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Larson (1989) noted that rightward movement of a DP past a clausal adjunct can necessitate a parasitic gap inside that clausal adjunct. This paper argues that rightward DP-movement beyond certain adjunct clauses is movement beyond typical Heavy-NP Shift that is licensed by the need to bind the parasitic gap. I show that this correctly predicts a number of observations concerning the exceptional nature of the rightward movement involved. In particular, parasitic gaps are able to license rightward movement that is potentially unbounded and successive-cyclic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This response to Behme and Evans (2015) points out that understanding and correct representation of perspectives to be criticised is crucial for any kind of engagement. It then sequentially examines the points raised and tries to distinguish the content of the argument from its surrounding rhetoric. It concludes that there is a paucity of the former and an abundance of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we address some of the criticism of Vyvyan Evans’ work by David Adger. We argue that Adger (i) fails to evaluate Evans’ work appropriately, (ii) narrowly focuses on alleged misunderstandings but provides no thorough clarification of the Chomskyan framework, (iii) reveals an inadequate understanding of issues he claims expertise in, (iv) ignores work completed outside of the Chomskyan framework that casts legitimate doubt on the appropriateness of this framework, and, in related fashion, (v) fails to address specific challenges to the Chomskyan framework discussed by Evans. We suggest that any defender of the Chomskyan framework needs to address the following questions: [i] what are the specific theories Chomskyans are currently committed to, [ii] which concrete findings from developmental psychology and neurobiology support the Chomskyan framework, and [iii] how can the Chomskyan paradigm overcome the familiar, long standing challenges stated in the technical literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article examines some of the claims recently made in a book and article by Vyvyan Evans, which argue that the generative approach to syntax is flawed. It exposes a number of misrepresentations, misunderstandings and mistakes in these works and argues that the general case has not been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Poetic word order has a non-complex relationship to ordinary grammar. [•] Remnants from older stages in grammar can complicate the pattern. [•] The wish for special effects can also break the pattern. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] We report findings from the first frequency study based on British Sign Language. [•] A positive relationship is observed between objective and subjective frequency. [•] Text type has a clear effect on lexical frequency in sign languages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] I discuss the question whether particular phonological units are innate or acquired. [•] I show that both markedness and faithfulness constraints can be acquired. [•] I integrate generative and usage-based approaches to language. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [⿢] Provides a detailed discussion of gaps and resumptive pronouns in Welsh unbounded dependencies. [⿢] Highlights problems for transformational approaches. [⿢] Develops an HPSG analysis in which resumptive pronouns are ordinary pronouns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With the crystallization of the “generative enterprise” half a century ago, two concepts became salient: the initial state and final states of the language faculty, respectively, UG (the genetic component) and I-languages. Since then inquiry has gained far greater scope and depth. It has also led to sharpening of fundamental principles of language. At first, descriptive adequacy appeared to require rich and complex assumptions about UG. A primary goal has always been to overcome this deficiency. Core properties of concern have included compositionality, order, projection (labeling), and displacement. Early work assigned the first three to phrase structure rules and the last to the transformational component. Simplification of computational procedures suggests that compositionality and displacement (along with the “copy theory”) fall together while order may be a reflex of sensorimotor externalization, conclusions that have far-reaching consequences. As for labeling, minimal computation restricts options to the few that have considerable empirical support. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article surveys some leading generative ideas about agreement and case, and connects them to several universal and near-universal observations noted by typologists. It begins with the familiar fact that adjectives can agree with noun phrases in number and gender but not in person, whereas verbs can agree in person as well—depending on the structure. From there it moves to the fact that verbs typically do not agree with their objects unless they also agree with their subjects. Several possible types of agreement with objects are then identified and distinguished, and some substantive similarities between object agreement and subject agreement are noted. It is shown that both subject agreement and object agreement are sensitive to the case morphology borne by the noun phrase (dative versus accusative, ergative versus nominative) in some languages but not in others, and the implications of this result for the assignment of case are considered. In all, the discussion covers four known linguistic universals in the area of agreement and case, and proposes three new ones. These are all explained in terms of two universal properties of the agreement relation and one parameter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Breton, a language rich in compounds with both initial and final heads, provides a unique opportunity to study the relation between the head of a compound and the meaning of the compound. A novel approach is proposed. The relation between the head and the meaning of a compound is captured by the distinction between grammatical and logical head. The grammatical head determines the syntax of the