abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the syntax and pragmatics of subject doubling in spoken French. Many prescriptivists have considered it a redundant and ungrammatical form, but over the years, it has gained more interest from syntacticians. It is widely acknowledged that dislocations involve topics, but the position of these structures is very disputed. Some linguists believe in base generation while others state there is movement. The status of subject clitics also comes into play and their role as arguments or agreement markers is crucial to understanding the issues at stake with a topic analysis. It is often argued that the clitics are undergoing a linguistic cycle whereby they lose their function of argument, and need to be reinforced by disjunct pronouns. In this study, I examined which analyses support my data and I attempted to determine what structures tend to be most dislocated by looking at the environment of the discourse in a corpus of spoken French. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. French 2012

We propose a definition of aboutness topicality that not only encompasses individual denoting DPs, but also indefinites. We concentrate on the interpretative effects of marking indefinites as topics: they either receive widest scope in their clause, or they are interpreted in the restrictor of an overt or covert Q-adverb. We show that in the first case they are direct aboutness topics insofar as they are the subject of a predication expressed by the comment, while in the second case they are indirect aboutness topics: they define the subject of a higher-order predication – namely the set of situations that the respective Q-adverb quantifies over.

The goal of this work is to provide an account of dative clitic dependencies in constructions with raising verbs such as to seem in Romanian. Dative clitic experiencers as quirky subjects and dative clitics in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) constructions are discussed from a syntactic point of view and experimentally tested in a psycholinguistics study. The study contributes to current innovations in the Minimalist Program, presenting new perspectives on Romanian clitic dependencies in raising constructions partially addressed in earlier generative grammar. This study poses new questions regarding raising, the intervention effects of dative clitic experiencers, and the effects of clitic dependencies in ditransitive constructions. Chapter II presents an overview of Romanian raising constructions without dative experiencers. I show that Romanian possesses three raising constructions, based on the type of the embedded clause: subjunctive, infinitive, and indicative. Each of these has three potential locations for the nominative subject, argued to be generated in the embedded clause. Formal mechanisms such as Long Distance and Multiple Agree, Movement, Case and EPP are considered independent of one another. Dative clitic experiencers in raising constructions, analyzed in Chapter III, are claimed to be quirky subjects and to structurally occupy the highest position in the sentence. Having established the role of dative clitic experiencers, I discuss raising constructions involving dative experiencers generated and/or surfacing in various positions, and their effects on operations such as Agree and Move. I then discuss Experiencer Islands, formed by matrix and embedded experiencers in the same utterance, and present the contexts in which they occur. A Grammaticality Judgment Test confirms the existence of such restriction in Romanian. Furthermore, I present an analysis of Experiencer Islands and discuss observed exceptions to the restriction. Dative clitic dependencies such as CLLD constructions and Long Distance CLLD Constructions are also analyzed in this thesis. The experimental study presented in Chapter IV supports theoretical claims and demonstrates that Romanian speakers are aware of dative clitic dependencies, such as clitic experiencer dependencies and clitic dependencies in CLLD constructions, possess the grammatical knowledge of biclausal constructions involving dative clitic dependencies and have the ability to recognize such dependencies.

The goal of this work is to provide an account of dative clitic dependencies in constructions with raising verbs such as to seem in Romanian. Dative clitic experiencers as quirky subjects and dative clitics in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) constructions are discussed from a syntactic point of view and experimentally tested in a psycholinguistics study. The study contributes to current innovations in the Minimalist Program, presenting new perspectives on Romanian clitic dependencies in raising constructions partially addressed in earlier generative grammar. This study poses new questions regarding raising, the intervention effects of dative clitic experiencers, and the effects of clitic dependencies in ditransitive constructions. Chapter II presents an overview of Romanian raising constructions without dative experiencers. I show that Romanian possesses three raising constructions, based on the type of the embedded clause: subjunctive, infinitive, and indicative. Each of these has three potential locations for the nominative subject, argued to be generated in the embedded clause. Formal mechanisms such as Long Distance and Multiple Agree, Movement, Case and EPP are considered independent of one another. Dative clitic experiencers in raising constructions, analyzed in Chapter III, are claimed to be quirky subjects and to structurally occupy the highest position in the sentence. Having established the role of dative clitic experiencers, I discuss raising constructions involving dative experiencers generated and/or surfacing in various positions, and their effects on operations such as Agree and Move. I then discuss Experiencer Islands, formed by matrix and embedded experiencers in the same utterance, and present the contexts in which they occur. A Grammaticality Judgment Test confirms the existence of such restriction in Romanian. Furthermore, I present an analysis of Experiencer Islands and discuss observed exceptions to the restriction. Dative clitic dependencies such as CLLD constructions and Long Distance CLLD Constructions are also analyzed in this thesis. The experimental study presented in Chapter IV supports theoretical claims and demonstrates that Romanian speakers are aware of dative clitic dependencies, such as clitic experiencer dependencies and clitic dependencies in CLLD constructions, possess the grammatical knowledge of biclausal constructions involving dative clitic dependencies and have the ability to recognize such dependencies.

The goal of this work is to provide an account of dative clitic dependencies in constructions with raising verbs such as to seem in Romanian. Dative clitic experiencers as quirky subjects and dative clitics in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) constructions are discussed from a syntactic point of view and experimentally tested in a psycholinguistics study. The study contributes to current innovations in the Minimalist Program, presenting new perspectives on Romanian clitic dependencies in raising constructions partially addressed in earlier generative grammar. This study poses new questions regarding raising, the intervention effects of dative clitic experiencers, and the effects of clitic dependencies in ditransitive constructions. Chapter II presents an overview of Romanian raising constructions without dative experiencers. I show that Romanian possesses three raising constructions, based on the type of the embedded clause: subjunctive, infinitive, and indicative. Each of these has three potential locations for the nominative subject, argued to be generated in the embedded clause. Formal mechanisms such as Long Distance and Multiple Agree, Movement, Case and EPP are considered independent of one another. Dative clitic experiencers in raising constructions, analyzed in Chapter III, are claimed to be quirky subjects and to structurally occupy the highest position in the sentence. Having established the role of dative clitic experiencers, I discuss raising constructions involving dative experiencers generated and/or surfacing in various positions, and their effects on operations such as Agree and Move. I then discuss Experiencer Islands, formed by matrix and embedded experiencers in the same utterance, and present the contexts in which they occur. A Grammaticality Judgment Test confirms the existence of such restriction in Romanian. Furthermore, I present an analysis of Experiencer Islands and discuss observed exceptions to the restriction. Dative clitic dependencies such as CLLD constructions and Long Distance CLLD Constructions are also analyzed in this thesis. The experimental study presented in Chapter IV supports theoretical claims and demonstrates that Romanian speakers are aware of dative clitic dependencies, such as clitic experiencer dependencies and clitic dependencies in CLLD constructions, possess the grammatical knowledge of biclausal constructions involving dative clitic dependencies and have the ability to recognize such dependencies.

The goal of this work is to provide an account of dative clitic dependencies in constructions with raising verbs such as to seem in Romanian. Dative clitic experiencers as quirky subjects and dative clitics in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) constructions are discussed from a syntactic point of view and experimentally tested in a psycholinguistics study. The study contributes to current innovations in the Minimalist Program, presenting new perspectives on Romanian clitic dependencies in raising constructions partially addressed in earlier generative grammar. This study poses new questions regarding raising, the intervention effects of dative clitic experiencers, and the effects of clitic dependencies in ditransitive constructions. Chapter II presents an overview of Romanian raising constructions without dative experiencers. I show that Romanian possesses three raising constructions, based on the type of the embedded clause: subjunctive, infinitive, and indicative. Each of these has three potential locations for the nominative subject, argued to be generated in the embedded clause. Formal mechanisms such as Long Distance and Multiple Agree, Movement, Case and EPP are considered independent of one another. Dative clitic experiencers in raising constructions, analyzed in Chapter III, are claimed to be quirky subjects and to structurally occupy the highest position in the sentence. Having established the role of dative clitic experiencers, I discuss raising constructions involving dative experiencers generated and/or surfacing in various positions, and their effects on operations such as Agree and Move. I then discuss Experiencer Islands, formed by matrix and embedded experiencers in the same utterance, and present the contexts in which they occur. A Grammaticality Judgment Test confirms the existence of such restriction in Romanian. Furthermore, I present an analysis of Experiencer Islands and discuss observed exceptions to the restriction. Dative clitic dependencies such as CLLD constructions and Long Distance CLLD Constructions are also analyzed in this thesis. The experimental study presented in Chapter IV supports theoretical claims and demonstrates that Romanian speakers are aware of dative clitic dependencies, such as clitic experiencer dependencies and clitic dependencies in CLLD constructions, possess the grammatical knowledge of biclausal constructions involving dative clitic dependencies and have the ability to recognize such dependencies.

