A Short Note on Inclusive and Exclusive Plurals in Korean

Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie(Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie ),Éric Mathieu(Éric Mathieu ) 한국생성문법학회 2023 생성문법연구 Vol.33 No.1

The aim of this short article is to give a comprehensive analysis of number in Korean, adding a novel observation about the interpretation of plurals in that language. Based on the new data, our proposal is that number is distributed along the nominal spine with different effects depending on the type of functional head (and semantic features) it is associated with. In particular, we propose that number in Korean is associated with two number projections, NumP1 and NumP2, (see Watanabe 2010 for Japanese, Vazquez Rojas Maldonado 2012 for Purépecha (isolate, tsz), Dali and Mathieu 2021 for Tunisian Arabic (Afro-Asiatic, aeb)). By shedding light on the distinction between inclusive and exclusive plurals in Korean and the relationship between definiteness and plurality, we contribute to the current debate related to the distribution of the Korean plural.

Dissecting Inchoatives and Causatives: English get constructions

Barrie Michael Jonathan Mathew,성문현 한국언어정보학회 2018 언어와 정보 Vol.22 No.3

Barrie, Michael Jonathan Mathew and Sung, Moonhyun. 2018. Dissecting Inchoatives and Causatives: English get Constructions. Language and Information, 22.3. 91-108. In this paper, we present data from English get-constructions and from Northern Iroquoian to challenge the recent consensus that in no languages are causatives built on inchoatives. Our data suggest the need for distinct functional projections for the causative and inchoative. We argue that while they are bundled in other situations, the functional heads for the causative and inchoative can be split as described in the present paper. This line of research follows recent trends in investigating the fine structure of the vP layer (Alexiadou et al. 2015, Harley 2013, Kim 2011, Marantz 2013, Pylkkänen 2008, Ramchand 2008, Legate 2014). We propose a syntactic mechanism for bundling and, in doing so, account for differences in the range of possible meanings with adverbs between canonical causatives and get-causatives. Briefly, get-causatives have unbundled causative and inchoative heads and have a wider ranger of adverbial meanings due to the projection of independent CausP and InchP. Canonical causatives have a bundled Caus-Inch head, projecting a single Caus/InchP, which leads to fewer sites for adverbs to adjoin and accordingly to a narrower range of adverbial meanings. (Sogang University)

Locative Inversion and Passivization in Xitsonga

Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie,Seunghun Lee,Crous Hlungwane 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2023 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.24 No.1

We describe and analyze a novel pattern of locative inversion, passivization, and object clitics in Xitsonga, a Bantu language of South Africa. We note that, unlike in most Bantu languages, locative inversion can take place with intransitives, transitives with active voice, and transitives with passive voice. While subject marking is obligatory, object marking is optional and indicates emphasis, although the semantic details are unclear. An interesting pattern emerges with locative inversion. Object marking is possible only with passive voice. We present an analysis in which the subject and object markers are clitics that are inserted post-syntactically. The subject clitic is triggered by agreement between T and the grammatical subject. The object clitic is triggered by theta assignment by V (which raises to Asp) to the thematic object. In locative inversion, the external argument remains in situ and serves as an intervenor between V (housed on Asp) and the object. In the passive, the external argument is suppressed or appears in a by-phrase, and the object can trigger the appearance of the object clitic on Asp.

In Defense of DP (or KP)

Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie,Audrey Li,Martina Wiltschko,Jong Un Park 경희대학교 언어정보연구소 2021 언어연구 Vol.38 No.2

Bruening et al. (2018) present a reanalysis of the DP Hypothesis, arguing that nominal phrases are NPs and that functional elements such as number and determiners appear in the specifier of NP. We take issue with a number of their claims, arguing that the DP Hypothesis (re-named here as the DP/KP Hypothesis) is in fact not in jeopardy. We review their discussion and present our counter arguments. First, we address their discussion of the development of the DP Hypothesis, and include several critical references they did not include in their overview. Their claim that the DP Hypothesis largely rests on an architectural parallel with the extended verbal projection ignores a large body of literature in which morphological, syntactic, and semantic evidence is adduced for an articulated nominal structure. They discuss several lines of evidence based on selection in support of their claim that nominal phrases are headed by N. We show that their claims fail for empirical and theoretical reasons. Specifically, once the assumption of another layer of structure above DP (namely KP) is acknowledged, their arguments against the functional architecture in nominal phrases no longer hold. We conclude that the DP/KP Hypothesis is still the best explanation for the cross-linguistic facts on nominal phrases.

Labelling, Instability, and Noun Incorporation

Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie 한국생성문법학회 2019 생성문법연구 Vol.29 No.2

In standard Minimalist Theory, the impetus for movement is feature strength. Strong features trigger overt movement, while weak features trigger covert movement. The equally stipulative EPP has also been implicated as a rigger for movement. Acknowledging that feature strength and the EPP are unsatisfying explanations for movement in language (Richards 2010; 2016), I investigate labelling and instability as sources of movement, as developed by Chomsky (2013) and Ott (2015). Ott argues that unlabelled structures are unstable and trigger movement. I investigate this nascent proposal in the context of noun incorporation in Northern Iroquoian languages. I show that noun incorporation is driven by instability caused by lack of a label rather than by Baker’s Morphological Visibility Condition. In addition to clarifying certain aspects of noun incorporation that are problematic for Baker’s analysis, this investigation brings us a step closer to the elimination of feature strength from Universal Grammar.