compound. It gives the grammatical category of the compound and is the locus of inflection. The logical head is determined by the logical relation between the two terms of the compound. When the grammatical head corresponds to the logical head, we have endocentricity. When the grammatical head does not correspond to the logical head, we have exocentricity. In the latter case the head is grammatical or logical; hence there are no headless compounds. The concept of grammatical and logical head can also be applied to derivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Chomskyan generative grammar has long been committed to the ‘double-interface’ assumption that the faculty of language (FL) serves two interfaces, PF and LF, and correlatively that expressions have phonological and semantic properties. The paper argues this gives rise to (a) a grounding problem for syntax – i.e. for the interpretable content of syntax – and (b) a problem for the assumption that FL is a generative computation. It is argued these problems are resolved if we think of syntax as grounded exclusively in semantic/conceptual properties. Since this implies that FL is phonology-free, it is argued that FL should not be distinguished from a generative computation describable as ‘the language of thought’ (LOT). The paper explores to what extent this (FL=LOT) thesis is consistent with Chomsky''s thinking. Chomsky''s recent work can be seen as pointing in that direction but it is not consistent with the double-interface assumption, which he continues to regard as conceptually necessary. In the light of discussion of the issues, the paper concludes with a speculation on the role of phonology in human cognition and its evolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Non-nominal complements display peculiar patterns with regard to movement: movement of a non-nominal complement turns an ungrammatical sentence into a grammatical one and vice versa in many cases. The phenomenon, which refers to as a movement paradox, is often used to refute the transformational approach. However, the present study explores the possibility of explaining the movement paradoxes, while maintaining that the dislocated constituents and their gap are related via topicalization. After critically reviewing the base-generation approach proposed by and , this article provides a new approach—the raising approach augmented with a theory of Topic Phrase. According to the raising approach, Topic Phrase consists of a null topic head and its complement, and the former turns a non-nominal into a nominal and triggers topicalization, since it has two important features—[+nominal] and [+topic]. In short, I make two major claims in this article: (i) Topic Phrases, including clausal Topic Phrases, are nominals, and (ii) they must undergo topicalization, which follows from the fact that (i) topics must be referential and (ii) they must be mentioned first. This article shows that movement paradoxes are not paradoxes, since this raising analysis explains all four types of movement paradoxes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article considers to what extent sample based typological research may shed light on questions of central concern within the minimalist program of generative grammar. Focusing on the nature of the structure building operation assumed within the minimalist program (Merge), it is argued that typological data may be relevant to the question whether the product of Merge, a pair of sisters, is symmetric or asymmetric. To this end, a case study is presented showing a fundamental and universal asymmetry between the members of a binary noun phrase coordination, such that the relation between the two conjuncts is invariably marked on the second conjunct. Assuming coordination to present the product of ‘pure Merge’ (i.e. undisturbed by further movement operations or rearrangements of any other kind), the result suggests that Merge creates an asymmetric sister pair, in which linear order and morphological dependency marking are consistently patterned. The article argues that this is generally the case in contexts of ‘restricted syntax’, which might equally well be studied using large typological samples. The article furthermore argues that the asymmetry between members of sister pairs involves both phonological and semantic dependence, suggesting that the asymmetry originates within the central syntactic component of grammar. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite a strong commitment to the aim of explaining how children attain the knowledge of their mother tongue, it is far from obvious that generative grammarians have really achieved this ambitious goal. This paper offers an interpretation of this circumstance by critically examining Principles and Parameters Theory from a developmentalist point of view. Some proposals are also offered in order to incorporate into the research agenda of Generative Grammar the understanding of how children really develop as grammatical experts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the linguistic literature Hungarian infinitival clauses are claimed to project a full CP with all the left peripheral projections of a finite clause present, and the very same restrictions on the order of these constituents. However, in certain infinitival structures pointed out in the present paper the order of typical left peripheral phrases fails to obey the expected restrictions. Moreover, matrix constituents can mingle with constituents of the infinitival clause which may lead one to suppose a mono-clausal structure. This paper presents data that support a bi-clausal rather than a mono-clausal approach to restructuring. Adopting Hinterhölzl's (1999, 2006) bi-clausal approach to restructuring and his scope-based analysis of scrambling, an analysis will be proposed that captures the seemingly contradictory properties of the relevant infinitives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Agreement lies at the heart of sentence structure in that it usually codifies the formal link between the subject and the predicate. In a way, although not strictly necessary, agreement tends to be what signals that a clause has been created. However, linguists and psycholinguists disagree as to whether this core process is essentially