Publications by Petr Biskup
Russian Linguistics 48, 2024
This article is concerned with imperfective suffixes in Russian. It argues that there are at leas... more This article is concerned with imperfective suffixes in Russian. It argues that there are at least three imperfective suffixes, the progressive morpheme, the iterative marker and the habitual suffix. It is shown that they differ in morphosyntactic and semantic properties. As to their structural properties, the progressive suffix is the lowest marker; the iterative morpheme attaches in a higher position; and the habitual morpheme is structurally the highest element. Thus, the article argues against a unitary approach to the iterative suffix and the habitual morpheme. Semantically, the iterative suffix has a pluractional meaning, whereas the habitual suffix is a vague generic quantifier. As to their phonological properties, the three markers are homophonous; they are spelled out as an -yva allomorph. In this respect, the suffixes differ from the morphological aspect operator encoding (im)perfectivity in the aspectual head, which is phonologically empty. Further, it is shown that there are certain prefixes in the verbal morphosyntactic structure that are placed between the progressive projection and the iterative projection.
This paper is concerned with diminutive-iterative verbs, delimitative verbs with prefix po-and th... more This paper is concerned with diminutive-iterative verbs, delimitative verbs with prefix po-and the secondary imperfective suffix. It is argued that diminutive-iterative po-verbs are derivationally based on delimitative predicates. Further, the secondary imperfective suffix is not an undifferentiated element. It is argued that the two instances of the imperfectivizing suffix-the iterative one and the progressive one-merge in distinct structural positions and that the delimitative prefix po-occurs between them. In the derivation of diminutive-iteratives, the delimitative po-selects a predicate with a scalar structure and the Davidsonian event variable and contributes an extensive measure function to the base predicate. The iterative-yva-, with its pluractional semantics, then iterates the eventuality denoted by the po-predicate.
Specimina Philologicae Slavicae, 2023
This article investigates the morphological realization of viewpoint (morphological) aspect in Ru... more This article investigates the morphological realization of viewpoint (morphological) aspect in Russian. It is concerned with the question of how aspectual properties change in the course of verb formation. It proposes a morphosyntactic analysis in the matryoshka style, in which all aspectual markers are treated uniformly as wrappers of the verbal root. The top layer of the matryoshka determines the morphological aspect value of the predicate. The analysis is based on embedding, economy and feature valuation of the aspectual head.
This dissertation addresses two issues, phases and adverbials. The general proposal is that there... more This dissertation addresses two issues, phases and adverbials. The general proposal is that there is a correlation between the phase structure, the tripartite quantificational structure and the information structure of the sentence. At the semantic interface, the vP phase is interpreted as the nuclear scope of the quantificational structure and the information-focus domain of the information structure and the CP phase is interpreted as the restrictive clause of the quantificational structure and the background domain. This correlation plays an important role not only in referential and information-structural properties of arguments and the verb but also in adverbial properties. It is argued that adverbials generally can be merged in the vP phase and that under the right circumstances they can occur in the sentence-final position. It is shown that certain sentence adverbials can occur in the sentence-final position in the vP phase when they represent the extreme value with respect to the set of focus alternatives. The proposed correlation also plays an important role in anaphoric relations with respect to adjuncts. Only a backgrounded r-expression in an adjunct clause can corefer with the coindexed pronoun in a clause distinct from the adjunct clause, that is, an r-expression that is sufficiently distant from the coindexed pronoun in the structure and that is spelled out and interpreted in the CP phase of the adjunct clause. It is also shown that the phase structure is an important factor in adverbial ordering. It is argued that relative orders of adverbials expressing an interval are determined by the natural evolution of spatiotemporal domains and that this principle is restricted to phase domains.
This paper deals with differences between compositional and non-compositional prefixed verbs in S... more This paper deals with differences between compositional and non-compositional prefixed verbs in Slavic. Using a paraphrase test, it classifies prefixed verbs into four categories. In the course of this, it is shown that non-compositional prefixed verbs do not form a unified class. The paper provides a syntactic and semantic analysis of the particular classes and argues that also prefixed verbs with an idiomatic meaning can receive a compositional analysis. Non-compositional prefixed verbs are incrementally derived but the meaning of their parts can be updated under certain circumstances.
