Polish equatives as symmetrical structures
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Anna Bondaruk
Abstract
The chapter focuses on the syntactic structure of true equatives in Polish, i.e. those sentences that contain two proper names or two pronouns flanking the pronominal copula to . These clauses differ considerably from both predicational and specificational sentences as regards verbal agreement and the Person-Case Constraint (PCC). Arguments are offered to prove that the two differences Polish equatives exhibit can be accounted for by positing a special symmetrical structure for this type of copular clause. The analysis is a modified version of Pereltsvaig’s (2001, 2007) proposal, based on Moro (2006) as well as Chomsky (2013). It relies on movement of one of the DPs from within a symmetrical structure to break up the initial symmetry which is triggered by the the need to label the symmetrical structure.
Abstract
The chapter focuses on the syntactic structure of true equatives in Polish, i.e. those sentences that contain two proper names or two pronouns flanking the pronominal copula to . These clauses differ considerably from both predicational and specificational sentences as regards verbal agreement and the Person-Case Constraint (PCC). Arguments are offered to prove that the two differences Polish equatives exhibit can be accounted for by positing a special symmetrical structure for this type of copular clause. The analysis is a modified version of Pereltsvaig’s (2001, 2007) proposal, based on Moro (2006) as well as Chomsky (2013). It relies on movement of one of the DPs from within a symmetrical structure to break up the initial symmetry which is triggered by the the need to label the symmetrical structure.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- List of figures xiii
- Editors' note xv
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
- Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
- Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
- A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
- The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
- The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
- Possessives within and beyond NP 193
- On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
- Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
- Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
- Transparent free relatives 295
- Index 319
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- List of abbreviations xi
- List of figures xiii
- Editors' note xv
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The overgeneration problem and the case of semipredicatives in Russian 13
- Polish equatives as symmetrical structures 61
- Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement 95
- A Note on Oblique Case: Evidence from Serbian / Croatian 117
- The structure of null subject DPs and agreement in Polish impersonal constructions 129
- The feature geometry of generic inclusive null DPs in Hungarian 165
- Possessives within and beyond NP 193
- On pre-nominal classifying adjectives in Polish 221
- Determiners and Possessives in Old English and Polish 247
- Agreement and definiteness in Germanic DPs 267
- Transparent free relatives 295
- Index 319
