http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7673 Tue, 21 May 2013 23:51:44 GMT 2013-05-21T23:51:44Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77875 Argument licensing and agreement in Zulu Halpert, Claire In this thesis, I examine some core grammatical phenomena - case licensing, agreement, the EPP - through the lens of the Bantu language Zulu. Zulu has a number of remarkable and puzzling properties whose analysis affords us new insight on the interaction between these components. Despite a number of unusual-looking properties in the domain of nominal distribution, I propose that Zulu has a both a system of asbtract structural case and a system of morphological case. This conclusion is notable because it has long been assumed that Bantu languages lack both of these types of case (e.g. Harford Perez, 1985). Though the type of case system that I propose for Zulu is at its core similar to our current understanding of case, there are a number of differences between the case system I argue for in Zulu and more familiar case systems. In particular, I demonstrate that the positions in which structural licensing occur in Zulu are not the familiar positions of structural licensing: none of the heads that function as structural licensers in a language like English - T0, v0 , and P0 - are licensers in Zulu. The absence of licensing from these positions gives rise to a system in which case-licensing and phi-agreement have no syntactic overlap. I show that the interactions between phi-agreement and morphological case in Zulu provide a novel argument in favor of treating phi-agreement as a syntactic process. I also argue that Zulu has a novel type of morphological case: the augment vowel functions as a freely-applying case-licenser for nominal that lack structural case. The existence of such a morpheme is notable because this type of element has been explicitly ruled out by various theories (e.g. Schutze, 2001) on the grounds that it would render the Case Filter vacuous. Finally, I build on this system of case in Zulu to analyze constructions that involve a puzzling agreement pattern: complex NPs and raised subjects appear to allow optional agreement in positions where Zulu otherwise requires it. I argue that the optional agreement effect in these constructions arises from the possibility for T to agree with a CP. From these construction, we gain insight into the properties of agreement and the EPP in Zulu. Specifically, these constructions demonstrate the inadequacy of a theory of "reverse agree" to capture the patterns in Zulu and the primacy of a syntactic EPP to Zulu syntax. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-307). Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77875 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77806 Temporal implicatures Thomas, Guillaume (Guillaume Pierre Yves) This dissertation proposes a theory of temporal implicatures, and applies it to the study of tense in Mbyá Guaraní. It is composed of two parts. In the first one, I discuss the analyses of temporal implicatures developed by Musan (1995, 1997) and Magri (2009). Although I argue in favor of Magri's (2009) analysis, I reject two aspects of his proposal: that tense is universally or generically quantified in individual level sentences, and that the present tense is vacuous (following Sauerland 2002). Building on the semantics of tense presented in chapter 2, I propose a revision of Magri's analysis in chapter 3, which integrates Katzir's (2008) theory of structurally defined alternatives, and relies on a more conservative non-vacuous analysis of the present. Sauerland's (2002) arguments that the present tense is vacuous are criticized in chapter 5. In the second part of the dissertation, I study the expression and interpretation of tense in Mbyá. Like its close relative Paraguayan Guarani, Mbyá has two temporal morphemes -kue and -rã that can be used either in clauses or inside noun phrases. However, the nominal uses of -kue and -rã license inferences that are not attested in their clausal uses. This lead Tonhauser (2006, 2007, 2011b) to argue that the nominal uses of -kue and -rã are not tenses, and that Paraguayan Guarani is a tenseless language. I challenge both of these claims in Mbyá. After presenting a descriptive overview of the expression of tense in Mbyá in chapter 6, I argue in chapter 7 that -kue in its clausal uses is best analyzed as a relative past tense, and -rã as a future oriented modal. I conclude that Mbyá is not a tenseless language. In chapter 8, I propose a unified analysis of nominal and clausal uses of -kue and -rã. I argue that the special properties of their nominal uses are due to the interaction between temporal implicatures and independently attested presuppositions of noun phrases. I show that these temporal implicatures are also attested in clausal uses of -kue and -rã, although they are obligatory in their nominal uses, while they can be blocked in their clausal uses. I propose an explanation of this contrast. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-213). Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77806 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77805 On the semantics of phi features on pronouns Sudo, Yasutada, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology This thesis investigates three topics relating to the semantics of phi features on pronouns. Part I focuses on gender features on pronouns. Following previous studies (Cooper 1983, Heim & Kratzer 1998), I claim that they are presupposition triggers. Based on this assumption, I show that predicates containing bound gendered pronouns have an assertive meaning that does not entail the gender presupposition, and further point out that such predicates pose a serious challenge for existing theories of presupposition projection, especially with respect to quantified sentences. A conclusion drawn from this discussion is that the presupposition needs to be dissociated from the assertive meaning, as in Karttunen & Peters's (1979) two dimensional theory. However, such a theory is known to run into the so-called binding problem in quantified sentences. I propose a solution to the binding problem using the mechanism of cross-sentential anaphora, and show that the resulting theory nicely accounts for the projection properties of various quantificational determiners. Part II discusses the interpretation of person and number features on bound pronouns. It is known that some occurrences of phi features on bound pronoun behave as if they are semantically inert (Heim 2008b, Jacobson to appear, Kratzer 1998a, 2009, Partee 1989). One popular account of this phenomenon, the minimal pronoun account, claims that such phi features are purely morphological, and postulates a PF operation that transmits phi features of a binder onto each pronoun that it binds (Heim 2008b, Kratzer 1998a, 2009). I put forward an alternative account that dispenses with the PF operation, and instead puts most of the burden on syntax, by encoding more information in the indices than standardly assumed. As a result, all occurrences of phi features are semantically relevant. I offer both empirical and conceptual arguments for the proposed account over the minimal pronoun account. Part III deals with the phenomenon of indexical shifting where person features are systematically affected (Anand 2006, Anand & Nevins 2004, Schlenker 1999, 2003b). I discuss novel data from Uyghur and Japanese as well as data drawn from previous studies, particularly focusing on the universals and variation within and across languages. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 246-260). Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77805 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77803 (Anti-)locality at the interfaces Patel-Grosz, Pritty This dissertation investigates the constraints on referential dependency relations that can hold between epithets and their antecedents under c-command. The initial observation, presented here in (1), is that epithets can be c-commanded by an antecedent, as long as it is not the closest c-commanding element. (1) a. * Nero, thinks that [the damn traitor] will be invited to the reception. b. OK Nero, thinks that they2 will invite [the damn traitor] to the reception. C.?OK John convinced the panel2 that [the idiot], is smart. Upon closer inspection, the difference between (la) and (lb) seems to involve a subject-object asymmetry in the complement clause of think. Similarly, the contrast between (la) and (lc) suggests that the matrix predicate plays a part in the reduced acceptability of (la). The first part of this dissertation (chapter 2) concerns the syntax of epithets. I argue that epithets are null pronouns modified by a nominal appositive. This argument is based two core pieces of evidence: (i) I will present cross-linguistic evidence illustrating that epithets can be syntactically bound by a quantifier (ii) a series of diagnostics from Den Dikken (2001) and Kayne (2005). Chapter 3 and 4 of this thesis address the semantics of epithets. Following Potts (2005), I argue that epithets must be evaluated from the perspective of a given individual, the evaluator. In chapter 3, I argue that the difference between thinks and convince (cf. Stephenson (2007)) reflects constraints on the judge parameter in an embedded clause that contains an epithet. In chapter 4, I refine my proposal in the spirit of Percus and Sauerland (2003a), (2003b), and argue that cases in which the judge parameter is shifted to the matrix subject have the property of selecting a de se LF. I argue that epithets that adjoin inside such a de se LF cannot refer to the attitude holder, as the nominal appositive would have to adjoin to an uninterpreted anchor. I derive the (la)-(lb) difference by arguing that epithets can undergo LF movement from a position within the embedded object to the antecedent in the matrix clause, but not from a position in the embedded subject. Chapter 5 concludes with a discussion of the role of epithets for general theories of locality. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-179). Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77803 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z