Mittwoch, 17.30 Uhr
The aim of the paper is to examine the representation of subject/object-drop structures in Null Subject/Clitic Languages (NSLs, e.g. Greek) and compare those to the polysynthetic languages discussed in Baker (1996).
Much recent literature points out that the status of pro for the null subject configurations for which it was originally introduced in Chomsky (1982) is problematic. Specifically, Alexiadou & Anagnostopoulou (1995, 1996) have proposed that the Agr affix actually replaces the subject DP in its EPP-licensing capacity in NSLs. This proposal opens the possibility of furthermore proposing that the Agr affix counts as a theta bearing argument in NSLs, replacing null referential pro.
If the Agr affix counts as a theta bearing argument, then one has to assume that in pro-drop languages the theta criterion is met morphologically rather than syntactically. This is actually the proposal in Jelinek (1984) for non-configurational languages such as Mohawk. For NSLs, it is possible then to suggest that some mechanism of subject demotion takes place, since the subject position is not a subcategorised one (cf. Jaegli 1986, Baker, Johnson & Roberts 1989), and thus the subject theta-role is assigned to the pronominal affix. This would require an additional device to guarantee that in pro-drop structures, structural case on the object is not absorbed, unlike passive constructions and we will suggest some such potential mechanisms. However, the immediate consequence of Jelinek's proposal is that full DPs, when they appear, have the status of some kind of adjunct or modifier (cf. also Ouhalla 1994).
For pronominal argument, non configurational languages this might be true. However, we will show that languages like Greek differ from pronominal argument languages such as Mohawk in that NPs in NSLs are not adjuncts. Evidence for this based on a wide range of facts involving the presence or absence of disjoint reference effects with possession NPs, true quantified NPs, pronominal variable binding, CED effects, weak Crossover, subject /object asymmetries, and Discontinuous Expressions in the two language groups will be presented. We will explore ways in which the non-adjunct status of NPs ins NSLs can be reconciled with the theta-bearing argument property of Agr affixes in such languages.
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