc vs. habitual interpretations either solely on the non-verbal predicate, by postulating an event variable in their lexical layer (see Kratzer 1995; Adger and Ramchand 2003; Magri 2009; Roy 2013), or solely on the copular or non-copular primary predicate, which contains an aspectual operator or an incorporated abstract preposition, responsible for such interpretive differences (Schmitt) discourse-semantic theory of copular sentences with Richardson's (2001, 2007) analysis of non-verbal adjunct predicates in Russian, based on alternative states. Under this combined account, variation between the ad hoc vs. habitual interpretations of non-verbal predicates is derived from the presence or absence of a modal OP alt operator that can bind the temporal variable of non-verbal predicates in accessible worlds, in the sense of Kratzer (1991). In the absence of this operator, the temporal variable is bound by the T0 head in the standard way. The proposal extends to non-verbal predicates in copular sentences as well as to argument and adjunct non-verbal predicates in non-copular sentences.

Subject Verb Agreement in Iraqi Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic: A comparative Study ‫

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2019

Ali Hussein Hazem

The present study deals with a comparative study of subject verb agreement in modern standard Arabic and Iraqi Arabic. It aims to show the differences and similarities between these two varieties. It is hypothesized that Iraqi dialect has full agreement between the subject and the verb whereas Modern Standard Arabic in has only partial agreement. Data were collected from authentic books of Arabic and from native speakers of Iraqi Arabic in Baghdad. The goal of this study then, is to raise the awareness of Learners as natives on the issues of sounds, grammar, and vocabulary since Arabic language lacks such dialectal research. The study concludes that there are similarities and differences in both varieties. The findings and conclusions arrived at in this study are expected to be worthy to pedagogical planners and planning, and for other academic purposes.

The Syntax of Arabic Vocatives

Preprint

Full-text available

May 2019

Hussein Al-Bataineh

This paper examines the syntactic structure of Arabic vocatives, focusing on Case-marking of vocatives. The assignment of accusative and nominative Case can be accounted for in the light of Hill (2017) and Larson (2014)'s proposals. Hill (2017) provides the basic structure of the vocative phrase, and Larson (2014) proposes the internal structure of DP. The combination of these proposals explains the derivation of Arabic vocatives and their Case alternation. This paper argues that indefinite vocatives are assigned accusative Case only if they are merged with an overt D-n, otherwise a nominative Case surfaces on the noun by default. Proper names have the same analysis since the presence of the indefinite article-n is a prerequisite for accusative Case assignment. Concerning vocatives as heads of Construct States, N-to-D movement takes place in order to assign [+def] feature to D and is assigned accusative Case once D raises to the light d. Regarding vocatives in demonstrative phrases, D-to-d movement is blocked because of the intervening constituent Dem, indicating that this operation is subject to the adjacency condition. The same analysis is applicable to definite vocatives occurring with the particle ʡayyuha.

Splitting NegP in Standard Arabic: A Syntactic Study into VSO Word Order in Negative Sentences

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2023

Yassine Khaya

This paper strives to overcome the issues of achieving a VSO word order in negated sentences in Standard Arabic. A possible solution would be to split the Negative projection into two, where the higher head hosts the negative particle, and the lower head has the ability to attract and host the verb, which falls within the scope of the negative particle. Splitting the negative projection proved to be sufficient to maintain the integrity and validity of the other theories available in the Minimalist Program. Moreover, it allows for a distinction between the A-movement operation, where verbs move over the Subject to a higher position resulting in a VSO word order, and the A’-Movement operation of a fronted Determiner Phrase (DP) is moved to the utmost left for focal purposes.

Causativization in Arabic: Evidence for the interface between semantics and morpho-phonology

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Cherif Teimi

Meaning is derived through the interaction of the components of the linguistic system. As established within the Parallel Architecture Framework (Jackendoff 1997), the linguistic system is composed of components considered equal in terms of producing meaning. In other words, linguistic components are related to each other via interface rules and principles so that they cooperate to derive meaning. In this regard, Morpho-phonological processes constitute the interface between morpho-phonology and semantics. Morphological and phonological features of a word bear on its semantic interpretation. In this article, I deal with Causativization in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA, henceforth), representing a pure phenomenon for the morpho-phonology-semantics interface. Causative verbs in MSA provide good insights into this issue. Adopting Jackendoff’s Conceptual Semantics framework proves that morphology is an autonomous generative component that can generate some aspects of meaning either independently or in cooperation with phonology and/ or other linguistic components; therefore, this proves the interface between morpho-phonology and semantics.

