Abstract
The existential sentence is a noncanonical sentence type that is used crosslinguistically to assert the (non)existence of one or more entities. It consists of a set of syntactic items that includes an expletive, pivot, and coda. Two different syntactic analyses have been identified in the literature for the existential construction. The first type of analysis, the standard analysis, treats the existential sentence as a nonraising counterpart of copular sentences. In this analysis, both existential and copular sentences are derived from a single underlying structure, which takes the pivot as a subject and the coda as a predicate. The other type of analysis, the nonstandard analysis, treats the existential sentence differently from the copular sentence. In this analysis, the copular verb takes the pivot NP as its complement, and the coda is treated as an adjunct. The purpose of this paper is to examine the syntactic status of the three syntactic items, namely, the expletive fiih, the pivot NP, and the coda XP, in the existential construction in the dialect of Najdi Arabic (NA). Using the nonstandard analysis, I propose that the existential pronoun fiih is an NP merged in the Spec, vP, the pivot is an NP complement selected by a copular verb, and the coda is an adjunct that serves as either an internal or external modifier. This work about NA existentials may fruitfully contribute to the ongoing discussion on the syntax of existential constructions. Examining existential constructions in various unrelated languages may help obtain a better understanding of this interesting syntactic phenomenon, thereby enabling a more plausible analysis.
Highlights
The existential sentence, as in (1) from Najdi Arabic (NA)1, refers to a noncanonical sentence type that asserts theexistence orpresence of someone or something
In line with the nonstandard analysis, I argue that the existential pronoun fiih is an NP merged in the Spec, vP, the pivot is an NP complement selected by a copular verb, and the coda is an adjunct that serves as either an internal or external modifier
Much like the semantic analysis42 of Law (2011) and Milsark (1974, 1977), I assume that the NP fiih, which is obligatory in NA existential sentences, functions as an existential quantifier that scopes over a bound variable (X) introduced by the pivot NP, which is treated as an internal argument
Summary
The existential sentence, as in (1) from Najdi Arabic (NA), refers to a noncanonical sentence type that asserts the (non)existence or (non)presence of someone or something. The first, the standard/copular analysis, suggests that existential sentences are the nonraising counterparts of copular sentences (e.g., Chomsky 1981, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001; Freeze 1992; Huang 1987; Kuno 1971; Lasnik 1995; Lyons 1967; McCloskey 2014; Milsark 1974, 1977; Moro 1997, 2006; Safir 1985; Stowell 1978, 1981) That is, both existential and copular sentences are derived from a single underlying structure, which takes the pivot as a subject and the coda as a predicate. The second approach, the nonstandard/noncopular analysis, treats the existential sentence differently from the copular sentence (e.g., Barwise and Cooper 1981; Francez 2007, 2009, 2010; Franco and Lorusso 2018; Jenkins 1975; Law 2011; McNally 1992, 1998, 2011, 2016; Sobin 2014; Sabbagh 2009; Williams 1984, 2006).
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