Papers by Paula Fenger
This paper suggests that instantiations of complex agreement where the subject and object marker ... more This paper suggests that instantiations of complex agreement where the subject and object marker seem to form a new, unsegmentable marker (a portmanteau), are in fact allomorphs of one agreement marker. This claim is based on the fact that instances of portmanteau agreement seem to correlate with properties discussed in the literature for contextual allomorphy. That is, I show that portmanteaux agreement only occurs when both subject and object features are in the same complex head, and only the lower agreement head forms portmanteaux/allomorphs. Thus, portmanteaux are not syntactically special and do not require special mechanisms.
to appear in "Proceedings of NELS 47"
This paper argues for a unification of two apparently unrelated phenomena canonically associated ... more This paper argues for a unification of two apparently unrelated phenomena canonically associated with completely unrelated language families. One of them is the alternation between verbal agreement paradigms common in Algonquian languages: SIMPLE vs. COMPLEX agreement (traditionally Conjunct Order and Independent Order), and the other is the distribution of Verb Second (V2) in Germanic. The basic Algonquian pattern uses COMPLEX agreement (characterized by an agreement proclitic) as the default, with SIMPLE agreement (that lacks the proclitic) being restricted to a small “marked” set of clauses. We focus primarily on Arapaho (Plains Algonquian) as an outlier within its language family – it has SIMPLE agreement as the default and COMPLEX agreement as the “marked” paradigm – comparing it to English and its “Residual V2” pattern of Aux-C inversion. We argue that the similarities between the two “residual” patterns are not coincidental and reveal a deeper parallelism: the distribution of V2 in Germanic and the SIMPLE/COMPLEX alternation in Algonquian stem from the same requirement of the verb to move to C only in some syntactic environments. The main difference is that in Algonquian V-C movement feeds the realization of additional C-related agreement. This allows us to extend Richards’s (2004) analysis of the agreement alternation in Wampanoag (Eastern Algonquian) to both the “basic Algonquian” and Arapaho patterns by treating the former as the Algonquian equivalent of “canonical V2” and the later as “Residual V2”.
A recent debate in the morphological literature concerns the status of derivational affixes. Whil... more A recent debate in the morphological literature concerns the status of derivational affixes. While some linguists (Marantz 1997, 2001; Marvin 2003) consider derivational affixes a type of functional morpheme that realizes a categorial head, others (Lowenstamm 2015; De Belder 2011) argue that derivational affixes are roots. Our proposal, which finds its empirical basis in a study of Dutch derivational affixes, takes a middle position. We argue that there are two types of derivational affixes: some derivational affixes are roots (i.e. lexical morphemes) while others are categorial heads (i.e. functional morphemes). Affixes that are roots show 'flexible' categorial behavior, are subject to 'lexical' phonological rules, and may trigger idiosyncratic meanings. Affixes that realize categorial heads, on the other hand, are categorially rigid, do not trigger 'lexical' phonological rules nor allow for idiosyncrasies in their interpretation.
This paper focuses on overt impersonal pronouns such as English 'one' and Dutch 'men' in eight Ge... more This paper focuses on overt impersonal pronouns such as English 'one' and Dutch 'men' in eight Germanic languages (English, Frisian, Icelandic, Danish, Dutch, German, Norwegian and Swedish). Cinque (1988), Egerland (2003), a.o, assumed that there are two types of impersonal pronouns, one type that can occur in multiple syntactic positions but can only have a generic reading and a type that can have generic and existential readings but can only occur as an external argument. I show based on novel data from ECM constructions and passives and unaccusatives, that it is not the syntactic position which restricts the distribution of men-type pronouns, but it is case. English type pronouns can occur with multiple cases, but can only have a generic inclusive reading. All Dutch type pronouns can only occur with nominative case and can have multiple impersonal readings. Moreover, I show that Dutch and Swedish allow an existential reading when the pronoun is a derived subject (contra Cinque (1988), Egerland (2003)) I will account for this correlation between the different readings and case by assuming different feature make-ups for the pronouns, following Egerland (2003), Hoekstra (2010), Ackema and Neeleman (2016): 'one' has phi features and therefore always needs to be obligatorily inclusive; 'men' lacks this functional layer too and therefore has no restriction on its readings. Moreover, I propose that since men lacks a phi-layer, it is too deficient to project a KP, and therefore it can only occur with unmarked nominative case.