A corpus-based investigation of VSO-SVO usage in simultaneous interpreting

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

One of the major challenges in English>Arabic simultaneous interpreting (SI) is the handling of structural asymmetry between subject-verb- object (SVO) English and the verb-subject-object (VSO) structure in Modern Standard Arabic (henceforth Arabic). In Arabic, a VSO word order is dominant although a nominal clause with several variations is also available, including a marked SVO structure with a preverbal subject followed by a verbal predicate (VPr.) functioning as its khabar (rheme/comment). This paper reports on an empirical study of the handling of structural asymmetry between English SVO and Arabic VSO structures in English>Arabic SI. The study uses a parallel corpus consisting of the transcription of 10 multiple Arabic SI versions of three political English speeches. We hypothesize that the Arabic simultaneous interpreters are more likely to use the English-mimicking SVO structure since it is easier to process and requires less cognitive load on their memory. The results of our corpus-based analysis indicate that the marked SVO structure was used more frequently than the unmarked VSO structure. These results lead to the conclusion that the use of the SVO clause is a feature of English>Arabic SI. We also conclude that the Arabic simultaneous interpreters were effectively engaged in «form-based processing» by opting for the structure that has the closest match to English SVO structures as a tactic to cope with syntactic asymmetry. Our conclusions lend support to the «language-pair specificity» hypothesis since the lack of need for restructuring is only available in SI between language pairs with similar or flexible structures.

The Syntactic Structure of an Introductory PP in Standard Arabic: A Non-Transformational Approach

Article

Oct 2022

Abdulrahman, A., Althawab

The paper discusses the structure of a particular prepositional phrase (PP) that is commonly used in Standard Arabic, especially in formal contexts. This PP is used when a speaker wants to start an utterance with an expression that denotes a general observation or impression without referring to its source. It can be described as ‘an introductory PP’. It consists of the preposition min and its complement like the PP min al-mutawaqqaʕ which expresses a meaning similar to ‘it is expected that ...’. Syntactically, the occurrence of this introductory PP, compared with other PPs, is distinct in that it is restricted to three structural patterns. Although the use of this PP is common, its structure is still not studied thoroughly in the literature. Hence, the paper aims to contribute to the current linguistic research by exploring the structure of this introductory PP. The paper offers both a data-based description and a non-transformational analysis of the relevant linguistic properties of this PP and the constructions in which it occurs. The theoretical framework that is used here is Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar.

On Derivation of English and Arabic Transitive Structure: In Government Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2022

Si Mohamed Arhlimou

On Derivation of English and Arabic Transitive Structure in Government Perspective (Arhlimou, Mohamed, (2022), "On Derivation of English and Arabic Transitive Structure in Government Perspective". In Basamat, n 09, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Ben M’sick, pp. 29-42.)

UNIFYING ELLIPSIS AND PRONOMINALIZATION IN JORDANIAN ARABIC*

Article

May 2022

Mohammad Ali Alhailawani

In this paper, I discuss ellipsis inside Jordanian Arabic (JA) DPs. I show that both Nominal Ellipsis (NE) and pronominalization are attested in JA. I argue following Saab & Lipták (2016) that ellipsis takes place at different heights in the extended nominal projection via the presence of an [E]llipsis feature (Merchant 2001, 2005). In particular, I argue that there are two types of ellipsis in the DP: Noun Phrase Ellipsis (NPE), which targets the noun alone; and (ii) Classifier Phrase Ellipsis (ClPE), which targets a bigger structure than the noun. I show that the application of NPE gives rise to a stranded affix scenario, and as such, an anaphoric element is inserted as a last resort strategy, yielding pronominalization. By contrast, no such stranding takes place with ClPE since the head which contains the stranded affix is contained in the ellipsis site. In support of this view, I analyze ellipsis inside simple DPs and DPs containing numerals, showing that ellipsis could be NPE or ClPE.

A Morpho-syntactic Analysis of Negation in Moroccan Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2019

Ayoub Loutfi

This paper has a two-fold goal. First, it attempts to argue that the circumfixal nature of the negative morpheme in Moroccan Arabic supports the existence of impenetrable (cyclic) domains, as in Chomsky’s (2001) Derivation by Phase. The second goal is to propose a principled account of the long-standing puzzle of the co-occurrence restriction holding between the post-verbal negative marker {-ʃ} and negative polarity items in an adjacent domain. Applying the precepts of Distributed Morphology, my proposal consists of formalizing this restriction in the form of a general constraint banning the realization of multiple negative morphemes in the same spell-out domain, with the effects being the deletion of the post-verbal negative marker. This is achieved via postulating post-syntactic morphological operations. I show that this prediction is not only borne out in MA but also cross-linguistically.

The null pro subject in Najdi Arabic

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022

This study aims to examine the null pro subject in Najdi Arabic and directly answer the following questions within Holmberg's (2008) theory of null subjects: (i) Is Najdi Arabic a pro-drop and hence a consistent null subject language (NSL)? and (ii) How is the null pro subject derived and interpreted in the syntax? We argue that Najdi Arabic is pro-drop and hence a consistent NSL and that full agreement are associated with null subject pronouns. Furthermore, we reveal that the null subject in Najdi Arabic is derived by incorporating a subject pronoun in the head T position as a consequence of Agree. The interaction between Holmberg's analysis and Najdi Arabic data reveals that the subject pronoun in Spec-vP configuration is not pronounced in Najdi Arabic because it is not the highest chain copy; what has to be articulated of the subject chain is a verbal affix on the verb as a reflection of the deleted subject of the structure. The interpretation of the null pro subject in Najdi Arabic depends on the antecedent of the null pronominal that values T's D-feature. When the A-topic values the D-feature, then a definite third person null subject structure results in the derived structure.

On the ʾaṣ-ṣulb and ʾat-tarāʾib: A Linguistic Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Rashid Al-Balushi

Allah Almighty says in verses (Q. 86:5-7) that the human being is created from ‘gushing water’ that emanates from between ʾaṣ-ṣulb and ʾat-tarāʾib. These two terms have been associated with different body parts in the traditional interpretations and modern translations of the Holy Qurʾān, as well as in some of the contemporary investigations into the issue of human procreation. This paper surveys these views, and cites two modern views on this issue, one is anatomical and the other is cosmological. Besides, it shows that language can provide yet another understanding, one according to which ʾaṣ-ṣulb may refer to the ‘tailbone’, and ʾat-tarāʾib may be interpreted to refer to ‘the rest of the human body’.

The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax

Book

Apr 2017

Change is an inherent feature of all aspects of language, and syntax is no exception. While the synchronic study of syntax allows us to make discoveries about the nature of syntactic structure, the study of historical syntax offers even greater possibilities. Over recent decades, the study of historical syntax has proven to be a powerful scientific tool of enquiry with which to challenge and reassess hypotheses and ideas about the nature of syntactic structure which go beyond the observed limits of the study of the synchronic syntax of individual languages or language families. In this timely Handbook, the editors bring together the best of recent international scholarship on historical syntax. Each chapter is focused on a theme rather than an individual language, allowing readers to discover how systematic descriptions of historical data can profitably inform and challenge highly diverse sets of theoretical assumptions.

Awareness of BA Translation Students of the Arabic Grammatical Aspects and their Translations into English: A Comparative Study

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021

his paper aims at measuring the extent of some translation students' competence of grammatical aspect compounds (strings) and their adequacy in rendering them in English. It also tries to establish which strings students tend to mistranslate. The researchers designed a multiple-choice test, using Google form, in which a given Arabic text is provided with four alternatives: one correct answer and three distractors. The test was distributed to students from translation departments at Yarmouk University and the German Jordanian University enrolled in the second semester, 2020 via the E-learning systems. Responses of students (202 out of 300 from YU and 63 out of 86 from GJU) were collected in tables. The researchers used One-way ANOVA and Scheffe Test to analyze the data. The paper has concluded that there are no significant differences among students with regard to gender, study plan, level of study, and taking Arabic courses traditionally taught. However, students joining Yarmouk University and the German-Jordan University from international and private schools are better than those coming from public schools. The majority of students do not have problems with the simple present and simple future and their perfective and progressive aspects, nor do they with past perfect. However, they confuse the perfective and progressive aspects of the simple present and the simple past. Keywords: Grammatical aspects, Arabic grammar, English grammar, translation. Yarmouk University, German-Jordanian University

