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A MINIMALIST ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTIONS:
TOWARDS A PHASE ACCOUNT OF NON-FINITE STRUCTURES
by
Asier Alcázar Estela
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(LINGUISTICS)
August 2007
Copyright 2007 Asier Alcázar Estela
Object Description
| Title | A minimalist analysis of participial constructions: towards a phase account of non-finite structures |
| Author | Alcàzar Estela, Asier |
| Author email | alcazar@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Linguistics (Hispanic Linguistics) |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2007-05-14 |
| Date submitted | 2007 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2007-07-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Saltarelli, Mario |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Vergnaud, Jean-Roger Pancheva, Roumyana Li, Audrey |
| Abstract | This dissertation proposes that past participial constructions are the expressed complements of vP and CP phases (Chomsky 2001, 2005). If correct, this calls for a minimalist reanalysis of non-finite structures as phases, given the possibility to end a derivation at an intermediate Spell-Out. The analysis is based on an extensive survey of participial constructions across languages and historical periods that we extracted from diachronic and contemporary corpora as well as the specialized literature.; English (9th-21st c.), Latin and Modern Romance participial constructions present exceptional characteristics. Absolute participials serve as a test for unaccusativity, because they ban unergative predicates (Perlmutter 1978b, Rosen 1983, McCawley 1983, Stump 1985, Kayne 1989, Belletti 1990, López 2001). Participial relatives share this peculiarity as well (Williams 1975, Burzio 1986, Levin and Rappaport 1986, Kayne 1994, Siloni 1997, Bhatt 1999). Additionally, they behave in a manner unexpected of relatives. The Accessibility Hierarchy (Keenan and Comrie 1977) predicts that a relative clause should be able to relativize subjects (e.g., present participles). In contrast, past participles relativize passive/unaccusative subjects only.; We analyze these participial constructions as the expressed VP complement of the vP phase. The syntax respects the Extended Projection Principle (Chomsky 1982, 1995), for unergatives and active transitives are thematically complete. However, only the VP complement is Spelled-Out, resulting into a construction that serves as a test for unaccusativity, and where subjects are not accessible for relativization.; Participial constructions adopt other forms, which are unexceptional and understudied in connection to their English, Latin and Modern Romance counterparts. These forms are the expressed complements of a tensed or tenseless CP phase. In Basque and Old Italian (13th-16th c. cf. Egerland 1996), for example, absolutes accept unergatives, failing as a test for unaccusativity. Participial relatives in Basque, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Quechua and Turkish permit subject relativization, in consonance with the Accessibility Hierarchy. Participial constructions may be tensed too: gerundivals (Basque, English (16th-21st c.), Sanskrit, Old Italian and Modern Romance); participial relatives (Basque; Old Egyptian (ca. 2650-1990 BCE) and Tamil cf. Doron and Reintges 2007). Tensed participial constructions do not serve as a test for unaccusativity, nor do they violate the Accessibility Hierarchy.; Previous analyses had focused either on participial absolutes or participial relatives, but not both. Our unified account paves the way for an alternative approach to the analysis of non-finite constructions as intermediate Spell-Outs. |
| Keyword | non-finite clauses; absolute constructions; reduced relatives; Basque; phase theory; minimalism |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m709 |
| Rights | Alcàzar Estela, Asier |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-AlcazarEstela-20070727 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume62/etd-AlcazarEstela-20070727.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | A MINIMALIST ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTIONS: TOWARDS A PHASE ACCOUNT OF NON-FINITE STRUCTURES by Asier Alcázar Estela A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (LINGUISTICS) August 2007 Copyright 2007 Asier Alcázar Estela |
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