Skip to main content
Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

What’s in a determiner and how did it get there?

Abstract

I investigate determiner systems of three unrelated languages (Blackfoot, German, and Halkomelem). I show that the features encoded in determiners vary in content, distribution, and spell-out properties. I argue that the distributional differences are best understood as reflecting the familiar structural difference between heads and adjuncts. As such, features are to be analysed as regular linguistic objects which participate in the syntactic operation merge. Regarding the differences in spell-out properties, I argue that they can be accounted for if we recognize a distinction between early and late insertion of functional morphemes.

Abstract

I investigate determiner systems of three unrelated languages (Blackfoot, German, and Halkomelem). I show that the features encoded in determiners vary in content, distribution, and spell-out properties. I argue that the distributional differences are best understood as reflecting the familiar structural difference between heads and adjuncts. As such, features are to be analysed as regular linguistic objects which participate in the syntactic operation merge. Regarding the differences in spell-out properties, I argue that they can be accounted for if we recognize a distinction between early and late insertion of functional morphemes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Determiners 1
  5. Part I. The features of determiners
  6. What’s in a determiner and how did it get there? 25
  7. The proper D connection 67
  8. Argumenthood, pronouns, and nominal feature geometry 97
  9. Part II. The function of determiners
  10. From local blocking to Cyclic Agree 123
  11. Kinds of predicates and reference to kinds in Hebrew 159
  12. Part III. Definiteness and beyond
  13. The semantic core of determiners 177
  14. On the presence versus absence of determiners in Malagasy 215
  15. Index 243
Determiners
This chapter is in the book Determiners
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.147.01wil

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Determiners 1
  5. Part I. The features of determiners
  6. What’s in a determiner and how did it get there? 25
  7. The proper D connection 67
  8. Argumenthood, pronouns, and nominal feature geometry 97
  9. Part II. The function of determiners
  10. From local blocking to Cyclic Agree 123
  11. Kinds of predicates and reference to kinds in Hebrew 159
  12. Part III. Definiteness and beyond
  13. The semantic core of determiners 177
  14. On the presence versus absence of determiners in Malagasy 215
  15. Index 243
Downloaded on 27.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/la.147.01wil/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button