Structural challenges in English>Arabic simultaneous interpreting

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2021

Aladdin Al Zahran

This article reports on an empirical investigation into language-specific factors and strategies pertaining to syntactic asymmetry in English>Arabic simultaneous interpreting. It discusses the disparity between subject-verb-object (S-initial) and verb-subject-object (V-initial) structures when complicated by long and/or complex initial subjects in the source language (SL). These types of complex initial structures in the subject position significantly delay the verb that is normally needed to start sentences in Arabic. I hypothesise that professionals are more likely to follow SL structures to cope with complex initial subjects and avoid memory overload, information loss or failure. I propose that they do so using what I refer to as the strategy of not waiting for the verb, utilising Arabic word-order flexibility which offers nominal clause structures similar to the English S-initial structure. Three English speeches from real-life conference settings were analysed. The analysis focused on English sentences with complex initial subjects and their different renditions in multiple authentic Arabic simultaneous interpretations. The results of the analysis and fidelity assessment supported my hypothesis in relation to strategy and “language-pair specificity”, indicating a preference for “form-based processing”. The analysis also supported the difficulty of interpreting complex initial subjects. The strategy of not waiting for the verb was found to contribute to greater completeness and accuracy, albeit the latter to a lesser extent. It can be proposed as a complementary strategy to ‘waiting’, ‘lagging’, ‘restructuring’, ‘anticipation’, and so on. This approach could enhance (would-be) interpreters’ repertoire of potentially useful options, particularly when other approaches may lead to memory overload, omission or information failure.

The structure of the Bangla DP

Thesis

Jan 1999

Tanmoy Bhattacharya

The thesis offers a description and analysis of the DP in the Eastern Indo-Aryan language Bangla (Bengali). In particular, it re-establishes the dominant theme in the DP literature of showing the syntactic equivalence between the structure of the clause and that of the DP. This is done on the one hand by investigating various clause-like syntactic phenomena like specificity, deixis and aspect inside the DP and on the other by working out NP movement inside the DP -- the common theme across chapters 2-4. Chapter 1 provides an outline of the thesis and introduces relevant parts of the minimalist and the antisymmetry framework adopted for this study. In addition, it suggests a trigger for Merge and proposes that a condition governing XP movements to multiple specifiers in clauses is operative in DPs as well. The second chapter discusses a three layered structure of the DP structure for Bangla where the layer intermediate between DP and NP is the Quantifier Phrase. The proposed structure accounts for the DP-internal specificity in Bangla and suggests that specific NPs move out of the deepest NP-shell by LF. This is identified as the DP-internal 'Object' Shift and constitutes the first instance of DP- internal NP movement. In the following chapter, the three-layered DP structure is re-examined on the basis of data from kinship terms. Specifically, it is shown that the possessive is generated in the nP shell of the DP but moves up to its derived position of [Spec,DP] for reasons of feature checking. It is proposed that the demonstrative is an XP and is the specifier of a 'focus-related' head F, located between the D and the Q heads. NP movement proposed in this chapter is identified as Kinship Inversion and is shown to be triggered by the same feature of specificity explored in chapter 2. The analysis exploits two different types of NP movement within the DP which accounts for DP-internal deixis. The last chapter discusses the structure of the gerund phrase and proposes that it too has the structure of a DP. Both the external and the internal distribution of the gerund is investigated which show that they exhibit both nominal and verbal properties. This is reflected in the proposed derivation of gerunds which involve leftward NP movement out of a VP embedded inside an Aspect Phrase. The presence of aspectual features like [±PERFECT] and [±DELIMITED] drive this movement. This final evidence for DP-internal NP movement leads us towards the conclusion that NP movement inside the DP is a pervasive phenomenon in Bangla.

