The morphology and syntax of ergativity: a typological approach
| Author(s) | Rill, Justin | |
| Date Accessioned | 2017-04-27T11:58:34Z | |
| Date Available | 2017-04-27T11:58:34Z | |
| Publication Date | 2017 | |
| Abstract | This dissertation seeks to answer three loosely-related questions regarding ergativity. First, what is the nature of the morphological phenomena known as ERG=GEN and ERG=POSS? After providing a thorough description with ample data from a wide range of sources, a typological survey of 40 ergative languages concludes that together, they are a fairly common phenomenon, occurring in over half the languages in the sample and across all types of ergative languages cross-linguistically. Furthermore, these ergative patterns of syncretism occur at a higher rate than their nominative and accusative counterparts do, according to an equivalent sample of 40 accusative languages. The next question is theoretical in nature: what is the best way to model these syncretic patterns in the grammar? ERG=GEN and ERG=POSS are shown to follow straightforwardly from existing theories of case and agreement; however, for those rarer, non-ergative patterns, it is argued that a fundamentally different process of ‘recycling’ takes place in a somewhat random fashion. Finally, what is the relationship between morphological ergativity and syntactic ergativity? In a marked departure from existing theories in the literature, the last major chapter in the dissertation argues that cross-linguistically, the primary function of ergative extraction asymmetries is actually disambiguation in ¯ A-extraction, thus weakening the close connection to morphological ergativity which has been previously claimed. Indeed, new data is presented showing that the alignment of extraction asymmetries is not always consistent with morphological alignment, increasing our current understanding of the relationship between these two components of grammar. | en_US |
| Advisor | Hermon, Gabriella | |
| Degree | Ph.D. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science | |
| Unique Identifier | 984510112 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/21287 | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/1884791636?accountid=10457 | |
| Title | The morphology and syntax of ergativity: a typological approach | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |