Determiner Phrases Research Articles

On the subject marker in Kinyarwanda

This article examines the morphosyntactic representation of the subject agreement marker (SM) in null subject constructions in the Bantu language Kinyarwanda. Three prominent analyses are compared. The first analysis treats the SM in null subject constructions as a pronoun which receives the subject theta role in the morphology. The second approach analyses the SM as a syntactic pronoun, i.e. as a determiner phrase (DP) which receives its theta role in [Spec, V] and then moves to [Spec, T]. The third analysis is based on the theory of pro, which assumes that the subject theta role in null subject constructions is assigned to a phonetically unrealised pronoun. According to the pro-theory, the SM is simply a reflex of agreement between the verb and the null subject pro. The paper shows that the first analysis, which treats the SM as a morphological pronoun, must be rejected for Kinyarwanda on empirical grounds. In contrast, the paper argues that both remaining alternatives represent feasible accounts. The study identifies the empirical predictions and theoretical consequences which are associated with each of these two competing alternatives.

Kayne's model of Case and Finnish nominal phrases

The standard view concerning Case assignment or valuation is that Case is valued to determiner phrases (DPs) in syntax. Recently, Kayne has proposed an alternative model, in which Case is valued to lexical elements rather than to phrases. This article cites several facts from Finnish in support of this model. A detailed Kaynean model of Case is developed. According to this model, abstract Case is valued to lexical elements by the highest ranking c-commanding Case assigner when each phase (CP,vP) is sealed, where ranking is based on a particular Case Hierarchy and a simple notion of locality. Configurations in which Case is seemingly assigned under a spec–head relation are provided with an alternative interpretation.

Reformulating the Determiner Phrase Analysis

AbstractDeveloped in the 1980s, the Determiner Phrase (DP) analysis stimulated a lot of interest in the internal structure of nominal phrases and in the study of correspondences between nominal and clausal structure. Research across a range of languages has uncovered correspondences in areas such as agreement morphology, syntactic movement, and argument structure, some of which are reviewed here. Nominal phrases and clauses also match up in terms of their semantic function: both can serve as predicates or arguments. The issue of exactly what distinguishes a nominal argument from a nominal predicate has received a lot of attention, leading in particular to proposals about the underlying role of the definite article (and determiner elements in general). This article reviews some of these issues and proposals and suggests a reformulation that appeals to the feature ‘person’, a feature found in both the nominal and clausal domains.

Infinitivals With "too": Degree Operator Scope and Parasitic Gaps

No abstract.

DECOMPOSING GENERALIZED QUANTIFIERS

This note explains the circumstances under which a type 〈1〉 quantifier can be decomposed into a type 〈1, 1〉 quantifier and a set, by fixing the first argument of the former to the latter. The motivation comes from the semantics of Noun Phrases (also called Determiner Phrases) in natural languages, but in this article, I focus on the logical facts. However, my examples are taken among quantifiers appearing in natural languages, and at the end, I sketch two more principled linguistic applications.

The assembly and disassembly of determiner phrases: Minimality is needed, but not sufficient

The internal processing of simple determiner phrases has received little attention in the processing literature so far. German determiners can occur with and without nominal complements. Therefore, a sequence of determiner and noun can be ambiguous: determiner and noun can either form a single phrase ([Det N]) or two phrases ([Det] [N]). Three self-paced-reading experiments reveal a preference for the single-phrase analysis. Locally ambiguous two-phrase sentences cause a garden-path effect. We argue that this preference is best explained in terms of semantic and prosodic minimality. The two-phrase analysis is semantically more complex because it involves two referents. It is prosodically more complex because it requires sentence stress on the determiner which is unstressed by default. Additional evidence for prosodic minimality comes from extraposed subject-modifying relative clauses. In two-phrase sentences, the relative clause was locally ambiguous between subject and object construal. By default, the relative clause is associated with the most recent NP, the object. Subject construal requires stress on the determiner. A focus adverbial preceding the subject facilitates subject construal by directing accentuation to the determiner. We present corpus data suggesting that lexical frequencies have an effect on the ambiguity under consideration, but that reference to minimality is still needed.

The determiner congruency effect in language production investigated with functional MRI

In language production, naming a picture with a gender-marked determiner phrase is faster in the presence of a distractor noun with the same grammatical gender (congruent condition) as compared with a different grammatical gender (incongruent condition). We investigated the neural correlates of this determiner congruency effect in German with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants named pictures of real objects with determiner phrases (e.g. "der Tisch"-the table) in the presence of a gender-congruent or gender-incongruent distractor noun. Different comparisons allow the following functional segregation within the prefrontal cortex. First, the comparison between picture naming versus rest revealed a steeper slope of the haemodynamic response function (HRF) in the gender-congruent than the gender-incongruent condition in the left BA 44, suggesting the involvement of BA 44 in determiner selection. HRF amplitude differences between the congruent and the incongruent condition were observed outside the language network in the right fronto-median wall (congruent > incongruent), and in the left premotor cortex, middle frontal gyrus, cerebellum, and inferior parietal lobe (incongruent > congruent). The latter regions are known to be involved in the processing of incongruence and conflict in general. The data thus reveal the involvement of the left BA 44 in the selection of determiners for language production.