a semantic or a syntactic phenomenon, and there is evidence that suggests that it may be both things at the same time. suggests that in morphologically impoverished languages like English, low frequency of agreement operations makes for a weak morphosyntactic component that is unable to keep semantic interference at bay, at least in production (where meaning comes first). In his completion study, he manages to show that the strong morphosyntactic defences of German do seem to encapsulate number agreement from non-formal forces. In this paper, I examine the psycholinguistic literature on the processing of agreement in English and Spanish in search of fine-grained evidence for encapsulation in all the relevant domains (NP, clausal, supra-clausal). The different grounding of the features of gender and number is also analysed and evidence for their differentiality in the first cycles of processing is ruled out. In general, Berg's hypothesis is confirmed by existing processing measures (Spanish patterns like German due to its rich morphology), but the fine picture of agreement operations in English and Spanish is also sensitive to the different domains tested and to whether production or comprehension is taken into account. Finally, it is argued that gender classes and the agreement systems based on them constitute a major generative device when constructing the clause. This is because gender is less semantically grounded than number and therefore easier to recruit for phrasal packaging, as this merely requires the co-variance of form. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In languages like English, bare nominals are only used in special constructions, and they come with special meaning effects. This paper applies bidirectional Optimality Theory to explain why unmarked (articleless) forms have unmarked (stereotypical) meanings. The syntactic unmarkedness of bare nominals is embedded in a constraint-based typology of number, article use and referentiality. The semantic unmarkedness of the stereotypical interpretation falls out of the strongest meaning hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides two arguments that error-driven constraint-based grammars should not be learned by directly mirroring the frequency of constraint violation and satisfaction in the target words of a language. The first argument comes from a class of stages attested in phonological development, called Intermediate Faith (IF) stages, in which children produce marked structures only in privileged positions. Two such stages are presented and analyzed, from the literature on English and French L1 acquisition, and their learning consequences are examined. The second argument concerns the degree of restrictiveness that a learner's end-state grammar encodes, using two hypothetical interactions between learner's assumptions about hidden structure and developing constraint rankings that can trick a learner into adopting a superset grammar. These two arguments are used to support an approach called Error-Selective Learning (ESL), in which errors are learned and stored gradually, in a way that relies on violation frequency, but rankings themselves are learned in a non-gradual way (relying on the algorithms of ). It is also shown that violation frequencies can still cause problems regardless of a learner's method of grammatical evaluation—either ranked constraints as in Optimality Theory, or weighted constraints as in Harmonic Grammar. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Experimental evidence suggests that syllable-final devoicing is often ‘incomplete’: devoiced obstruents are phonetically subtly different from underlyingly voiceless ones, and speakers are sensitive to these differences. While it has been suggested in the literature that these results cause severe problems to formal theories of phonology, this article argues that we only need a three-way distinction at the end of the phonological derivation between voiced, voiceless and devoiced. It is shown how this distinction follows naturally from a Containment-based view of input–output relations within the framework of Optimality Theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article investigates the learnability filter (LF) hypothesis, according to which the set of logically possible grammars predicted by linguistic theory is reduced to a proper subset of learnable grammars by external principles of language learning. Antifaithfulness constraints (Alderete, 2001a) provide a linguistic theory that predicts the existence of circular chain shifts of two segment types, including purely phonological exchanges that are unattested cross-linguistically (Anderson and Browne, 1973). Overt data representing such systems are fed into a standard OT learning model in which learners have IO-antifaithfulness constraints at their disposal. Despite this evidence and these constraints, learners always select grammars in which segmental exchanges are restricted to morphologically defined environments, consistent with typological findings. These results are shown to have implications for the nature of constraints in Optimality Theory, the correct analysis of morpho-phonological alternations, and a host of representational assumptions in phonology and morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this paper is to develop a representation of control that does not require a PRO-subject. I first analyse obligatory control using a de-compositional analysis of θ-roles, according to which θ-roles are divided into two selectional requirements. The resulting theory makes the same predictions as one based on PRO, yet avoids dependence on this ill-defined empty category. I then concentrate on Icelandic, tackling agreement phenomena in infinitival clauses. Again no PRO is necessary to cater for the data, which receive a uniform account using the mechanism outlined in the first half of the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper considers the role of recursion in syntactic theory, and three particular aspects of this broad topic are addressed. The use of recursive devices in formal grammars in the 1950s is summarised, and the work of Bar-Hillel and Chomsky from this period is analysed in some detail. Having established this historical context, the role of recursive definitions within the Minimalist Program is discussed at length, and the main focus falls upon comparatively recent claims concerning the centrality of recursion in the context of biolinguistics. Specifically, the hypothesis that recursion constitutes a species-specific property of the human language faculty that is particularly associated with natural language is (re)assessed, and it is suggested that, in the context of syntactic theory, the problematic term ‘recursion’ should be abandoned and replaced by less ambiguous terminology such as ‘inductive definition’. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We will provide a bidirectional Optimality Theoretic approach for fluid differential case marking, in particular fluid differential subject marking. Our claim is that although there is no fixed meaning associated with any particular type of case, a correspondence constraint between volitional meaning and ergative case interacts with markedness constraints and this interaction may result in fluid differential case marking. Thus, fluid differential subject marking is analysed as the emergence of the correspondence between volitional meaning and ergative case in a bidirectional process of optimization. We will argue that this type of differential case marking cannot be adequately explained in unidirectional OT syntax. In a bidirectional perspective, however, fluid differential case marking can be analysed on the basis of the same set of ranked constraints that accounts for the general pattern of case marking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Languages appear to differ in the locality conditions that regulate nominative Case checking: a dative or ergative subject blocks nominative checking of an object in Faroese and Nez Perce, but not in Icelandic or Hindi. Languages also differ in the effect that object shift has on subject Case: object shift has no effect on subject Case in Icelandic, but causes ergative Case to appear on the subject in Nez Perce. These superficially unrelated effects follow if one violable locality constraint is added to the small set of Case faithfulness and markedness constraints within Optimality Theory. This locality constraint, Pure Domain, requires that the checking domain of a head contain only Cases checked by that head. Differences in the relative rank of Pure Domain with respect to Case faithfulness and markedness constraints produces the cross-linguistic variation noted above. This domain approach to Case locality captures the standard notion that a closer DP can interfere with the checking of a further DP, but it also captures the fact that a further DP can interfere with the checking of a closer DP, if that further DP is close enough, a situation that arises with object shift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This brief introduction to the volume compares models of grammaticality based on the simultaneous satisfaction of all UG constraints (e.g. Principles and Parameters, Minimalism) with models based on constraint conflict (e.g. Optimality Theory). It examines the consequences that these alternative definitions have on the analysis of crosslinguistic variation, economy of movement, and the conflict between economy of movement and economy of structure. In particular it shows how the desire to keep a simple definition of grammaticality (i.e. one based on simultaneous constraint satisfaction) is paid by the hidden complexity of economy principles and the theory-internal split separating the theoretical components addressing variation from those addressing linguistic universals, making variation accidental. In contrast, defining grammaticality on the base of constraint conflict roots variation into UG while keeping constraint complexity at check. A brief survey of the articles collected in this volume completes this introduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study we explore the impact of a morphological deficit on syntactic comprehension. A self-paced listening task was designed to investigate passive sentence processing in typically developing (TD) children and children with Grammatical-Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI). Participants had to judge whether the sentence they heard matched a picture they were shown. Working within the framework of the Computational Grammatical Complexity Hypothesis, which stresses how different components of the grammar interact, we tested whether children were able to use phonotactic cues to parse reversible passive sentences of the form the X was verbed by Y. We predicted that TD children would be able to use phonotactics to parse a form like touched or hugged as a participle, and hence interpret passive sentences correctly. This cue is predicted not be used by G-SLI children, because they have difficulty building complex morphological representations. We demonstrate that indeed TD, but not G-SLI, children are able to use phonotactics cues in parsing passive sentences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Earlier literature on Bantu languages claimed that interrogative WH constructions in Bantu languages involve no WH movement (see Bokamba, 1976; Kimenyi, 1980). Using data from Ikalanga (an understudied Bantu language spoken in Botswana), this paper challenges this view and argues that although this language has WH in situ, WH constructions with left edge and right edge WH phrases prefixed with ndi-involve movement. Three island tests (the NP island test, the WH island test and the Adjunct island test) are used as movement diagnostics. Further evidence that WH phrases prefixed with ndi-involve movement comes from morphological facts. Once it is established that these WH constructions involve movement, the seemingly unusual position occupied by right edge WH phrases (including subject WH phrases) is explained in a principled and straight forward way; that is, Ikalanga is (at least partially) a discourse configurational language and thus the discourse properties of the language induce movement of a remnant TopP to a high position stranding the WH phrase. This discovery situates Ikalanga in the same language typology as languages like Hungarian, for example. The analysis adopted in this paper lends support to the much discussed remnant movement analysis (see among others Müller, 1998; Epstein, 2001; Mahajan, 1997, 2000; Culicover and Rochement, 1997), showing that remnant movement is a phenomenon permitted by universal principles of grammar. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article explores the characteristics and syntactic behaviour of a peculiar construction in which what seem to be two finite complementisers are allowed to co-occur in specific subordinate clauses. As well as providing a detailed description of the structure in a number of Romance varieties, this research focuses on the different roles played by items belonging to the category traditionally labelled as COMP and on the status of the subjects found in the left periphery. Adopting the so-called split-CP hypothesis the proposed analysis argues for the expression of both discourse and inflectional features at the C level, overtly realised as distinct heads, and claims that there are both topicalised and focalised positions available to pre-verbal subjects in the left periphery, be they a DP or a quantified element. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the semantically parenthetical use of clause-embedding verbs such as see, hear, think, believe, discover and know. When embedding verbs are used in this way, the embedded clause carries the main point of the utterance, while the main clause serves some discourse function. Frequently, this function is evidential, with the parenthetical verb carrying information about the source and reliability of the embedded claim, or about the speaker's emotional orientation to it. Other functions of parenthetical uses of verbs are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the parenthetical uses of verbs which are standardly assumed to require their complements to be presupposed. It is demonstrated that when so used, these verbs are in no way presuppositional; that is, there is no presumption, or even pretense, that their complements have common ground status. It is further demonstrated that this loss of presuppositionality is not accompanied by a lack of commitment on the part of the speaker to the truth of the complement, as in the standard cases of non-presuppositional uses of these predicates. It is argued that this non-presuppositional use of factive verbs provides support for the (minority) view that presupposition is not a conventional property of lexical items. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines morphophonological alternations involving apicoalveolar tap-consonant clusters in Urban East Norwegian from the framework of gestural Optimality Theory. Articulatory Phonology provides an insightful explanation of patterns of vowel intrusion, coalescence, and rhotic deletion in terms of the temporal coordination of consonantal gestures, which interacts with both prosodic and morphological structure. An alignment-based account of derived-environment effects is proposed in which complete overlap in rhotic-consonant clusters is blocked within morphemes but not across morpheme or word boundaries. Alignment constraints on gestural coordination also play a role in phonologically conditioned allomorphy. The gestural analysis is contrasted with alternative Optimality-theoretic accounts. Furthermore, it is argued that models of the phonetics–phonology interface which view timing as a low-level detail of phonetic implementation incorrectly predict that input morphological structure should have no effect on gestural coordination. The patterning of rhotic-consonant clusters in Norwegian is consistent with a model that includes gestural representations and constraints directly in the phonological grammar, where underlying morphological structure is still visible. On the assumption that Universal Grammar lacks faithfulness constraints on input timing, the phonology is free to include non-contrastive phonetic detail such as intersegmental gestural coordination without the danger of overgenerating impossible contrasts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Phonologically conditioned allomorphy is sometimes determined by universal marking conditions derived from low-ranked constraints, which is viewed as an effect of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU) in optimality theory. In this paper we present two case studies that make crucial use of allomorph selection as TETU but also of an additional property of the lexical representation of allomorphs, namely lexical ordering of allomorphs. The first case is the puzzling selection of definite marker in Haitian Creole (analyzed as an instance of anti-markedness in previous OT works), which yields to an appropriate analysis in terms of allomorph ordering. In the second case study, gender allomorph selection in Catalan, we propose a constraint Respect that ensures compliance with idiosyncratic lexical specifications, which further interacts with allomorph selection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The grammatical forms known as tenses establish the time talked about in a sentence, in conjunction with other temporal expressions. Tense expresses a relation between Speech Time and Reference Time; the relation between Situation Time and Reference Time is under-specified for most tenses, though specified as simultaneous for English will. Tense interpretation depends on syntactic and discourse context at the level of the passage. Passages realize one of several Discourse Modes; each mode has distinctive linguistic characteristics. Tense conveys continuity in Narrative, while in Description tense is anaphoric. In Report and all other modes, tense is deictic. Temporal interpretation is determined by interpretive rules that take as input the surface structure of a sentence and the context in which it appears. Rules and interpretations are developed in the framework of Discourse Representation Theory. The information relevant to temporal interpretation is conveyed by features associated with tenses and adverbs by syntactic configuration, and by discourse context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One of the most important insights of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993) is that phonological processes can be reduced to the interaction between faithfulness and universal markedness principles. In the most constrained version of the