Dynamic Antisymmetry and the Syntax of Noun Incorporation

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with how syntactic structures are mapped into a linear order. As a starting point, I consider the initial merger of two heads, a and b, which forms the unordered set {?, {a, b}}, where ? is the label of the set. The two heads, a and b c-command each other, in violation of Kayne’s Linear Correspondence Axiom. Adopting Moro’s Dynamic Antisymmetry, I propose that the non-projecting head moves to the specifier of the projecting head to eliminate symmetric c-command and establish linear order. This process triggers successive compl-to-spec movement until a phonologically empty head is merged into the derivation. Since phonologically empty elements do not need to be linearized, compl-to-spec movement is not required to break symmetric c-command. This process is the theoretical kernel of this thesis – that phrase structure is sensitive to the needs of PF, namely, the need to attain linear order, and that phrase structure is manipulated early in the derivation to achieve linear order. Empirically, this thesis is concerned with noun incorporation principally in Oneida (Iroquoian), but other languages are considered. It recognizes the robust cross-linguistic generalization for noun incorporation constructions to form N+V sequences, while non-incorporated constructions exhibit V+DP sequences (SOV languages aside, whose word order properties reduce to factors extraneous to those considered here). This thesis puts forth the proposal that noun incorporation arises by the need for grammar to be able to linearize the derivation. Thus, when a verb merges with a bare noun the {V, N} set is symmetric, thus non-linearizable. This symmetry forces compl-to-spec raising, giving rise to the observed N + V order. When the verb merges with a full DP, the verb asymmetrically c-commands material inside the DP, thus no compl-to-spec movement is required here. The empirical kernel of this thesis then is a Dynamic Antisymmetric treatment of the syntax of noun incorporation in which the cross-linguistically robust N + V sequence falls out as a consequence of the attempt on the part of phrase structure to achieve linearity.