Minimalist approach to symmetric and asymmetric double object constructions: Across-linguistic analysis

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2020

Fawwaz An-Nashef

Double object construction (DOC) seems to be attested across languages and thus has received much attention among linguists since eighties. It has been attested in literature that passivization patterns in double object/applicative constructions are of different types (i.e., symmetric and asymmetric). Different syntactic accounts have been proposed to account for such symmetric and asymmetric typology. In this paper, I propose an analysis that accounts for passivization of DOC in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The analysis is based on the recent minimalist framework of which assumes an Agree relation to be established at distance. In addition, the paper argues that the proposed account can be generalized to accommodate the cross-linguistic passivization patterns. The paper also proposes an alternative analysis that can capture the cross-linguistic symmetric vs. asymmetric distinction.

Neurocognitive modeling of the two language varieties in Arabic Diglossia

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2014

مُراجعاتٌ في نحوِ اللغةِ العربية

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2020

Rashid Al-Balushi

تُعنى هذه الدراسة بمراجعة بعض الآراء الموجودة في التراث اللغوي العربي بخصوص بعض التراكيب النحوية في اللغة العربية. وتشتمل المراجعة على طرح الآراء الموجودة ونقدها ومن ثَم تقديم آراء جديدة مبنية على أساس إطار نظري حديث ومستندة إلى العديد من الأدلة والشواهد والقرائن، في ضوء ما تم التوصل إليه من نتائج في هذا المجال، بهدف تضمين الآراء الجديدة في المناهج الدراسية. وستتم مراجعة تراكيب لغوية مختلفة، مثل الجملة الاسمية (والحالات الإعرابية الخاصة بركنيها)، وعمل "إنَّ" وأخواتها وعمل "كانَ" وأخواتها وعمل "ظنَ" وأخواتها وكذلك طبيعة اسم الفاعل وعمله.

Verb Second and the Left Edge Filling Trigger

Chapter

Full-text available

Mar 2020

Mélanie Jouitteau

This chapter is an inquiry into the subcomponent of the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) that is relevant for second position phenomena: the Left Edge Filling Trigger (LEFT). LEFT basically amounts to a classical morphological obligatory exponence effect, except that it is instantiated at the sentence level. It cross-linguistically operates in a post-syntactic realizational morphological module. It is shown that LEFT is an active rule of Universal Grammar, providing empirical arguments from Breton, a Celtic VSO language showing an extra conspicuous V2 requirement. A radical reanalysis of language word order typology is proposed. Classic V2 languages are conspicuously V2. SVO is a subtype. So-called V1 languages are either predicate-fronting languages (Tense second), or inconspicuously V2. A cross-linguistic typology of LEFT effects is presented, with great attention paid to inconspicuous satisfiers, among them null expletives, for which evidence is presented. The chapter argues accordingly for a drastic extension of the typology of expletives.

Exclamatives are nonsententials: Evidence from Arabic and other languages

Preprint

Full-text available

Feb 2020

Hussein Al-Bataineh

Previous studies overlook the fact that exclamatives (Excls) are temporally deictic to the here and now, and they are anchored by the context rather than Tense (i.e., they lack the TP layer), and that they are constructed crosslinguistically as nonclausal projections. This paper provides an overview of the literature and highlights that the clausal type of Excls is not agreed upon, the defining features (e.g., factivity, scalar implicature, and question/answer relations) are highly controversial and cross-linguistically invalid, and previous analyses seem inconsistent, complicated, and inadequate to account for the idiosyncrasies of Excls. Unlike previous studies, the paper claims that Excls as asymmetrical small clauses selected by Excl head. This analysis accounts for the peculiarities and intricacies of the three types of Arabic Excls (i.e., Wh-Excls, vocative Excls, and verbal Excls) such as (i) their inflexible word order, (ii) case alternation on the referent, (iii) the presence of spurious prepositions, and (vi) the obligatory presence of some particles and affixes although not semantically required. Since the given peculiarities are not specific to Arabic and are found in other languages and supported by cross-linguistic data, the paper claims that the nonsentential approach is empirically more defensible and conceptually simpler to account for Excls crosslinguistically.

Issues in the Structure of Arabic Clauses and Words

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