Cognate Object Constructions in Najdi Arabic: An HPSG Approach

Abstract

Cognate object constructions (COCs) are known for their idiosyncratic properties in that they consist of an intransitive verb that takes an NP whose head is a verbal noun that is semantically and morphologically cognate to the verb. In Arabic literature, this topic is considered one of the understudied linguistic phenomena. Therefore, this paper attempts to contribute to the ongoing linguistic research by exploring COCs in one of the Arabic varieties, namely Najdi Arabic (NA). This paper illustrates the main properties that are shared by all COCs in NA. It also provides a theory-neutral description of the syntactico-semantic properties of one of the COC types, namely the particular event COC. In addition, it offers an analysis of the common core properties of all COCs and the syntactico-semantic properties of particular event COCs using the approach of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG).