On parameters of agreement in Austronesian languages
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Mark C. Baker
Abstract
Baker 2008 claims that two parameters account for observed crosslinguistic variation in the syntax of agreement. One concerns the direction of agreement: whether or not an agreed-with NP must c-command the agreeing head. The other concerns the relationship of agreement to case: whether or not a head can agree with something it does not share a case feature with. In this article, I consider how these two parameters apply to Austronesian languages, concentrating on three representative case studies: Fijian, Tukang Besi, and Kapampangan. All three languages require upward agreement, but agreement is case-dependent only in Kapampangan. The agreement parameters also interact with certain differences in clause structure and movement, giving somewhat different agreement patterns in different languages.
Abstract
Baker 2008 claims that two parameters account for observed crosslinguistic variation in the syntax of agreement. One concerns the direction of agreement: whether or not an agreed-with NP must c-command the agreeing head. The other concerns the relationship of agreement to case: whether or not a head can agree with something it does not share a case feature with. In this article, I consider how these two parameters apply to Austronesian languages, concentrating on three representative case studies: Fijian, Tukang Besi, and Kapampangan. All three languages require upward agreement, but agreement is case-dependent only in Kapampangan. The agreement parameters also interact with certain differences in clause structure and movement, giving somewhat different agreement patterns in different languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
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Phonetics/Phonology/Morphology
- The role of larynx height in the Javanese tense ~ lax stop contrast 7
- Reduplication in Tanjung Raden Malay 25
- Discontiguous reduplication in a local variety of Malay 45
- Phonological evidence for the structure of Javanese compounds 65
- Intonation, information structure and the derivation of inverse VO languages 81
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Syntax
- The case of possessors and ‘subjects’ 103
- Genitive relative constructions and agent incorporation in Tongan 117
- Possession syntax in Unua DPs 141
- Seediq adverbial verbs 163
- On the syntax of Formosan adverbial verb constructions 183
- Specification and inversion 213
- VSO word order in Malagasy imperatives 231
- A unified analysis of Niuean Aki 249
- Deriving inverse order 271
- The impersonal construction in Tagalog 297
- Anaphora in traditional Jambi Malay 327
- On parameters of agreement in Austronesian languages 345
- Index 375
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
Phonetics/Phonology/Morphology
- The role of larynx height in the Javanese tense ~ lax stop contrast 7
- Reduplication in Tanjung Raden Malay 25
- Discontiguous reduplication in a local variety of Malay 45
- Phonological evidence for the structure of Javanese compounds 65
- Intonation, information structure and the derivation of inverse VO languages 81
-
Syntax
- The case of possessors and ‘subjects’ 103
- Genitive relative constructions and agent incorporation in Tongan 117
- Possession syntax in Unua DPs 141
- Seediq adverbial verbs 163
- On the syntax of Formosan adverbial verb constructions 183
- Specification and inversion 213
- VSO word order in Malagasy imperatives 231
- A unified analysis of Niuean Aki 249
- Deriving inverse order 271
- The impersonal construction in Tagalog 297
- Anaphora in traditional Jambi Malay 327
- On parameters of agreement in Austronesian languages 345
- Index 375