This paper is concerned with prepositional cases in Russian and Polish. It treats prepositional c... more This paper is concerned with prepositional cases in Russian and Polish. It treats prepositional cases on a par with structural cases as a reflection of the operation Agree between -features and Tense-features. The type of the assigned prepositional case is determined by semantic properties of particular heads of the decomposed preposition. There is a correspondence between semantic properties of particular heads and their syntactic features. Syntactic features of heads incorporated into the case assigning head are copied on the prepositional complement by Agree. At the level of PF, these features are spelled out as a case by means of a specific vocabulary insertion rule. This approach derives case properties of simple and complex prepositions as well as adverbial prepositions.
The No-Tampering Condition is often taken to derive effects of the Extension Condition and the In... more The No-Tampering Condition is often taken to derive effects of the Extension Condition and the Inclusiveness Condition; however there is no definition of the No-Tampering Condition in Chomsky's articles that fully captures effects of both conditions. This paper proposes a new condition which in connection with other properties of the proposed system not only derives effects of the Extension Condition and the Inclusiveness Condition, but also has several welcome consequences. The proposal is couched in a derivational model where every operation Merge produces a phase and labeling triggers Transfer. It is shown that the proposed system does not need to employ null phase heads and the Phase Impenetrability Condition and that it supports the copy theory of movement.
This article proposes certain modifications to the minimalist system, among which labeling plays ... more This article proposes certain modifications to the minimalist system, among which labeling plays a prominent role. It argues for a specific model of cyclic Transfer, where every operation Merge constitutes a phase. The operation labeling is a prerequisite of Transfer and can be delayed. This allows syntactic objects to escape from a phase. Because of the early Transfer, movement is triggered by a greedy feature on the moving syntactic object. It will be shown that the proposed system can straightforwardly derive the following movement phenomena: freezing effects, order preservation in multiple movement, the prohibition of headless XP-movement and the ban on acyclic combinations of incorporations. It will be also shown that the proposal has certain advantages over Chomsky's minimalist system.
This monograph is concerned with prepositional elements in Slavic languages, prepositions, verbal... more This monograph is concerned with prepositional elements in Slavic languages, prepositions, verbal prefixes and functional elements of prepositional nature. It argues that verbal prefixes are incorporated prepositions projecting its argument structure in the complement position of the verbal root. The meaning of prefixes is based on the two-argument meaning of prepositions, which is enriched with the CAUSE operator, which conjoins the state denoted by the prepositional phrase and the event expressed by the verbal root. This accounts for various effects of prefixation. The book investigates idiomaticity in the realm of prefixed verbs and proposes a novel analysis of non-compositional prefixed verbs. The non-compositional interpretation arises inter alia because of the fact that either the meaning of the verbal part or the meaning of the prepositional part is shifted by means of Nunberg’s (1995) predicate transfer in the course of the derivation. This study also offers a uniform analysis of cases: prepositional as well as non-prepositional cases are treated as a reflection of the operation Agree between Tense-features and phi-features. It presents a new model of prepositional case assignment, in which the type of prepositional case is determined by semantic properties of particular heads of the decomposed preposition. Furthermore, it investigates prepositional movement from diachronic perspective. It is shown that prepositions can be grammaticalised as a functional element of the higher clausal structure.
This article investigates case syncretism in Across-the-Board (ATB) constructions in Russian, Pol... more This article investigates case syncretism in Across-the-Board (ATB) constructions in Russian, Polish and Czech. It provides some new ATB data, which are problematic for most current approaches dealing with ATB constructions. It is proposed to derive ATB constructions by means of two (or more) independent movements and haplology reduction.
In this paper we provide a derivational, minimalist account of the construction of particle and p... more In this paper we provide a derivational, minimalist account of the construction of particle and prefix verbs in German. In particular, we focus on the different stress patterns associated with particle and prefix verbs and on the positioning of the bound morpheme zu 'to' in particle and prefix verbs. Building upon an earlier proposal put forward by Biskup & Putnam (2009), we assume that particle and prefix verbs are derived from similar derivational mechanisms. They differ only with respect to whether or not the P-element (i.e., preposition or particle) incorporates into the root. This distinction is the base for the different behavior of prefix and particle verbs with respect to the stress pattern and the position of the infinitival marker zu. Since German particles are prepositions that remain in situ in the prepositional phrase, they allow zu to intervene between them and the verb. For this reason, they constitute a strong prosodic word and bear the primary stress in the particle verb. In contrast, verbal prefixes are incorporated prepositions, hence zu cannot be inserted between the prefix and the verb later in the derivation. Consequently, verbal prefixes form a weak prosodic word in combination with the verb and cannot bear the primary stress pattern. Finally, in this paper we explore whether a phase-based model of syntactic theory can account for the syntax-phonology interface issues that ensue within a derivational approach to particle and prefix verb formation in German.
Papers by Petr Biskup
Advances in Formal Slavic Linguistics 2021. , 2023
This article is concerned with the derivation of morphological aspect in Russian and Czech. It in... more This article is concerned with the derivation of morphological aspect in Russian and Czech. It investigates four aspectual markers: prefixes, the secondary imperfective suffix, the semelfactive marker, and the habitual suffix. It argues that not only in Russian (see Tatevosov 2011; 2015) but also in Czech aspect interpretation is separated from prefixes and the secondary imperfective suffix. Moreover, it extends the separation to the semelfactive suffix and the habitual marker. Specific morphological aspect properties of Russian and Czech predicates are derived by an Agree analysis with minimality based on dominance relations in the complex verbal head.
Zeitschrift Fur Slawistik, Jun 1, 2022
Summary This article is concerned with grammaticalization of prepositional elements in Slavic. It... more Summary This article is concerned with grammaticalization of prepositional elements in Slavic. It is argued that external prefixes are internal prefixes that underwent some grammaticalization process. After discussing the grammaticalization of the Slavic prefix po- it is shown that the Czech future po- differs from Russian and Polish non-future prefixes. Furthermore, it is proposed that the presence of future po- in grammatical systems of Czech, Slovak, Slovenian and Sorbian is a result of diachronic grammaticalization processes induced primarily by the German-Slavic language contact in the Holy Roman Empire.
Linguistik aktuell, May 2, 2011
This monograph addresses two issues, phases and adverbials. It proposes that there is a correlati... more This monograph addresses two issues, phases and adverbials. It proposes that there is a correlation between the phase structure, the tripartite quantificational structure and the information structure of the sentence. This correlation plays an important role not only in referential and information-structural properties of arguments and the verb but also in adverbial properties. For instance, the study shows that certain sentence adverbials can occur in the sentence-final position in the v P phase when they represent the extreme value with respect to the set of focus alternatives. The proposed correlation also becomes important in anaphoric relations with respect to adjuncts. Only an R-expression spelled out and interpreted in the CP phase of an adjunct clause can corefer with the coindexed pronoun. The study also discusses adverbial ordering and shows that the relative order of certain adverbials can be reversed if they occur in different phases. The monograph will appeal to syntacticians and linguists interested in the relationship between syntax and its interfaces.
www.uni-leipzig.de/~biskup/ Claim: • Prefixes and prepositions are identical elements. • A homoph... more www.uni-leipzig.de/~biskup/ Claim: • Prefixes and prepositions are identical elements. • A homophonous preposition and verbal prefix are two copies of one P element. • Prefixes and prepositions bear a valued Tense-feature. Semantic effects of T-f depend on the syntactic position of P elements in a sentence. • T-f of P elements links nominal reference to temporal reference. • T-f of P elements is responsible for islandhood. • All cases (not only structural) are unvalued T-f on N.
This paper investigates the question of what the status of prominence scales is in grammatical th... more This paper investigates the question of what the status of prominence scales is in grammatical theory. Specifically, we look at the interaction of prefixation and the theta role scale and the case scale in Russian and Czech. We argue that there is a correlation between the type of (crossings in) the complex scale tree, morphological marking, syntactic operations and the grammatical status of sentences. We show that only certain types of (crossings in) the complex scale tree, which correspond to certain types of syntactic processes, are allowed in the grammar. We argue that the theta role scale and the case scale belong to the syntactic structure and that they are determined by syntacticosemantic properties of the clause structure. The complex scale of particular sentences is a result of grammatical principles and operations. * We would like to thank participants of the Workshop on Scales for their suggestions and helpful comments.
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Publications by Petr Biskup
Papers by Petr Biskup