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Against a uniform analysis of adnominal possessives in Jordanian Arabic: Evidence from nominal ellipsis

  • Mohammad Alhailawani EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 9, 2021

Abstract

Arabic has two models of adnominal possession: the Construct State and the Free State. Despite their superficial differences, these constructions are traditionally given a uniform analysis, in which their base-generated structures are identical, with differences residing in the movement operations that affect the possessor and the noun. This paper argues against a uniform analysis, based on new evidence from Noun Phrase Ellipsis. Specifically, I argue that the possessor in the Construct State merges in complement position of the possessum, whereas in the Free State, the possessor is an adjunct attached to a higher functional projection above the possessum. An important consequence of this analysis is that a possessor can be introduced in a headcomplement relation.


Mohammad Alhailawani Department of English Language and Literature University of Petra P.O. Box 961343 Amman 11196 Jordan

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Published Online: 2021-11-09
Published in Print: 2021-09-27

© 2021 Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

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