Theoretical Approaches to Universals (Linguistik Aktuell Linguistics Today)

328 Pages·2004·1.46 MB·English

by  Artemis Alexiadou

TheoreticalApproachestoUniversals
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA) provides a platform for original
monograph studies into synchronic and diachronic linguistics. Studies in LA
confrontempiricalandtheoreticalproblemsasthesearecurrentlydiscussedin
syntax,semantics,morphology,phonology,andsystematicpragmaticswiththe
aim to establish robust empirical generalizations within a universalistic
perspective.
SeriesEditor
WernerAbraham
UniversityofVienna
AdvisoryEditorialBoard
GuglielmoCinque(UniversityofVenice)
GüntherGrewendorf(J.W.Goethe-University,Frankfurt)
LilianeHaegeman(UniversityofLille,France)
HubertHaider(UniversityofSalzburg)
ChristerPlatzack(UniversityofLund)
IanRoberts(CambridgeUniversity)
KenSafir(RutgersUniversity,NewBrunswickNJ)
LisadeMenaTravis(McGillUniversity)
StenVikner(UniversityofAarhus)
C.Jan-WouterZwart(UniversityofGroningen)
Volume49
TheoreticalApproachestoUniversals
EditedbyArtemisAlexiadou
Theoretical Approaches
to Universals
Edited by
Artemis Alexiadou
UniversityofPotsdam
JohnBenjaminsPublishingCompany
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
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LibraryMaterials,ansiz39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
TheoreticalApproachestoUniversals /editedbyArtemisAlexiadou.
p. cm.(LinguistikAktuell/LinguisticsToday,issn0166–0829;v.49)
PapersfromaconferenceonUniversalsorganizedbytheResearchCenterforGeneral
Linguistics, the Linguistics Department of the University of Potsdam and the Dutch
GraduateSchoolinLinguisticsandhostedinBerlininMarch1999
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes.
1.Universals(Linguistics)--Congresses.2.Grammar,Comparativeandgeneral--
Congresses.I.Alexiadou,Artemis.II.ZentrumfürAllgemeineSprachwissenschaft,Typologie
undUniversalienforschung.III.UniversitätPotsdam.InstitutfürLinguistik.IV.Landelijke
OnderzoekschoolTaalwetenschap.V.Linguistikaktuell;Bd.49.
P204. T48 2002
415’.01-dc21 2002021464
isbn9027227705(Eur.)/1588111911(US)(Hb;alk.paper)
©2002–JohnBenjaminsB.V.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyform,byprint,photoprint,microfilm,orany
othermeans,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher.
JohnBenjaminsPublishingCo.·P.O.Box36224·1020meAmsterdam·TheNetherlands
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Table of contents
Listofcontributors vii
Introduction 1
ArtemisAlexiadou
Universalfeaturesandlanguage-particularmorphemes 15
MayaArad
Agreeorattract?Arelativizedminimalitysolutiontoaproper
bindingconditionpuzzle 41
CedricBoeckx
Distributeddeletion 65
GisbertFanselowandDamirC´avar
Roots,constituents,andc-command 109
RobertFrank,PaulHagstrom,andK.Vijay-Shanker
Afour-wayclassificationofmonadicverbs 139
MuratKural
Onagreement:localityandfeaturevaluation 165
LuisLópez
Aminimalistaccountofconflationprocesses:Parametricvariation
atthelexicon-syntaxinterface 211
JaumeMateuandGemmaRigau
Morphologicalconstraintsonsyntacticderivations 237
JuanRomero
Intermediatetraces,reconstructionandlocalityeffects 259
JoachimSabel
Index 315

List of contributors
ArtemisAlexiadou RobertFrank
UniversityofPotsdam DepartmentofCognitiveScience
InstituteofLinguistics JohnsHopkinsUniversity
Postfach601553 243KriegerHall
14415Potsdam,Germany 3400N.CharlesSt.Baltimore,
[email protected] MD21218-2685,USA
[email protected]
MayaArad
PaulHagstrom
UniversityofGeneva
DepartmentofModernForeign
Dept.ofLinguistics
Languages&Literatures
2,ruedeCandolle
BostonUniversity
CH-1211Genève4
718CommonwealthAve.
[email protected]
Boston,MA02215,USA
[email protected]
CedricBoeckx
DepartmentofLinguistics MuratKural
4088ForeignLanguageBuilding UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine
707SouthMathewsAvenue,MC-168 DepartmentofLinquistics
UniversityofIllinoisat 3151SocialSciencePlaza
Urbana-Champaign Irvine,CA92697-5100,USA
Urbana,IL61801,USA [email protected]
[email protected]
LuisLópez
UniversityofIllinois-Chicago
DamirCavar
Dept.ofSpanish,French,Italianand
DresdnerBank
Portuguese
CCIT,enateg
CollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences
Research&Innovations
601SouthMorganSt.
60301Frankfurta.M.,Germany
Chicago,IL60607-7117,USA
[email protected]
[email protected]
GisbertFanselow JaumeMateu
UniversityofPotsdam DepartamentdeFilologiaCatalana
InstituteofLinguistics FacultatdeFilosofiaiLletresEdificiB
Postfach601553 UniversitatAutònomadeBarcelona
4415Potsdam,Germany E-08193Bellaterra,Spain
[email protected] [email protected]
 Listofcontributors
GemmaRigau JoachimSabel
DepartamentdeFilologiaCatalana ZAS
FacultatdeFilosofiaiLletresEdificiB Jägerstr.10-11
UniversitatAutònomadeBarcelona 10117Berlin
E-08193Bellaterra,Spain Germany
[email protected] [email protected]
VijayK.Shanker
JuanRomero DepartmentofComputerand
Dept.deFilologíaEspañola InformationScience
UniversidadAutónomadeMadrid UniversityofDelaware
28049Madrid,Spain Newark,Delaware19716,USA
[email protected] [email protected]
Introduction
ArtemisAlexiadou
UniversityofPotsdam
ThepresentvolumehasitsoriginintheGLOWconferenceonUniversalsorga-
nizedbytheResearchCenterforGeneralLinguistics(ZAS,Berlin),theLinguis-
ticsDepartmentoftheUniversityofPotsdamandtheDutchGraduateSchool
inLinguistics(LOT)andhostedinBerlin inMarch1999.1 In thefirstpartof
thisintroduction,Iofferabriefoverviewofthemainissuesinvolvedinourun-
derstandingofandquestforuniversals,bypresentingsomepointsofcontro-
versyconcerningthepropercharacterizationofuniversalandlanguagespecific
properties.Inthesecondpart,Isummarizethecontributionstothisvolume.
. Universalsinlinguistictheory
The search for universalshas always been at the center of interest in linguis-
tic theory. Two main approaches can be recognized. On the one hand, work
byGreenberg(1966),Comrie(1981),Croft(1990)andotherssearchesforsur-
facepropertiesthatwouldbecommontoalllanguagesandattemptstoidentify
patternsofregularities.Forthegenerativelinguist,ontheotherhand,funda-
mental claims about universal properties of language are build into the very
architectureofthetheoryofUniversalGrammar(UG)invariousformsaswe
willseebelow.Alongsideformaluniversals,generativelinguistsalsoseeksub-
stantiveuniversalsininventories,markednesspatterns,featurehierarchiesetc
of the type explored in Greenberg’s work. As Croft (1990) points out, both
approaches deal with the question ‘what is a possible language?’ and believe
that there are universal constraints that define the answer to this question.
Moreover, both believe that the answer to this question is reached at by the
comparativestudyoflanguage.