theory, all phonological processes should be thus reducible. This hypothesis is tested by alternations that appear to be phonological but in which universal markedness principles appear to play no role. If we are to pursue the claim that all phonological processes depend on the interaction of faithfulness and markedness, then processes that are not dependent on markedness must lie outside phonology. In this paper I will examine a group of such processes, the initial consonant mutations of the Celtic languages, and argue that they belong entirely to the morphology of the languages, not the phonology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Plural pronouns display a surprising binding asymmetry. While a 1P.SG subject pronoun can bind the 1P.SG element within a 1P.PL pronoun (Je nous ai acheté des billets ‘Ii bought usi+j tickets’), a 2P.SG pronoun cannot bind the 2P.SG element in a 2P.PL pronoun (*Tu vous as acheté des billets ‘Youi bought youi+j tickets’). This contrast is most striking with clitic pronouns, as contrastive focus on one of the pronouns improves the relevant sentences in other languages. The reverse situation, with SG pronouns bound by PL subject pronouns, always yields ungrammaticality: (*Nous m’avons acheté des billets ‘Wei+j bought mei tickets’; *Vous t’avez acheté des billets ‘Youi+j bought youi tickets’). Such asymmetries of disjoint reference can be accounted for if the internal structure of plural pronouns is syntactically accessible. 1P.PL pronouns will be shown to be internally more complex than 2P.PL pronouns, a difference that is also typologically justified. The interaction between binding theory and the different internal structure of 1P.PL and 2P.PL plural pronouns then derives the observed generalizations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper develops optimal gender assignment theory, an approach to gender assignment couched within the formalism of Optimality Theory [Prince, Alan, Smolensky, Paul, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Rutgers University and University of Colorado, Boulder] and drawing on Steinmetz’ [Steinmetz, Donald, 1985. Gender in German and Icelandic: inanimate nouns. In: Faarlund, J.T. (Ed.), Germanic Linguistics. Papers from a Symposium at the University of Chicago. IULC, Bloomington, IN, pp. 10–28; Steinmetz, Donald, 1986. Two principles and some rules for gender in German: inanimate nouns. Word 37, 189–217] insights into the nature of gender assignment. We focus on cases of gender assignment conflict, i.e., cases in which a noun is within the domain of competing gender assignment principles. A typological of such conflicts is proposed, distinguishing balanced from imbalanced conflicts, and a formalism is developed. We argue that features relevant for gender assignment contribute equally to that process, such that there is no priority of principles sensitive to semantic features, contra Corbett [Corbett, Greville, 1991. Gender. CUP, Cambridge]. In the context of Optimality Theory, optimal gender assignment theory provides an example of crucial equal ranking, a formal option allowed but unexplored by Prince and Smolensky (1993). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides a representational and constraint-based analysis of the segment inventory and consonant–vowel interactions of Standard Serbian. It shows that the phonological and morpho-phonological patterns of this language pose several challenges to the more traditional feature theories, which assume that consonants and vowels use (for the most part) different features. To capture all the Serbian facts (including velar fronting, velar palatalization, iotization and lateral vocalization), I make use of the Parallel Structures Model of feature geometry and Optimality Theory. The advantage of using the Parallel Structures Model is that it representationally captures quite complex consonant–vowel and place-manner alternations using a limited set of privative features applicable to both consonants and vowels. OT is employed to explain the inventory, the morphological specificity of the consonant–vowel interactions, and the context specificity of lateral vocalization, as well as other “soft constraint” effects. However, this analysis differs from most constraint-based approaches in assuming segment-internal representations, providing an explicit mechanism to explain the inventory (including justifying particular feature specifications), and providing a unified account of both the inventory and phonological process facts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article adopts the perspective of Optimality Theory (OT) to address the question whether phonology and syntax are equally autonomous. We show that OT enjoys the same advantages and encounters the same problems in syntax as in phonology; this suggests that markedness plays an equally important rôle in both components of language. Most markedness constraints, however, are clearly grounded: although they refer to specifically linguistic categories (self-containment), they typically display some degree of functional adaptation to the demands of performance (nonarbitrariness). In consequence, phonology and syntax should be expected to be grounded to a similar degree. Pace, however, the postulation of grounded markedness constraints in the theory of grammar does not violate Ockham''s Razor. In particular, we show that markedness cannot be equated with performance difficulty, and we demonstrate that infants require knowledge of markedness during language acquisition in order to transcend the limitations of inductive generalization. However, this does not necessarily imply that knowledge of markedness is innate; we argue, rather, that most markedness constraints may in fact emerge in the course of linguistic development through the child''s monitoring of her own performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a derivational mode of interface, in which syntax feeds phonology and second position effects are accounted for without employing movement in the PF. More specifically, we claim that a phonology-controlled optimization procedure is responsible for second position clitic effects in Cypriot, Silli and Cappadocian. The syntax provides pairs of equally well-formed syntactic structures where the