<p>The aim of the dissertation entitled Topicalization and<br />Left Dislocation in English and Serbian is to describe<br />and offer a generative account of the syntactic and<br />information-structural properties of topicalization and<br />left dislocation in the languages in question, two<br />superficially similar preposing structures which<br />express the same propositions, but are not felicitous in<br />the same context. The analysis is not contrastive in the<br />sense that we are looking for English-Serbian<br />counterparts or vice versa, but the tertium<br />comparationis are the phenomena of topicalization<br />and left dislocation. The fundamental diagnostics of<br />differentiating between the two variants of left<br />dislocation identified in Serbian is laid out, viz.<br />Hanging Topic Left Dislocation and Contrastive Left<br />Dislocation. The dissertation also explores how<br />informational structuring of an utterance determines<br />contextual choices. The lexicon provides the input to<br />the computational system which by means of features<br />builds structure via phases and also gives rise to<br />displacement. The data related to information structure<br />come from the numeration. The results of the research<br />indicate that the notion of a topic should be<br />deconstructed in a combination of the features [+/-<br />a(nchored), +/-c(ontrastive)], similarly to L&oacute;pez<br />(2009), anchored in the sense of Birner &amp; Ward<br />(1998), and contrastive in the pragmatic sense of Titov<br />(2013), whereby [+/-c] is parasitic on [+a].<br />Topicalization in both English and Serbian, and<br />Contrastive Left Dislocation in Serbian mark topics<br />vii<br />[+a, +c], whereas Hanging Topic Left Dislocation<br />HTLD in both English and Serbian marks topic [+a, -<br />c]. It is argued that adding pragmatic features in<br />addition to formal ones relevant to the derivation by<br />the operation which forms the numeration does not<br />offend the Inclusiveness Condition either. The<br />interpretation of an element marked as a topic is the<br />result of its featural content and its syntactic position,<br />reflecting the interaction of syntax, prosody and<br />pragmatics. Pragmatic features are valued but<br />uninterpretable in the numeration rendering the<br />syntactic object containing it active for syntactic<br />operations. Probe (pragmatic) features trigger<br />Agree(ment), but not displacement. It is an edge<br />feature that drives movement or Internal Merge. It is<br />argued that topicalization in both English and Serbian<br />is generated by movement. The edge feature on C<br />(Force) licenses the TopP if it is required for the<br />interpretation and if it is structurally possible, as<br />observed by Jim&eacute;nez-Fern&aacute;ndez &amp; Miyagawa (2014).<br />Unlike in English, the non-phase head T in Serbian<br />can inherit an edge feature from C and license the<br />TopP in the Spec,TP in those structures which are said<br />to be incompatible with topicalization in English. The<br />head licensing the left-dislocated element is realized<br />as comma intonation, as argued by Emonds (2004). It<br />is argued that Hanging Topic Left Dislocation in both<br />English and Serbian is derived by base-generation of<br />the left-dislocated constituent in its surface position<br />(adjoined to a CP), whereas Contrastive Left<br />Dislocation in Serbian by movement (also to a<br />position attached to a CP). What moves is the<br />resumptive pronoun, and then co-reference is<br />established upon adjoining of the left-dislocated<br />element via the operation Match or Match+Agree of<br />Boeckx (2003), which is the only way not to violate<br />the Inclusiveness Condition. Although both<br />Topicalization and Contrastive Left Dislocation mark<br />contrastive topics, they have different discourse<br />distributions, as confirmed by our corpus, thus this<br />adjoining of a left-dislocated element is justified. In<br />the case of Hanging Topic Left Dislocation, coreference<br />between the left-dislocated element and the<br />resumptive pronoun is established via the operation<br />Match of Boeckx (2003). If the resumptive pronoun is<br />a clitic, it moves to the second position in its intonational phrase triggered by the phonological requirement. Hanging Topic Left Dislocation in both English and Serbian marks referential topics and it is</p><p>also a topic-promoting device in Serbian, as argued on<br />relying on our corpus.