to appear in: LiN 2015
This paper provides a novel syntactic analysis of the Dutch prefix be-. This prefix can derive ne... more This paper provides a novel syntactic analysis of the Dutch prefix be-. This prefix can derive new verbs by attaching to verbs (be-vindV-en ‘to be located’), nouns (be-dijkN-en ‘to dam up’) or adjectives (be-grootA-en ‘to economize’). It can also form new adpositions by combining with adjectives (be-needA-en, ‘below’) or prepositions (be-ove(r)P-(e)n ‘above’).
We propose an analysis of be- based on Aboh’s (2010) account for complex locative expressions in typologically different languages, including Gungbe, Zina Kotoko, English and Dutch. We extend this analysis to Dutch verbal complexes, and argue that be- expresses a functional category (F°) that embeds a predicate phrase containing the element it attaches to, in both adpositions and verbs. Our analysis goes against Hoekstra, Lansu and Westerduin’s (1987) small clause account of be- in verbal complexes in which be- is the head of a predicate phrase (Pr°).
to appear in : NELS 45 Proceedings, 2015
In Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993, Marantz 1997, Harley & Noyer 1999) derivational... more In Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993, Marantz 1997, Harley & Noyer 1999) derivational affixes are seen as the realization or spell-out of categorial heads; they are the realization of f-morphemes (Harley and Noyer 1999). Lowenstamm (2010) argues for a different position in which derivational affixes are seen as roots. In his proposal the class of l-morphemes is extended to include all derivational affixes. In this paper, we argue that some derivational affixes are indeed the realization of f-morphemes, and that there is another set of affixes that are l-morphemes, in line with Lowenstamm’s proposal.
Conference Presentations by Paula Fenger
We examine linking morphemes in Dutch from the viewpoint that number can be expressed in at leas... more We examine linking morphemes in Dutch from the viewpoint that number can be expressed in at least two positions within the word, high (num) and low (n) (following Acquaviva 2008, Lowenstamm 2007, Kramer 2014) and argue that Dutch Ls are instances of low number in a language that usually is characterized as having a high number. Combining this with previous work on Germanic compounds (De Belder 2017, Hardarson 2016, 2017), we argue that the presence/absence of L indicates the size of the non-head element which in turn affects the bracketing of the compound.
GLOW 40, March 15 th 2017 1 The abbreviations and conventions used in this paper are the followin... more GLOW 40, March 15 th 2017 1 The abbreviations and conventions used in this paper are the following. x>y = portmanteaux morpheme where x is the agent and y is the patient, x.y = fused element where multiple features (other than only person) are expressed in one morpheme, 1 = first person, 2= second person, 3 = third person, 12 = first person inclusive, 13 = first person exclusive (excluding addressee), π = person, # = number, abs = absolutive, acc = accusative, ap = antipassive, appl = applicative, asp/ a = aspect, caus = causative, dat = dative ea = external argument, erg = ergative, f = feminine, hab = habitual, ia = internal argument, imm.pst = immediate past imperf = imperfective, inv = inverse, loc = locative, m = mood, masc = masculine, neg = negation, npast = non past, nom = nominative, obj/O = object, pfv = perfective, pl = plural, pres = present tense, pst = past tense, sg = singular, sub/S = subject, t = tense, tv = theme vowel, v = verb 2 Language families and languages: Algonquian: Maniwaki (Oxford 2015); Carib:
In person portmanteaux agreement (PPA), one unsegmentable morpheme expresses features of more tha... more In person portmanteaux agreement (PPA), one unsegmentable morpheme expresses features of more than one argument. Recent accounts (Georgi 2013, Woolford 2014) have argued that PPA requires special mechanisms like one probe agreeing with multiple goals or alignment-based restrictions. Data from 4 different families shows that their central predictions don’t hold up to scrutiny. I argue that PPA languages consistently show evidence for two underlying agreement probes which optionally interact. Treating all PPA as morphologically derived from underlying transitive agreement configurations allows an account of PPA using only independently motivated mechanisms, thus affording an overall simplification of the theory of agreement.