clitic is placed both before and after its verbal host, and the phonology picks up the ‘optimal’ one. As a consequence, the prosodic system that determines how clitics are to be incorporated in the prosodic structure, i.e. prosodic word or phonological phrase, also selects where a clitic will surface. A welcome result of the present proposal is that the ‘special’ position of clitics is not a lexical property of a group of clitics anymore nor the result of parochial alignment constraints, but the outcome of the grammar, i.e. constraint ranking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a criticism of my paper ‘Exaption and Linguistic Explanation’, Crain and Pietroski argue that Generative Grammar provides deep generalizations concerning the way children acquire competence in languages. I show that their examples of analyses are mere descriptions and that an exaptive approach to language acquisition provides more insightful avenues to explore. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One of the current debates within Optimality Theory is whether sequences are derived serially (cyclically or in strata) or in a parallel fashion. In this paper we describe two different types of domain effects found in the phonology of pronominal clitics in Catalan (Barcelona variety), and demonstrate that any type of serial analysis runs into problems, while a parallel analysis is fairly straightforward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that there are no devices in the grammar specific to coordination. The grammar is only capable of providing asymmetric structures, through particular lexical entries relating to semantic conjunction. Such entries produce adjunction structures, rather than head-complement structures. The interpretation of conjunction structures is a joint function of such lexical entries, processing properties, and pragmatics. Coordination phenomena are the result of an unresolved ambivalence between a ‘head initial’ and a ‘head final’ asymmetric conjunction structure, with the effect that there are parallel representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

0It is one of the most basic generalizations in phonology that only certain sets of sounds pattern together in phonological processes. These sets are referred to as natural classes. This paper develops a new analysis of the natural class generalization, formulated in terms of Optimality Theory. It is shown that natural classes derive from the nature of the set of markedness constraints. For example, sounds can pattern together as a natural class if they violate markedness constraints in the same environment, so given constraints *XA and *XB A and B can form a natural class. As a result the range of possible natural classes depends on the inventory of constraints, not on the feature set. This analysis is shown to have empirical advantages over the standard account according to which natural classes are characterized purely in terms of features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Optimality Theory, the phonological grammar of each language is a particular ranking of a set of constraints CoN [Prince and Smolensky, Optimality Theory: constraint interaction in generative grammar. Unpublished manuscript, Rutgers University and University of Colorado, Boulder. Rutgers Optimality Archive (http://roa.rutgers.edu), ROA-537]. An understanding of universal grammar therefore requires an understanding of the nature of CoN. Several researchers have argued that CON is systematically structured; in particular, that formally similar constraints should be modeled as specific instantiations of a general schema, such as the Generalized Alignment schema [Yearbook of Morphology 1993 (1993) 79]. One advantage of a schema-based approach to CoN is that the formulation of each individual constraint is compositional, determined by the combination of the general schema (a function) with the specific phonological elements involved in each constraint (arguments of the function). This paper examines the formal structure of positional constraints—constraints that are relativized to certain phonological positions, such as stressed syllables or released consonants. Positional constraints are systematically related both to the general (non-positional) constraints on which they are based, and to other positional constraints for the same position. Therefore, these relationships should be formally captured with a compositional constraint schema. The focus here is on one particular set of positional constraints, the positional augmentation constraints (markedness constraints relativized to phonologically prominent positions). A compositional constraint schema is developed that is flexible enough to extend to the many different kinds of positions and constraints involved in positional augmentation, while still determining precisely how the formulation of each general constraint is to be modified in its positional counterpart. Implications of the approach for another set of positional constraints, the positional faithfulness constraints, are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I propose a phrasal-movement analysis of word order in Hebrew and Arabic noun phrases. I argue that the positioning of nominal modifiers with respect to the head of simple nouns cannot be adequately handled by an N-raising derivation. This is so because nouns fail to move as heads in the grammars of Hebrew and Arabic. The only heads that seem to be able to move are those which do not assign genitive case. When modifiers (adjectives, numerals, demonstratives, etc.) appear to the right of the noun, it is the noun phrase itself which has raised to the left of the modifier, moving from specifier to specifier and pied piping all the material on its right. In this manner, inverse or mirror image ordering of post-nominal material is accounted for. Some modifiers have the option of appearing pre-nominally as well as post-nominally. I argue that these elements can be merged either as heads governing their complement and assigning genitive case to their sister or to the specifier of their sister, or as specifiers of projections containing a phonetically null head. In the former case, the modifier's sister is frozen in position, being licensed by genitive case. In the latter