</p> / <p>Cilj doktorske disertacije pod nazivom Tematizacija i<br />leva dislokacija u engleskom i srpskom jeziku je da<br />opi&scaron;e i ponudi generativni prikaz sintaksiĉkih i<br />informacijsko strukturnih osobina tematizacije i leve<br />dislokacije u pomenutim jezicima, dveju naizgled<br />sliĉnih struktura za pomeranje reĉeniĉnog elementa u<br />prednje polje koje izraţavaju iste propozicije, ali ne<br />odgovaraju istom kontekstu. Analiza nije kontrastivna<br />u smislu da traţimo englesko srpske ekvivalente ili<br />obratno, već je tertium comparationis pojava<br />tematizacije i leve dislokacije. PonuĊeni su i osnovni<br />dijagnostiĉki testovi za razlikovanje dva oblika leve<br />dislokacije identifikovana u srpskom, naime leve<br />dislokacije odvojene teme i kontrastne leve<br />dislokacije. Disertacija takoĊe istraţuje kako<br />informacijsko strukturiranje iskaza odreĊuje<br />kontekstualne izbore. Leksikon obezbeĊuje ulaznu<br />informaciju sistemu sintaksiĉkih operacija koji putem<br />obeleţja gradi strukturu u fazama i takoĊe dovodi do<br />pomeranja. Podaci vezani za informacijsku strukturu<br />su dati u numeraciji. Rezultati istraţivanja ukazuju na<br />potrebu da se pojam teme ra&scaron;ĉlani na kombinaciju<br />obeleţja [+/-a, +/-c], sliĉno L&oacute;pezu (2009), anaforiĉno<br />u smislu Birnera &amp; Warda (1998), i kontrastno u<br />pragmatiĉkom smislu Titove (2013) pri ĉemu je [+/-c]<br />zavisno od [+a]. Tematizacija i u engleskom i u<br />srpskom jeziku i kontrastna leva dislokacija u srpskom<br />obeleţavaju teme kao [+a, +c], dok leva dislokacija<br />odvojene teme i u engleskom i u srpskom jeziku<br />obeleţava teme kao [+a, -c]. U radu se dokazuje da ni&nbsp;dodeljivanje pragmatiĉkih obeleţja pored formalnih obeleţja relevantnih za derivaciju putem operacije koja formira numeraciju ne naru&scaron;ava uslov ukljuĉenosti. Interpretacija elementa obeleţenog kao tema je rezultat njegove kombinacije obeleţja i njegove sintaksiĉke pozicije, &scaron;to odraţava interakciju sintakse, prozodije i pragmatike. Pragmatiĉka obeleţja su vrednovana, ali netumaĉiva u numeraciji ĉineći sintaksiĉki objekat koji ih sadrţi aktivnim za sintaksiĉke operacije. Upravna (pragmatiĉka) obeleţja uzrokuju slaganje, ali ne i pomeranje. Obeleţje ivice je ono &scaron;to pokreće pomeranje ili interno spajanje. Argumentujemo da je tematizacija i u engleskom i u srpskom jeziku generisana pomeranjem. Obeleţje ivice na upravnom elementu C (Force) dozvoljava TopP ako je to neophodno za interpretaciju i ako je strukturno moguće, kao &scaron;to su formulisali Jim&eacute;nez-Fern&aacute;ndez &amp; Miyagawa (2014). Za razliku od engleskog, nefazni upravni element T (upravni element obeleţja vremena) u srpskom jeziku moţe da preuzme obeleţje ivice od C i dozvoli TopP u Spec,TP u onim strukturama za koje se smatra da nisu kompatibilne sa tematizacijom u engleskom jeziku. Upravni element koji dozvoljava levu dislokaciju se realizuje kao intonacijska pauza, kao &scaron;to predlaţe Emonds (2004). Argumetujemo da je leva dislokacija odvojene teme i u engleskom i u srpskom jeziku nastala generisanjem levo dislociranog konstituenta u mestu realizacije (pridruţenom CP projekciji), dok je kontrastna leva dislokacija u srpskom nastala pomeranjem (takoĊe u poziciju pridruţenu CP projekciji). Ono &scaron;to se zapravo pomera je rezumptivna zamenica i onda se po pridruţivanju levo dislociranog elementa uspostavlja koreferentnost putem operacije uskladi ili uskladi+sloţi Boeckxa (2003), &scaron;to predstavlja jedini naĉin da se ne naru&scaron;i uslov ukljuĉenosti. Iako i tematizacija i kontrastna leva dislokacija obeleţavaju kontrastne teme, one imaju razliĉite diskursne distribucije, &scaron;to je potvrdio na&scaron; korpus, stoga je ovo pridruţivanje levo dislociranog elementa opravdano. U sluĉaju leve dislokacije odvojene teme, koreferentnost izmeĊu levo dislociranog elementa i rezumptivne zamenice se uspostavlja putem operacije uskladi (Boeckx 2003). Ako je rezumptivna zamenica klitika, ona se pomera u drugu poziciju u svojoj intonacijskoj frazi, &scaron;to je&nbsp;uzrokovano fonolo&scaron;kim zahtevom. Leva dislokacija odvojene teme i u englesko i u srpskom jeziku obeleţava referencijske teme i takoĊe je sredstvo unapreĊivanja teme u srpskom, kao &scaron;to se argumentuje na osnovu na&scaron;eg korpusa.</p>

Thesis (MA (Biblical Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an exploratory investigation into the discourse-pragmatic function(s) of the so-called Left-Dislocation construction in Biblical Hebrew. This inquiry is a part of a larger investigation into the nature and function of word order variation in Biblical Hebrew. In light of past research on Biblical Hebrew word-order variation, specifically concerning Left-Dislocation constructions, it is concluded that a re-analysis of Left-Dislocation constructions in Biblical Hebrew is called for. Advancements within the fields of cognitive-functional linguistics and discourse-pragmatics (information-structure) have afforded numerous avenues towards a more comprehensive cognitive-oriented frame of reference for ascertaining the functions of Biblical Hebrew word order variation. The discourse-pragmatic and cognitive-functional notion of information-structure serves as the basis for the theoretical framework employed in the present investigation. Information-structure is principally concerned with the question as to why grammars of natural language offer speakers a variety of morphosyntactic and prosodic options for expressing the same propositional content. Since the Left-Dislocation construction is a universal syntactic phenomenon, typological information regarding the form and function of Left-Dislocation constructions across languages served as a critical source of insight into the prototypical formal features and functional domains of the construction within Biblical Hebrew. The insights garnered from cross-linguistic data informed the parameters employed in the construction and construal of a random data-set of one hundred cases of Left-Dislocation drawn from the narrative portions of the Hebrew Bible stretching from Genesis to 2 Chronicles. The investigation of our data-set, within the confines of a discourse-pragmatic framework, reveals that Left-Dislocation constructions in Biblical Hebrew are principally employed to facilitate the topic-promotion of identifiable but inactive discourse-referents. These referents could be the primary or secondary topics of the sentences in which they are used. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is 'n verkennende ondersoek na die diskoerspragmatiese funksie(s) van sogenaamde linksverskuiwing ('Left-Dislocation') konstruksies in Bybelse Hebreeus. Hierdie vraagstelling vorm deel van 'n meer omvattende ondersoek na die aard en funksie van woordorde-variasies in Bybelse Hebreeus. Na aanleiding van 'n uitvoerige literatuurstudie oor die funksie(s) van woordorde-variasies in Bybelse Hebreeus, veral met betrekking tot linksverskuiwingskonstruksies, is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat 'n heranalise van linksverskuiwingskonstruksies in Bybelse Hebreeus nodig is. Vooruitgang op die gebiede van kognitiewe-funksionele taalkunde, en tekspragmatiek (informasiestruktuur) het dit moontlik gemaak