Volume 40, Issue 4

This paper investigates the behaviors of tag questions in Chinese and proposes a unifying analysis involving empty CP/DP pro -forms and predication. It is found that there are universally two types of Tag questions – (i) the invariable type and (ii) the (modal) verbal type, which correspond to the question-types in Chinese syntax. Previous research by Culivocer (1992. English tag questions in Universal Grammar. Lingua 88. 193–226) analyzed English tag questions as a pro -IP structure that is bound by a previous sentence. However, in Chinese, two types of tag questions include both A-not-A form and particle form. Furthermore, both the two kinds of tag questions display syntactic predication between the tag and an empty subject pro . An abbreviated “yes-no question” is attached to empty CP/DP constituents in these constructions.

Much debate in prosodic phonology has centered on the question of recursive prosodic layers versus independent constituents. Recently, Downing and Kadenge (Downing, Laura & Maxwell Kadenge. 2015. Prosodic stems in Zezuru Shona. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 33(3). 291–305, Downing, Laura & Maxwell Kadenge. 2020. Re-placing the PStem in the prosodic hierarchy. The Linguistic Review 37(3). 433–461) have advocated for a unique prosodic constituent, the PStem, to match stem-level phonology. They argue that the stem level should not be sensitive to canonically word-level phenomena such as minimality and culminativity. Alternatively, Itô and Mester (Itô, Junko & Armin Mester. 2007. Prosodic adjunction in Japanese compounds. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics . 97–111 et seq .) propose that the PStem/PrWd division can be collapsed into recursive PrWd levels, in which any recursive layer can have any given set of properties. In this paper, I hope to add to this debate by showing that Downing and Kadenge’s idea of specifically stem-level processes is falsifiable in light of new empirical evidence from a number of unrelated languages. In terms of the recursion question, I show that there are two types of language behavior with respect to stem- versus word-level phonology: one in which stem and word are the loci of the distinct processes, and one in which stem and word show the same behavior (“recursive identity”). I conclude by showing that arguments intending to reduce recursive identity to cyclicity encounter their own suite of problems.

Dependent Case Theory takes accusative to be a dependent case, assigned to an NP only if it is c-commanded by another NP. Agent pseudo-incorporation structures in Turkish, where an accusative object is required to c-command the pseudo-incorporated agent, presents a challenge to the logic of dependent case calculus. We propose a reconciliation that calls for refining the conditions for dependent case assignment. Furthermore, we argue that agent pseudo-incorporation is made possible by a head that bundles the verbalization and agent introduction functions which are assumed by distinct heads in non-incorporation structures.

This paper investigates the linguistic functions of the syncretic particle ʕaad in Jordanian Arabic. It particularly examines the repetitive, evidential, and evaluative functions of ʕaad , and attempts to make some speculations on the source from which this particle could have been originated. Moreover, it explores the syntactic function of each ʕaad , arguing that one ʕaad is an utterance-oriented repetitive particle, while the other two are mood particles, with one expressing evidential mood but the other evaluative mood. It will also be shown that the three particles are syntactically functional heads encoding different grammatical and pragmatic meanings.