case, XP-movement of the sister of the null head is triggered, and agreement or concord is manifested on the modifier. I develop a configurational theory of agreement, which accounts for these phenomena. Many of the signature properties of the Semitic Construct-state fall out from the phrasal movement analysis. Finally, action nominalizations are dealt with. I provide arguments for a syntactic derivation in which a VP is associated with a nominalizing head configured in the clausal hierarchy as a functional head. I show that the position of the nominalizing head is above certain aspectual projections and lower than others. This explains why some adverbials, but not others, may occur inside a derived nominal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a generative analysis for a particular language contact phenomenon familiar in the variationist and language contact literature, namely indirect transfer [F. Klein, A quantitative study of syntactic and pragmatic indications of change in the Spanish of bilinguals in the U.S, in: W. Labov (Ed.), Locating Language in Time and Space, Academic Press, New York, 1980, p. 69; R. Mougeon, E. Beniak, Linguistic Consequences of Language Contact and Restriction: The Case of French in Ontario, OUP, Oxford, 1991; C. Silva-Corvalán, Language Contact and Change: Spanish in Los Angeles, OUP, Oxford, 1994]. This language contact effect, which is preferential rather than categorical, is difficult to deal with in traditional generative approaches, and has received no attention in this literature. My analysis focuses on Klein's study of synthetic/analytic verb forms used for the expression of progressive aspect in Spanish, where contact with English causes a skewing in the distribution of use of analytic forms in a bilingual variety compared to a similar monolingual variety. The analysis is carried out in a stochastic OT [P. Boersma, B. Hayes, Empirical tests of the Gradual Learning Algorithm. Linguistic Inquiry 32 (1) (2001) 45–86] framework, where I show that the indirect transfer effects observed by Klein can be captured by way of different ranking of a small set of OT constraints on a linear ranking scale. In addition to providing a model for the indirect transfer effects in Klein's study, my analysis also makes a typological prediction regarding morphosyntactic expression and Imperfective and Progressive verb forms: no language can have a synthetic Progressive and an analytic Imperfective. This prediction is supported by the absence of any such distribution in the surveys of Bybee et al. [The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994] or Dahl [Tense and Aspect Systems, Blackwell, Oxford, 1985]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a theory of the meaning-form relation based on ranked and violable constraints [A. Prince, P. Smolensky, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and University of Colorado, Boulder], using the English genitive construction as a testing ground. Our main thesis is that partially ordered optimality-theoretic grammars allow us to relate four apparently independent empirical phenomena: (i) categorical grammaticality contrasts; (ii) variation and preferences in expression; (iii) ambiguity and preferences in interpretation; (iv) lexical organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a number of problems associated with the widely accepted analysis of differential object marking (DOM) as reflecting the semantic markedness of highly individuated (definite and/or animate) direct objects. Firstly, such an account is in conflict with established notions of transitivity which take a typical object to be highly affected, since affectedness can be shown to correlate with a high degree of individuation. Secondly, the notion of markedness reversal, which is employed as a means of providing a unified account of differential marking of subjects and of objects (e.g. Aissen, 2000), cannot unproblematically be applied to the kinds of oppositions typically involved in DOM. Finally, the predictions made for subject marking only partly correspond to attested linguistic data. An alternative analysis is proposed which takes accusative case-marking to be a marker of a high degree of affectedness in objects. By exploiting the association between affectedness and a high degree of individuation (definiteness/animacy), such an analysis can account for the DOM data, while avoiding the difficulties inherent to the approach which takes individuated objects to be semantically marked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this introductory article is to provide a background to the articles contained in this special issue of Lingua that centers around variation in form, variation in meaning, and markedness. Theoretical and empirical considerations are brought together in this special issue in which the linguistic disciplines that are covered diverge. The different contributions deal with language processing, first language acquisition, language contact, functional-typology and generative morphology and syntax. Several papers in this special issue argue in favour of an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the data under discussion. This is not a coincidence, given that Optimality Theory is claimed to be a formal theory of markedness (cf. Gilbers and De Hoop, 1998, Lingua, 104, 1 for an introduction to OT). In Section 1, we present two hypotheses dealing with the relation between variation in form and variation in meaning. We discuss several dimensions along which markedness of forms and meanings can be measured in Section 2. In the final section we discuss the possibility that the concept of bidirectional optimization accounts for markedness as well as variation in form versus variation in meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new analysis of that-t effects, which have resisted any principled minimalist account. It is shown that given the Vacuous Movement Hypothesis, that-t effects straightforwardly follow from the Phase Impenetrability Condition, an independently motivated principle in the minimalist program. The proposed analysis receives further support from the fact that it accounts for adverb effects and crosslinguistic variations with that-t effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]