om 'n meer omvattende kognitief-georiënteerde verwysingsraamwerk vir die bepaling van die funksie(s) van Bybels-Hebreeuse woordorde-variasies te formuleer. Die diskoerspragmatiese en kognitiewe-funksionele opvatting van informasiestruktuur dien as die basis vir die teoretiese raamwerk wat in die huidige ondersoek gebruik is. Informasiestruktuur is hoofsaaklik gemoeid met die vraag waarom die grammatika van natuurlike taal aan sprekers 'n verskeidenheid van morfosintaktiese en prosodiese opsies bied vir die uitdrukking van dieselfde proposisionele inhoud. Aangesien die linksverskuiwingskonstruksie 'n universele sintaktiese verskynsel is, is taaltipologiese inligting oor die vorm en funksie van die linksverskuiwingskonstruksie gebruik om insig te kry in die prototipiese formele eienskappe en funksies van die konstruksie in Bybelse Hebreeus. Aan die hand van bg. taaltipologiese insigte is parameters geformuleer aan die hand waarvan 'n ewekansige monster voorbeelde van linksverskuiwing uit verhalende tekste uit Genesis tot 2 Kronieke ondersoek is. Daar is bevind dat linksverskuiwing in Bybelse Hebreeus hoofsaaklik aangewend word om identifiseerbare, maar onaktiewe diskoersreferente te promoveer as topieks. Hierdie referente mag primêre of sekondêre topieks wees.

This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of wh-question formation in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and presents a uniform approach that can accommodate all of its various wh-constructions. JA makes use of five different wh-constructions, four of which involve clause-initial wh-phrases and the fifth is a typical in-situ wh-construction. Although wh-phrases surface clause-initially in four different wh-constructions in JA, I propose that bona fide wh-movement to [Spec, CP] does not occur in any of these constructions, whether overtly in syntax or covertly at LF. I abandon the classification of JA as a wh-movement language (Abdel Razaq 2011) and focus instead on identifying the syntactic role that wh-phrases realize and the underlying structures that feed each wh-construction. I propose that the clause-initial position of the wh-phrase results either from the syntactic function that the wh-phrase serves or from other syntactic operations that are independently attested in JA. There are three clause-initial positions that the wh-phrase can occupy: it surfaces in [Spec, TP] when functioning as the subject of a verbal or verbless structure, in [Spec, TopP] when functioning as a clitic-left-dislocated element (as in CLLD questions and ʔilli-interrogatives involving PRON), or in [Spec, FocP] when undergoing focus fronting. Thus, all instances of clause-initial wh-phrases in JA constitute what I refer to as “pseudo wh-fronting”, as the clause-initial position of the wh-phrase arises from mechanisms other than canonical wh-movement to [Spec, CP]. To account for the interpretation of wh-phrases in JA, I adopt a binding approach in which a null interrogative morpheme (Baker 1970; Pesetsky 1987; Chomsky 1995) unselectively binds the wh-phrase regardless of its surface position, whether clause-initial or clause-internal (in-situ). A major implication of this analysis is that JA is a concealed wh-in-situ language of the Chinese type although it looks at a cursory glance as though it were a wh-movement language of the English type. A broader typological implication of my analysis is the convergence of Cheng’s (1991) Clausal Typing Hypothesis to which JA previously appeared to constitute a counterexample. The recognition of the null interrogative particle, or its optional overt realization as the Q-particle huwweh, as the locus of interrogative clause typing in all JA wh-questions entails that JA employs just one unique strategy to type a clause as a wh-question, as predicted by Cheng’s Clausal Typing Hypothesis, regardless of whether the wh-phrase surfaces clause-initially or clause-internally. / February 2017