Broken plurals and (mis)matching of ɸ-features in Tunisian Arabic

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explain an unusual agreement pattern that arises between Tunisian Arabic broken plurals and their targets. For example, a verb may agree with a plural subject in all ɸ-features or, rather oddly, in singular/feminine, even when the subject (the controller) is masculine plural. Developing an idea first briefly sketched—but ultimately not adopted—by Zabbal (2002), we argue that broken plurals are hybrid nouns. Hybrid nouns have been the topic of much recent research (Corbett, 2000, 2015; den Dikken, 2001; Wechsler and Zlatić, 2003; Danon, 2011, 2013; Matushansky, 2013; Landau, 2015; Smith, 2015): either their syntactic or semantic features can be the target of agreement, creating the possibility of an agreement mismatch. Using Harbour’s (2011, 2014) theory of number, coupled with some innovations, we provide the featural make-up of Tunisian Arabic broken plurals and contrast it with that of collectives, on the one hand, and sound plurals, on the other. We propose that the feminine agreement seen with broken plurals is associated with a [+ group] feature, one that is exponed as -a. In the course of the discussion, we will argue that all gender features are visible at LF (Hammerly, 2018) and that semantic agreement is routinely possible with nouns that are low on the Animacy Hierarchy.