When Arguments Merge

When Arguments Merge
Author: Elise Newman
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2024-10-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 026237997X

A novel theory of argument structure based on the order in which verbs and their arguments combine across a variety of languages and language families. Merge is the structure-building operation in Chomsky’s Minimalist Program. In When Arguments Merge, Elise Newman develops a new Merge-based theory of the syntax of argument structure, taking inspiration from wh- questions. She uncovers new connections between disparate empirical phenomena and provides a unified analysis of patterns across many languages and language families, from Mayan to Bantu to Indo-European languages (among others). The result is a syntactic theory with a small inventory of features and categories that can combine in a limited number of ways, capturing the range of argument configurations that we find cross-linguistically in both declarative and interrogative contexts. Newman’s novel approach to argument structure is based on the time at which different kinds of arguments merge and move in the verbal domain. Assuming that all kinds of Merge are driven by features, she proposes that subset relationships between elements bearing different sets of features can constrain the distribution of arguments in unexpected ways and that different feature bundles can predict unusual interactions between arguments in many contexts. The positions of arguments in different contexts have consequences for agreement alignment and case assignment, which are reflected in the Voice of the clause. Examining the order in which verbs and their arguments are combined, she explores the consequences of different orders of combination for the kinds of utterances observed across languages.

The Merge Hypothesis

The Merge Hypothesis
Author: Norbert Hornstein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2024-02-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1009415743

Outlines a theory which centers a principle that requires all grammatical dependencies to be Merge mediated.

The Syntax of Argument Structure

The Syntax of Argument Structure
Author: Leonard H. Babby
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2009-03-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 052141797X

This book proposes an intriguing theory of argument structure. Babby puts forward the theory that this set of arguments (the verb's 'argument structure') has a universal hierarchical composition which directly determines the sentence's case and grammatical relations.

Arguments as Relations

Arguments as Relations
Author: John S. Bowers
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2010
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0262014319

A radically new approach to argument structure in the minimalist program.

Niuean

Niuean
Author: Diane Massam
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2020-04-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0192512110

This volume explores the grammar of Niuean, an endangered Polynesian language spoken on the island of Niue and in New Zealand, with a focus on the issue of predication. Since Aristotle, it has been claimed that a sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. Niuean constitutes the perfect testing ground for this claim: it displays verb-subject-object word order, in which the subject interrupts the predicate, and has an ergative case system, in which subjects are not clearly distinguished from objects in their marking for grammatical case. Diane Massam uses the framework of generative grammar to carry out a detailed analysis of the internal structure of Niuean predicates and arguments, as well as the relations between them, touching on many other topics including the nature of displacement, word formation, determiners, and thematic roles. The proposal is that Niuean complex predicates are formed via successive inversion, prior to the merge of all arguments (high argument merge), and that the predicate undergoes fronting to initial position across the arguments, with the same structure found also in nominal clauses. The conclusion is that Niuean does not have a subject in the usual sense, and this is related to the fact that the language has isolating morphology, lacking all tense and agreement inflection and nominative case. Instead, the language exhibits low absolutive predication, applicative ergative agents, and predicate fronting in lieu of subject extraction. The book extends our understanding of cross-linguistic sentence structure and grammatical case, and will be of interest to scholars in the fields of Austronesian linguistics, typology, and theoretical linguistics.

Pro ADO.NET 2.0

Pro ADO.NET 2.0
Author: Nick Malik
Publisher: Apress
Total Pages: 569
Release: 2007-02-16
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1430200685

* Provides compact coverage of new ADO.NET features and use of cutting edge tools, such as Visual Studio .NET 2005. * Content and examples take practical focus as opposed to a theoretical, academic treatment. * Heavily trimmed content eliminates information the reader won’t find useful very often.

Negation and Control in Prolog

Negation and Control in Prolog
Author: Lee Naish
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 136
Release: 1986-10
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9783540168157

The contributions to this volume cover all aspects of the assessment and management of hepatobiliary disease. The focal points of the book consist of three state-of-the-art summaries. The first of these deals with the highly topical problem of liver transplants from the point of view of patient selection. The second considers drug-induced liver injury in view of the fact that the liver is the main metabolic site for a number of drugs. The final summary deals with liver and aging: it asks whether the liver follows the aging process of the host organisms and whether the liver of aged liver transplant candidate donors could be suitable for grafting. Aside from these topics, the volume presents basic research on hepatic transport mechanisms, intrahepatic cholestasis and gall-stone disease, which serves as a background for the topics more specifically concerning the assessment of liver function. Much of the book is then devoted to the management of the commonest forms of liver diseases and their complications, such as chronic active hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, and ascites.

Merge and the Strong Minimalist Thesis

Merge and the Strong Minimalist Thesis
Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 87
Release: 2023-11-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1009343254

The goal of this contribution to the Elements series is to closely examine Merge, its form, its function, and its central role in current linguistic theory. It explores what it does (and does not do), why it has the form it has, and its development over time. The basic idea behind Merge is quite simple. However, Merge interacts, in intricate ways, with other components including the language's interfaces, laws of nature, and certain language-specific conditions. Because of this, and because of its fundamental place in the human faculty of language, this Element's focus on Merge provides insights into the goals and development of generative grammar more generally, and its prospects for the future.

Phrase Structure and Argument Structure

Phrase Structure and Argument Structure
Author: Terje Lohndal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2014-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199677123

This book looks at the relationship between syntax and semantics, bringing together two seemingly unrelated hypotheses: that verbs do not require arguments, and that specifiers are not required by the grammar. The analysis has consequences for the theory of locality, agreement, serial verbs, and multidominance structures.

Austronesian and Theoretical Linguistics

Austronesian and Theoretical Linguistics
Author: Raphael Mercado
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2010-12-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027287759

The Austronesian language family is the largest language family in the world, yet its members are relatively little studied, particularly from a formal perspective. Interestingly, because these languages exhibit typologically unusual properties, they pose important challenges to linguistic theory. Any theory that postulates a grammar that is common to all languages must take into account the particular characteristics of this language family. The contributions to this volume comprise five chapters on phonology and twelve chapters on syntax, all addressing aspects of these Austronesian challenges. The volume presents new data, new analyses of old data, and comparisons of closely related languages, as well as comparisons to languages outside of the language family. Taken together they form a unique picture of Austronesian linguistics. This volume will be of interest to researchers and students in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and language typology, as well as scholars of Austronesian languages.