This paper proposes a novel analysis of the exceptional agreement patterns in pronominal het ‘it’-clefts with the order het-copula-pronoun in Dutch. We argue that the complex interaction in clefts... Show moreThis paper proposes a novel analysis of the exceptional agreement patterns in pronominal het ‘it’-clefts with the order het-copula-pronoun in Dutch. We argue that the complex interaction in clefts between case, agreement and word order can be explained from the radical featural defectivity of het ‘it’: het ‘it’ has a third person (3P) feature, but no case, number, strength and gender features. We show that het ‘it’ is different from all personal pronouns in the major dialect groups of Dutch in that it never shows any case distinction. The absence of case on het ‘it’ makes it possible and necessary for the pronoun to occur in the nominative in a cleft. Similarly, the absence of number in the feature specification of het ‘it’ makes plural agreement with the pronoun possible and necessary in clefts. Finally, we show that Standard Dutch has two subgrammars, one of which has the additional requirement that the finite copula agree in person with both het ‘it’ and the pronoun. Show less
Aramaic was once the principle language of the Middle East over an area reaching from Egypt into Afghanistan. Stretching back 3000 years, Neo-Aramaic, the modern tongue, is still spoken by mainly... Show moreAramaic was once the principle language of the Middle East over an area reaching from Egypt into Afghanistan. Stretching back 3000 years, Neo-Aramaic, the modern tongue, is still spoken by mainly Jewish and Christian minorities originating in Syria, South East Turkey, Northern Iraq, and Western Iran. Since most have fled the traditional territory in the previous century, their language is highly endangered. The Eastern varieties recently increasingly documented by linguists show exceptional microvariation in alignment. Such grammars rarely treat the clause structure of the language and are not easily accessible to non-specialists. Using typological models in contemporary linguistic theory, I show that a number of alignment types should be analysed differently. Some of them are the only known Semitic languages to evince ergative alignment. Several alignment types in Neo-Aramaic arguably go against functional-typological tendencies. Remarkably, the alignment can differ from dialect to dialect such that one dialect can do exactly the opposite of the other, even though the alignment has been stable in Aramaic for millennia. A common assumption in the literature is that this variation once developed out of a coherently ergative system. My research challenges this view and argues that the historical situation must have been more complex. Show less
This thesis provides a novel analysis of the word order variation in three-verb clusters reported in the Syntactic Atlas of the Dutch Dialects (SAND). On the basis of distributional correlations... Show moreThis thesis provides a novel analysis of the word order variation in three-verb clusters reported in the Syntactic Atlas of the Dutch Dialects (SAND). On the basis of distributional correlations between order variation in verb clusters and interruption of the verb cluster by non-verbal constituents, it is argued that only 1-2-3 and its mirror image 3-2-1 are truly verbal clusters. All other orders attested in SAND are argued to involve non-verbal elements: adjectival participles and nominal infinitives. This analysis dispenses with movement in the derivation of verb clusters, an improvement over many previous accounts, as movement in this domain is unmotivated and, in certain cases, makes wrong predictions. It is argued that speakers possess knowledge of word orders that do not occur in their own language varieties. This is shown to follow from properties of human grammar. Neither familiarity nor properties of language processing can account for these results. Verb clusters are base-generated in a low structural position in the clause. There is a cut-off point for cluster interruption, which is parameterized. In West-Flemish, it lies at vP, only elements that are merged below vP can interrupt the verb cluster. Show less
The present study deals with the phonological system of three Iranian Balochi dialects namely Mirjaveh Sarhaddi (MBS), Sarawani Balochi (SB) and Lashari Balochi (LB). Those three selected Iranian... Show moreThe present study deals with the phonological system of three Iranian Balochi dialects namely Mirjaveh Sarhaddi (MBS), Sarawani Balochi (SB) and Lashari Balochi (LB). Those three selected Iranian Balochi dialects are spoken respectively in Mirjaveh, Sarawan, and Lashar in Sistan and Balouchestan province, which is located in the southeast of Iran. As t the title of the present research, both descriptive and theoretical approaches (Optimality Theory) are concerned, since they can complement each other, connecting language (i.e. Balochi) to language (i.e. universal grammar), and give a formal and precise description and analysis of the grammatical properties of Iranian Balochi dialects sounds. Show less