FORMS OF EVIDENCE AND GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ACQUISITION OF ADJECTIVE POSITION IN L2 FRENCH

The present study examines classroom learners' course of grammatical development in acquiring the interpretive correlates of variable adjective position in French. Eventual attainment of the target language system requires not only knowledge of linear word-order possibilities within the determiner phrase that differ from their native language (English) but knowledge of the interpretive differences between the two orders as well. Results from a contextualized acceptability judgment task administered to monolingual English-speaker controls, four groups of university-level learners of French, and native-French-speaker controls (N = 157) show that adjective position-interpretation pairings are eventually acquired, although with a high degree of between-learner variability in rate. Based on an analysis of both individual and group acceptance rates, I argue that eventual attainment of the second language system requires a priori knowledge of a specific representational format—supporting the notion of the domain-specificity of language as pursued in generative accounts of SLA—but that the course of grammatical development is affected by a number of group- and learner-specific variables that mediate depth of processing (following Gass, 1997).I am indebted to a number of individuals who helped me bring this manuscript to publication, including Laurent Dekydtspotter, the director of my 2002 dissertation at Indiana University, where the research presented in this manuscript was begun; several anonymous SSLA reviewers, who provided insightful and constructively critical comments; and the editorial staff of SSLA, who provided much encouragement and showed great patience.

Definiteness and specificity in the isiXhosa determiner phrase

The article investigates questions relating to the morphosyntactic realization of (in)definiteness and (non-) specificity in isiXhosa. The interaction of syntax, semantics and pragmatics is explored in establishing the interpretation of noun phrases as regards (in)definiteness and (non-)specificity in isiXhosa, with particular attention to the object noun phrase. Properties of the noun phrase interpretation relating to the correlation between the (non-)occurrence of an object agreement prefix in the verb morphology and the preprefix of the object noun is invoked as evidence for the view that the noun class preprefix is an instantiation of the functional category Determiner. (In)definiteness and (non-)specificity readings of noun phrases containing nominal modifiers that are inherently neutral as regards (in)definiteness, namely the adjective, nominal relative and clausal relative, are invoked to argue for the syntactic status of the morpheme a-, which occurs in the inflectional morphology of these modifiers, as a determiner category heading a Determiner Phrase (DP).

WCO, ACD and what they reveal about complex demonstratives

This squib presents a rebuttal to two of King’s (Complex demonstratives: A quantificational account. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001) arguments that complex demonstratives are quantifier phrases like every man. The first is in response to King’s argument that because complex demonstratives induce weak crossover effects, they are quantifier phrases. I argue that unlike quantifier phrases and like other definite determiner phrases, complex demonstratives in object position can corefer with singular pronouns contained in the subject DP. Although complex demonstratives could undergo LF-movement, the ruling out by weak crossover is empirically undetectable. The second rebuttal is in response to King’s argument that because complex demonstratives allow antecedent-contained deletion, they are quantifier phrases. I present data showing that along with quantifier phrases, complex demonstratives pattern with proper names in allowing ACD with restrictive modification, but usually not with non-restrictive modification.

SORTAL ANAPHORA RESOLUTION IN MEDLINE ABSTRACTS

This paper reports our investigation of machine learning methods applied to anaphora resolution for biology texts, particularly paper abstracts. Our primary concern is the investigation of features and their combinations for effective anaphora resolution. In this paper, we focus on the resolution of demonstrative phrases and definite determiner phrases, the two most prevalent forms of anaphoric expressions that we find in biology research articles. Different resolution models are developed for demonstrative and definite determiner phrases. Our work shows that models may be optimized differently for each of the phrase types. Also, because a significant number of definite determiner phrases are not anaphoric, we induce a model to detect anaphoricity, i.e., a model that classifies phrases as either anaphoric or nonanaphoric. We propose several novel features that we call highlighting features, and consider their utility particularly for processing paper abstracts. The system using the highlighting features achieved accuracies of 78% and 71% for demonstrative phrases and definite determiner phrases, respectively. The use of the highlighting features reduced the error rate by about 10%.

The syntax of English comitative constructions

This paper argues that in comitative constructions, two Determiner Phrases (DPs) and the word with form a complex nominal [DP 1 with DP 2 ] in their base-positions. Moreover, it establishes a distinction between two types of comitative constructions: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Unlike symmetrical comitatives, DP 2 in asymmetrical comitatives denotes an appurtenance of the referent of DP 1 . Other differences between the two types are that symmetrical comitatives always contain a plural feature and that in asymmetrical comitatives the cluster [ with DP 2 ] is optional and the cluster [DP 1 with DP 2 ] may occur in preverbal subject positions and A-bar positions. My proposal is that in symmetrical comitatives the word with has features of [D, Plural, Case assigning], and takes DP 2 as its complement and DP 1 as its Specifier. In asymmetrical comitatives, by contrast, the word with is a regular preposition and the cluster [ with DP 2 ] is a Prepositional Phrase and an adjunct to DP 1 . Finally, the paper also argues against an extraposition analysis of discontinuous surface word orders in comitative constructions.

Some restrictions on Sesotho null noun class prefixes

Some Sesotho nouns may be used without a noun prefix (a phenomenon we refer to as null noun class prefix). There are several studies that deal with this phenomenon in relation to language acquisition (Kunene, 1979; Suzman, 1980; Connelly, 1984; Tsonope, 1987; Demuth, 1988 and Ziesler & Demuth, 1995). Machobane (2003) deals with this phenomenon in Sesotho, paying attention to the determiner phrase (DP) structure. She argues that in some Bantu languages the noun prefix is the head of DP, while in others a phonologically empty D is the head. This difference leads to parametric variations in DP structures. This article explores phonological, morphological, semantic, syntactic and discourse factors that contribute to the null prefix phenomenon. It shows that phonologically null prefixes are associated with the consonants [1], [s] and [d], which are [+coronal]. The prefixes with the consonants [m] and [b], which have the feature [-coronal], do not allow null prefixes (except in the case of class 14). Morphologically, the nouns that have an agreement which is identical to the noun prefix, allow a null prefix, while the ones that have an agreement prefix which is not identical with the noun prefix, do not (except for class 2). Syntactically, a null prefix is possible where there is agreement in the form of the subject verb agreement, noun modifier or copulative complement. At a discourse level, a null prefix appears when a noun expresses given/old information or is salient in the discourse context. However, none of the suggested explanations can account for a null prefix on its own.

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN REPRESENTATION OF NUMBER IN L2 CATALAN INDEFINITE DETERMINER PHRASES

The study explores the relationship that second language (L2) learners of Catalan establish between the spoken and the written representation of number inflection within an indefinite-article Determiner Phrase (DP); and it also addresses first language (L1) influence in this processo Five- to eight-year-olds, speakers of varieties of Chinese and Moroccan Arabic, with differing degrees of literacy instruction in their home countries —but similar time of residence in Catalonia— participated in the study. The children carried out individual semi-structured tasks designed to evaluate comprehension and production of changes in number inflections (un cotxe ‘a car’; uns cotxes ‘a-pl cars ’). Results showed that, irrespective of children’s language background, comprehension preceded production of singular and plural indefinite-article DPs; spoken representation was easier than written representation of number changes; and production of plural indefinite-article DPs was more difficult than its singular counterpart. Despite typological differences between the languages compared, both groups of L2 learners, even the Catalan control group, underwent similar processes.

L'accord grammatical de genre dans la dysphasie de développement

Various studies report that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) have important difficulties in using grammatical morphemes expressing gender, number or tense but none of these studies let us determine whether agreement perception is impaired. To answer this question, 18 children with SLI and 18 control children without language impairment participated in two tasks testing production and perception of French gender agreement between determiner and noun. The results showed that (i) only children with SLI produced gender errors or determiner omissions whereas (ii) both groups were sensitive to agreement violations: they were slower and made more errors to categorize disagreeing determiner phrases (*the [masc] banana [fem]).

The Syntax of Floating Intensifiers in Polish and its Implications for the Determiner Phrase Hypothesis

N/A

Inferential bridging relations reveal distinct neural mechanisms: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

This study investigates the online comprehension of Determiner Phrases (DPs) as a function of the given-new distinction in two-sentence texts in German and further focuses on DPs whose interpretation depends on inferential information (so-called ‘bridging relations’). Previous reaction time studies report an advantage of given over new information. In the present study, this difference is reflected in distinct neural mechanisms: event-related potentials reveal that previously introduced (i.e., given) DPs elicit a reduced N400, while new DPs show an enhanced N400 followed by a P600. Crucially, inferentially bridged DPs, which are hypothesized to share properties with new and given information, first pattern with given DPs (showing an attenuated N400) and then with new DPs (showing an enhanced P600). The data demonstrate that salience relations between DPs and prior context ease DP integration and that additional cost arises from the establishment of independent reference. They further reveal that processing cost associated with the interpretation of bridged DPs results from the anaphoric complexity of introducing an independent referent.

On Prepositional Phrases inside numeral expressions in Polish

This article focuses on the Polish structure NUM + na ‘out of’ + NUM (e.g. trzy na sto ‘three out of one hundred’). We explore the idea that, in most cases, the construction in question consists of a Determiner Phrase (DP) and an adjunct Prepositional Phrase (PP) – i.e. that it does not occupy a single numerical slot. We further postulate that this complex expression includes two occurrences of the quantified noun, one of them being subject to PF-ellipsis (deletion under identity). However, if the PP-internal (lower) numeral is a Q-type numeral (such as pięć ‘five’), the construction may be reanalysed as ‘mono-phrasal’. In such cases, the whole expression forms only one DP and the lower Q-numeral becomes the head of the numerical complex. The analysis we put forward in the present paper is based on the assumption that Polish is a DP-type language. We also take Q-numerals to be functional heads which occupy Q° and take NPs as their complements.

Determiner Phrases in Moses‐Columbia Salish

The syntax of Moses‐Columbia Salish has so far escaped description in the literature leaving a gap in the comparative Salishan studies that have begun to emerge. This paper describes a small fragment of Moses‐Columbia syntax, the basic patterns and behaviors within the Moses‐Columbia determiner phrase (DP). One of a small number of articles usually occupies the determiner position of the DP. These articles are similar in function and distribution to the demonstratives of the language, but this may reflect their shared historical origins rather than common class membership. Articles may be absent from DPs and no rules for their absence have been identified. The typical complement in DP is a noun phrase; clausal complements may also be possible. Like its three sister languages—Okanagan, Coeur d’Alene, and Kalispel—Moses‐Columbia does not encode a referentiality distinction through article choice, although other languages of the Interior Salishan branch appear to do so. Despite differences in detail, the main properties of Moses‐Columbia DPs are similar to those in other Interior Salishan languages. Intragroup variation in the properties of articles and the role they play in the interpretation of DPs suggest a complex group history that warrants closer study.

The Acquisition of French in Different Contexts: Focus on Functional Categories

Edited by Philippe Prévost and Johanne Paradis (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 32). Amsterdam — Philidelphia, John Benjamins 2004. vii+381 pp. Hb 13200; €110.00. This volume of studies, as the editors claim in their introduction, does indeed fill an ‘empirical gap’ in work on the acquisition of European languages. Although the theoretical framework is strictly defined, the robustness of the research in the varying contexts should entail that the volume also appeals to those who investigate the acquisition of French from other theoretical perspectives. All the studies within the volume are dedicated to a generative framework and concentrate on the acquisition of functional categories within that framework. The editors and authors of individual chapters are all well-established researchers within this field. The studies within the volume cover a range of linguistic contexts: first language (L1) acquisition, second language (L2) acquisition, bilingual first language acquisition and specifically language impaired acquisition (SLI). In all the contexts the research is predominantly with young children, although some of the L2 acquisition studies make comparisons between adult L2 and child L1 acquisition of certain grammatical structures (Hawkins and Franceschina, Granfeldt and Schlyter). The research throughout the volume focuses on a clustering of grammatical aspects, primarily the Determiner Phrase (DP) functional category and the functional categories implicated in the verbal domain. Within a generative approach, the acquisition of functional categories has been the dominant line of inquiry for the last decade. The questions over the years and across different linguistic contexts have been ‘strikingly similar’ and the issues discussed in this volume are no exception. The focus is on the presence or absence of functional categories in developing grammars and what properties they may have once they have been projected. The editors tentatively and perhaps optimistically suggest in their introduction that because the researchers are investigating similar issues and syntactic properties in a range of acquisition contexts, it may be possible to build a unified theory of the process of functional category acquisition. After a concise but informative introduction to the volume and the field of inquiry, the book is divided into two sections, one on LI acquisition and SLI acquisition and the other on L2 acquisition and bilingualism. Each individual chapter presents a thorough summary of the grammatical aspect being investigated, then outlines the research methods used. The research reported in this volume generally used robust methods of participant selection and research methodology. The majority of the studies are longitudinal with a small number of participants, however some are comparative (Hamann, Paradis and Crago) and some make use of data from grammaticality judgements (Labelle and Valois, Hawkins and Franceschina). Results are presented clearly in tables and charts and most of the chapters make appropriate use of comparative statistics. Significantly, within this volume there is the introduction of important new directions in research in this field of inquiry, for example, the semantics/syntax interface in acquiring functional categories (Prévost) and the use of prosodic analysis to support specifically syntactic arguments (De Cat). The collection of studies is an important contribution to work in this field. The volume will prove useful for all researchers investigating the acquisition of French but particularly for those working from within a generative framework.