Plural shifted indexicals are plural: evidence from Amharic (original) (raw)

Independent pronouns in languages with pronominal affixes: Evidence from Abaza

2024

We analyze referential choice in Abaza, a polysynthetic Northwest Caucasian language with consistent head-marking, focusing on the use of independent pronouns in a small corpus of recorded narratives. We show that first and second person pronouns are employed in Abaza for introducing the relevant referents into discourse as well as in situations of topic shift. Forms that morphologically look like third person pronouns are rather used as intensifiers, while the true anaphoric function is performed by demonstratives. The latter tend to occur after the relevant referent is introduced into the discourse by a full noun phrase and before it is established as a protagonist subsequently referred to by pronominal affixes alone. Our results show that the patterns of use of independent pronouns in languages with pronominal affixes both conform to cross-linguistic tendencies and display a number of special features possibly related to their non-default status.

A Contrastive Analysis of the Pronoun in English and Tiv

Pronouns are understood as a subset of nouns, yet their operation is complex and potentially problematic, even when considered in one language, such as English. Pronominal agency and patient relations are constantly prone to ambiguity and misunderstanding. These problems become even more glaring when considered in the light of crosslinguistic meaning. Using the mhq structure of the Nominal Group in Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper examines the features of the English Pronoun system and contrasts it with that of Tiv, a language spoken largely in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. The study has found that the pronoun system of both languages presents considerable challenges in the transmission of crosslinguistic meaning and suggests that pragmatic contextual cues remain the best means of resolving intra-and extra-lingual meaning determination.

JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC STUDIES

2022

This study aims to examine the null pro subject in Najdi Arabic and directly answer the following questions within Holmberg's (2008) theory of null subjects: (i) Is Najdi Arabic a pro-drop and hence a consistent null subject language (NSL)? and (ii) How is the null pro subject derived and interpreted in the syntax? We argue that Najdi Arabic is pro-drop and hence a consistent NSL and that full agreement are associated with null subject pronouns. Furthermore, we reveal that the null subject in Najdi Arabic is derived by incorporating a subject pronoun in the head T position as a consequence of Agree. The interaction between Holmberg's analysis and Najdi Arabic data reveals that the subject pronoun in Spec-vP configuration is not pronounced in Najdi Arabic because it is not the highest chain copy; what has to be articulated of the subject chain is a verbal affix on the verb as a reflection of the deleted subject of the structure. The interpretation of the null pro subject in Najdi Arabic depends on the antecedent of the null pronominal that values T's D-feature. When the A-topic values the D-feature, then a definite third person null subject structure results in the derived structure.

"The Syntax and Semantics of Resumptive Pronouns in English and Arabic: A Contrastive Study" Master's Proposal

Many languages, including Arabic, have unbounded dependencies which sometimes involve a gap and sometimes involve a resumptive pronoun. On the contrary, English unbounded dependencies involve only a gap. I am seeking a characterization of Arabic resumptives from the syntactic and semantic perspective. My research will discuss such issues as reference, the nature of movement, island sensitivity and reconstruction in Arabic. Ultimately, There will be a contrast of the findings from Arabic with available explanations of the same phenomenon in English.