Head Movement as Feature Geometry Growth

Michael Jonathan,Mathew Barrie 한국생성문법학회 2017 생성문법연구 Vol.27 No.4

Head Movement (HM) is problematic in a number of ways. In this paper, I concentrate on the fact that HM is unformulable in Bare Phrase Structure (BPS). Rather than propose novel mechansims or complicate the notion of Merge, I propose that HM be rethought of as Feature Geometry growth. Taking seriously the idea that syntactic heads are merely feature bundles organized into a geometry, I propose that these feature bundles can merge, forming larger feature geometries. The feature geometry thus formed must be consistent with the overall feature geometry of the language in question. Just as intervening features in a Feature Geometry cannot be missing, HM cannot skip intervening heads, thus deriving the Head Movement Constraint. This theory of HM is illustrated in depth with negation in English, resolving some thorny issues left unsettled under the traditional theory of HM. Some tentative remarks are made regarding noun incorporation and Long Head Movement. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages of the proposed theory of the traditional theory of HM and with some unresolved issues.

Where and Why are Labels Necessary?

Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie 한국생성문법학회 2021 생성문법연구 Vol.31 No.1

There has been considerable debate recently as to when labels are created and whether they’re necessary at all (Collins 2002). Chomsky has proposed that labels are necessary at LF only. Takita (2020) has argued that labels are necessary at PF only. I propose that labels are necessary at both interfaces. This explains why movement for labelling takes place overtly, as noted by Ott (2015) and Moro (2009). I illustrate the necessity of labels for Pseudo Noun Incorporation (PNI) in three languages. Specifically, I argue that labels are necessary to identify the category selected by the verb in PNI. Some languages select a bare nP, while other select a bare NumP. Finally, I combine these observations with Wiltschko’s theory of number. The observed properties of PNI fall out from Wiltschko’s theory, but only if we assume labels are formed in the overt syntax.

Pseudo Scope Marking Constructions in Blackfoot

Barrie Michael Jonathan Mathew 한국생성문법학회 2014 생성문법연구 Vol.24 No.4

This paper discusses and analyzes a kind of scope marking constructionin Blackfoot (Algonquian) and adds to the diversity of such constructionsfound in languages around the world. This construction has manyproperties in common with other scope marking constructions but differsin some crucial ways. Hence, I use the label pseudo scope markingconstruction to describe this phenomenon. I show that this constructionis actually derived by canonical wh-movement with one small difference. What undergoes overt wh-movement is not an XP but rather a feature. Overt feature movement is licensed by the morphology of the questionwords in this language. Specifically, there is a free morpheme tsa, whichI propose corresponds only to a [wh] feature. As a free morpheme, it isable to undergo overt movement. The discussion relies on Lasnik’s StrayAffix Filter in addition to the particular morphological properties ofquestion words in Blackfoot to account for these facts.

Noun Incorporation and the Lexicalist Hypothesis

Barrie Michael Jonathan Mathew 한국생성문법학회 2012 생성문법연구 Vol.22 No.2

Many recent and not so recent debates on noun incorporation (NI) pit a syntactic analysis (Baker, 1988, 1996, Haugen, 2008, Sadock, 1980, 1986)against a lexical origin (Di Sciullo and Williams, 1987, Rosen, 1989) of NI constructions. Within the past 10 years or so, many researchers have abandoned any sort of generative lexicon in favour of the so-called single-engine hypothesis in which word formation is handled strictly in the syntax, with the possibility of some post-syntactic re-arrangements (Halle & Marantz, 1993; Julien, 2002; Marantz, 1997, 2001; inter alia). The goal of this paper is to examine how these discussions on NI bear on the Lexicalist Hypothesis. I show that a separate morphological module is not only unnecessary, but also unparsimonious in explaining NI.

Numeral Classifiers in Eastern Tamang

Barrie Michael Jonathan Mathew,전재현 대한언어학회 2022 언어학 Vol.30 No.1

In this paper, we examine numeral classifiers and number marking in one dialect of Eastern Tamang. As Tamang is a relatively understudied dialect continuum, we give a basic description of the empirical facts. We then employ various diagnostics from the literature and one we created ourselves to determine whether classifiers compose with nouns or with numerals. We conclude that since the classifier composes with numerals, the numeral classifier is a constituent that composes with the NP. We also examine number marking and observe that the plural marker is obligatory in some environments for animate nouns, but not for inanimate nouns. We conclude by making some tentative remarks that this dialect of Eastern Tamang might be undergoing a transition from a classifier language to a number language.