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Partee (1987) argues that NPs correspond to a family of semantic types. The basic NP types are defined as:
1) <e> referential, <e,t> predicational, <(e,t)t> quantificational
NPs in English for example clearly manifest this range of functions. In "Pronominal Argument" languages (Jelinek 1984) there is a more narrowly constrained mapping between the semantic type of a constituent and its syntactic role. In Straits Salish, subjects and objects are restricted to clitic pronouns of type <e>. These Pronominal Arguments appear at Specifier positions in IP, at functional projections headed by overt auxiliary or "light" elements (TRANSITIVE, VOICE) that assign case to the pronouns, and produce a compositional argument structure. Subject pronouns appear in a second position clitic string that includes other INFL categories such as Tense/Aspect and Modality; object pronouns are suffixed to the root. (In the Salish examples, ' = glottalization; A = schwa; L = voiceless lateral; N = velar nasal; W = velarized.)
2) a. nAp-t-oNAL=sxW b. nAp-t-N=L
advise-TRANS-1plACC=2sgNOM advise-TRANS-PASSIVE=1plNOM
You advised us. We were advised.
Lexical roots are of semantic type <e,t>; they head clauses, and may not occupy A-positions in IP. There is no evidence for a VP, such as control, VP "gapping" or VP movement. There is no "Dative Movement".
Nominals in Straits are derived structures (DET P) in which a Determiner/ Demonstrative corresponds to an iota operator in binding a third person argument of a nominalized clause: ix (Fx). There is no copula in any paradigm. Nominals are confined to adjunct positions, and may either a) be linked to a pronoun via predication or, b) when preceded by the oblique marker, be an oblique adjunct to the clause. Nominals are open in interpretation as to definiteness.
3) a. leN-t-0=sAn cA nAp-t-oNAL
see-TRANS-3ABS=1sgNOM DET advise-TRANS-1plACC
I saw him, the (one who) advised us.
b. nAp-t-N=sAn 'A cA leN-t-oNAL
advise-TRANS-PASS=1sgNOM OBL DET see-TRANS-1plACC
I was advised by the (one who) saw us.
The particle 'A is the single oblique marker or preposition in Straits; it cannot take Pronominal objects, since pronouns are confined to IP positions. The oblique marker occurs only with DET P, and derives oblique adjuncts.
An interesting feature of Pronominal Argument languages that follows from the constraint on the semantic type of arguments is the absence of Determiner Quantification (Jelinek, 1995). Determiner quantifiers across languages occur with lexical heads that define the restriction on the quantifier, and the scope of the quantifier is fixed with reference to the A-position of the quantified NP. Since Straits restricts arguments to pronouns of type <e>, it excludes Determiner Quantification. Cardinality expressions, and the roots glossed "who/person", and "what/thing", head clauses, finite or nominalized.
Strong quantifiers are unselective adverbials (Lewis 1975) that are clause initial, followed by the subject clitic. They are linked to the following predicate by a conjunctive particle; this syntactic frame is unique to the small set of elements of type <(e,t)t>.
Straits has no free-standing pronouns or anaphors. Restricting arguments to pronouns of type <e> in IP poses certain problems for Straits grammar, including: placing focus on an argument, oblique pronominal objects, and predicational uses of pronouns. Straits solves these problems by means of a set of person-deictic lexical roots that mark the semantic features of person and number. These roots do not resemble the pronominal arguments morphologi- cally, and are exclusively third person in syntax; they cannot appear with first or second person pronominal arguments. Like other lexical roots, they occur either as the lexical head of a clause (4a) or with a Determiner to derive a nominal adjunct (4b).
4) a. nAkW=yAxW=0 cA t'Am'-t-oNAL b. t'Am'-t-N=L 'A cA nAkW
YOU=EVID=3ABS DET hit-TR-1plAC hit-TR-PASS-plNOM OBL DET YOU
Evidently it is YOU who hit us. We were hit by YOU.
Other Pronominal Argument languages, such as Navajo (Jelinek 1996), and Asurini (Vieira 1995) also restrict arguments to pronouns of type <e>, confine nouns to adjunct positions, and lack Determiner Quantification. This distribution of elements in the syntax according to "strong" features of semantic type produces economy in the derivation (Chomsky 1995), since it obviates certain kinds of "LF movement" for quantifier raising, Wh-movement, and to repair mismatches in semantic type, such as the occurrence of presuppositional pronouns in the VP (Diesing and Jelinek 1995).
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