Abstract
The study seeks to explore structural (nominative and accusative) Case assignment in Standard Arabic (henceforth, SA). The objective is to offer a unified account of structural Case assignment in VSO structures, verbal copular sentences, and SVO structures introduced by the complementizer Ɂinna in SA. Following Chomsky’s (2005) minimalist analysis, I argue that TP and VP are not phases in SA; I assume that CP and vP are the only phases in SA clause structure. Furthermore, I assume that the head C of the CP phase is the source of all the features (edge feature and phi-features) on T in SA. The paper shows that Case is not assigned by T, but rather by the phase head C of CP which is responsible for Case assignment. It shows that Case and phi-features of the subject (the Goal) can be valued either under a long-distance Agree relation when the subject remains in situ in VSO structures or by raising the subject DP from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-TP] in SVO structures introduced by Ɂinna. Moreover, the accusative Case is assigned to the object under the Agree relation established between the phase head v and the object. Besides, I argue that there are two subjects in SVO structures introduced by Ɂinna: the external subject is the preverbal subject which follows Ɂinna and the internal subject which is a pro(nominal); in such structures I assume that C assigns two Cases; it assigns an external accusative Case to the preverbal NP and an internal nominative Case to the postverbal pro subject.
Highlights
The morpho-syntactic analysis of structural Case assignment in natural language grammar has received considerable attention in the last three decades of generative syntax, in general, and in Standard Arabic, in particular
It shows that Case and phi-features of the subject can be valued either under a long-distance Agree relation when the subject remains in situ in VSO structures or by raising the subject DP from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-TP] in SVO structures introduced by Ɂinna
The major concern of this study is to investigate structural Case assignment in SA within Chomsky’s (2005) framework, explore the interaction between the Arabic data and the assumptions of the Agree theory, and propose an alternative analysis which aims to help in the understanding of the minimalist theory of Arabic linguistics, given the current challenges posed by minimalism
Summary
The morpho-syntactic analysis of structural Case assignment in natural language grammar has received considerable attention in the last three decades of generative syntax, in general, and in Standard Arabic, in particular. Many attempts and accounts have been made to study and examine Case assignment in SA in the attempt to offer a unified account on the subject under question This is seen in Mohammad (1990), FassiFehri (1993, 2005), Soltan (2007, 2008), Musabhein (2008), and Al-Balushi (2010), among others. The present study seeks to present a satisfactorily unified account on structural Case assignment in SA based on Chomsky’s (2005) recent minimalist analysis (the phase model and feature inheritance approach) which constitutes the Agree Theory. It explores structural Case assignment in SA within Chomsky’s (2005) phase model and feature inheritance approach.
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