A parameter-free underspecification approach to complementizer agreement

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31513/linguistica.2022.v18n1a56350

Keywords:

generative grammar (minimalism), syntactic variation, underspecification of rule ordering, complementizer agreement

Abstract

The issue of linguistic variation, corresponding to parametric variation in syntax, has not been explored comprehensively in the minimalist approach (but see e.g. ROBERTS, 2019 and references in). Two partially distinct, central views of linguistic variation in this framework are (i) variation comes from the lexicon (the so-called Borer-Chomsky conjecture, see BAKER, 2008) and (ii) variation is spelled out through externalization (or the Berwick-Chomsky conjecture). In this paper, we explore a third view of linguistic variation, invoking underspecification of rule ordering in narrow syntax, based on Obata et al. (2015). To implement this approach, we compare two languages, Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and Cabo Verdean Creole (CVC), regarding complementizer agreement in argument and adjunct wh-questions. Whereas CVC requires an overt complementizer in argument wh-questions, BP shows a general pattern of optionality in both argument and adjunct wh-questions. We argue that both systems can be accounted for in terms of rule-ordering underspecification in the grammar.

Author Biographies

Yushi Sugimoto, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor & University of Tokyo

Yushi Sugimoto is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He earned his Ph.D in Linguistics at the University of Michigan. His research interests are syntactic theory, minimalist syntax, syntactic variation, and Creole studies. His research has been published in journals including Languages and Studia Linguistica.

Acrisio Pires, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Yushi Sugimoto is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He earned his Ph.D in Linguistics at the University of Michigan. His research interests are syntactic theory, minimalist syntax, syntactic variation, and Creole studies. His research has been published in journals including Languages and Studia Linguistica
capa Revista Linguística v18 n1

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Published

2022-04-23

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2022): Studies in theory of grammar

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