Dedicated impersonal pronouns are found in many languages and are used to express generic and arb... more Dedicated impersonal pronouns are found in many languages and are used to express generic and arbitrary statements. A semantic and syntactic asymmetry exists between two types of dedicated impersonal pronouns (a. o. Malamud 2004; Cabredo-Hoffher 2008, 2010; Siewierska 2008). The English type, 'one', on the one hand, can only express generic statements, but can occur in both subject and object position. The German type, 'man', on the other hand, can both have a generic and arbitrary reading, but can only occur in subject position. There is a difference of feature specification (following Ackema and Neeleman 2014, in prep.) between the German and the English type, which derives the semantic asymmetry. Looking at ECM-constructions and passive and unaccusative sentences, it is shown the German type of pronoun is restricted to occur only with nominative case, rather than it is restricted to its underlying syntactic position (as is claimed by Cinque 1988 and Egerland 2003).
This paper provides an analysis couched in the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle & Maran... more This paper provides an analysis couched in the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993) of the distinction between stress-sensitive affixes and stress-neutral affixes, as was first observed by Chomsky & Halle (1968). We will argue that there are three types of derivational affixes: root affixes that are stress-sensitive and categorially flexible, head affixes that are stress-neutral and categorially fixed, and root affixes that are stress-sensitive but categorically fixed. Amending a proposal by Lowenstamm (2010) to account for the distinction between the two types of affixes and adopting a proposal by Embick (2010) for phasal spell-out, we will show that the stress-properties of affixes follow from their different positions in the syntactic structure. Moreover, we will also be able to account for the fact that root affixes are categorially flexible (e.g. -ian marking a nominal in librarian, but an adjective in reptilian), whereas head affixes do not show such categorial flexibility. Furthermore, as a corollary of Embick’s proposal, a third type of affixes, so-called ‘first heads’ is predicted to exist, which combines stress-sensitivity with non-flexibility. We tested the resulting model against data from Dutch derivational morphology, which corroborate the predictions: there are indeed three types of affixes in Dutch in terms of their behavior with respect to stress and categorial flexibility. Moreover, also their subcategorizational properties (whether they attach to so-called bound roots or not) follow from the proposed theory.
A look at the straight and inversion order paradigms of agreement inflection in 267 varieties of ... more A look at the straight and inversion order paradigms of agreement inflection in 267 varieties of Dutch reveals the existence of four exceptionless generalizations on paradigm structure. Under the assumption that these generalizations act as restrictions on the variation space, the number of possible analyses for a single synchronic paradigm is drastically reduced. We provide an analysis of the Standard Dutch agreement paradigm that is compatible with these restrictions. In addition, we claim that two different types of inversion morphology can be theoretically as well as empirically distinguished.
Conference proceedings papers by Paula Fenger
Proceedings of NELS 50, 2020
This paper provides a unified account of inflectional markers and linking morphemes in Dutch and ... more This paper provides a unified account of inflectional markers and linking morphemes in Dutch and German. We show that supposed differences between the two are a matter of degree and not categorical. We argue that both linking morphemes and the corresponding inflectional markers are instances class markers that interact with the inflectional system.
Uploads
Papers by Paula Fenger
We propose an analysis of be- based on Aboh’s (2010) account for complex locative expressions in typologically different languages, including Gungbe, Zina Kotoko, English and Dutch. We extend this analysis to Dutch verbal complexes, and argue that be- expresses a functional category (F°) that embeds a predicate phrase containing the element it attaches to, in both adpositions and verbs. Our analysis goes against Hoekstra, Lansu and Westerduin’s (1987) small clause account of be- in verbal complexes in which be- is the head of a predicate phrase (Pr°).
Conference Presentations by Paula Fenger
Conference proceedings papers by Paula Fenger
We propose an analysis of be- based on Aboh’s (2010) account for complex locative expressions in typologically different languages, including Gungbe, Zina Kotoko, English and Dutch. We extend this analysis to Dutch verbal complexes, and argue that be- expresses a functional category (F°) that embeds a predicate phrase containing the element it attaches to, in both adpositions and verbs. Our analysis goes against Hoekstra, Lansu and Westerduin’s (1987) small clause account of be- in verbal complexes in which be- is the head of a predicate phrase (Pr°).