Flat structure, phrasal variability and VSO

Contra the prevailing Chomskyan view of Modern Irish VSO, where the order is derived via verb movement, this paper proposes that Lexical-Functional Grammar provides a more explanatory account using a flat, VP-less structure. Using evidence from complex copular predicates, we show that the variability in category of the initial predicate is due to a categorial underspecification in the S phrase structure rule. Further, in order to account for the fact that both phrasal and head material can appear in this position, we propose a new kind of variable that holds over bar level. Finally, we account for the outward appearance of VP-like constituents by appealing to the fact that the language uses verbal nouns, and it has an NP rule, but no VP rule.

[1]  Andrew Carnie,et al.  Two Types of Non-Verbal Predication in Modern Irish , 1997, Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique.

[2]  J. Ouhalla.  Verb movement: Verb movement and word order in Arabic , 1994 .

[3]  M. Speas.  Phrase Structure in Natural Language , 1990 .

[4]  Cathal Doherty,et al.  Clausal structure and the Modern Irish copula , 1996 .

[5]  James McCloskey,et al.  2. A VP in a VSO language , 1983 .

[6]  Eithne Guilfoyle,et al.  Functional categories and phrase structure parameters , 1990 .

[7]  Abdelkader Fassi Fehri,et al.  Issues in the Structure of Arabic Clauses and Words , 1993 .

[8]  E. Woolford,et al.  VP-internal subjects in VSO and nonconfigurational languages , 1991 .

[9]  James Mccloskey.  On the scope of verb movement in Irish , 1996 .

[10]  R. Sproat.  Welsh syntax and VSO structure , 1985 .

[11]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  Bare Phrase Structure , 1994 .

[12]  G. Pullum,et al.  Order, Concord and Constituency , 1983 .

[13]  J. Bresnan.  Lexical-Functional Syntax , 2000 .

[14]  Andrew Carnie,et al.  VSO Order as Raising Out of IP? Some Evidence from Old Irish , 2000 .

[15]  R. Nordlinger.  Constructive Case: Evidence from Australian Languages , 1998 .

[16]  Stephen R. Anderson,et al.  On Grammatical Relations and Clause Structure in Verb-Initial Languages , 1977 .

[17]  J. Ouhalla.  Functional Categories and Parametric Variation , 1991 .

[18]  ROBERT D. BORSLEY.  On some similarities and differences between Welsh and Syrian Arabic , 1995 .

[19]  Paul Kroeger,et al.  Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog , 1992 .

[20]  Nigel Duffield,et al.  Particles and Projections in Irish Syntax , 1995 .

[21]  Noam Chomsky.  A minimalist program for linguistic theory , 1992 .

[22]  Tim Stowell,et al.  Origins of phrase structure , 1981 .

[23]  Sean E. Anderson.  Kwakwala Syntax and the Government-Binding Theory , 1984 .

[24]  Andrew Carnie,et al.  Non-Verbal Predication and Head-Movement by , 1995 .

[25]  James Mccloskey,et al.  Government, barriers and small clauses in Modern Irish , 1987 .

[26]  James Mccloskey.  Subjecthood and Subject Positions , 1997 .

[27]  James Mccloskey.  Clause structure, ellipsis and proper government in Irish , 1991 .

[28]  Randall Hendrick,et al.  Anaphora in Celtic and Universal Grammar , 1988 .

[29]  R. Borsley.  An HPSG approach to Welsh , 1989 .

[30]  Lisa deMena Travis,et al.  Parameters and effects of word order variation , 1984 .