本論文考察漢語普通話中一種特殊的名詞化短語 (derived nominal) ，旨在解釋其中心語的詞類和論元結構的形成機制。本文的研究表明，詞類和論元結構不是儲存於詞庫中的詞彙信息，而是在句法中衍生，由句法結構決定的。 / 與本文研究關係最緊密的是带有論元結構的名詞化短語。前人的研究 (如 Marantz 1997) 认为，論元結構由動詞投射決定，故有論元結構的名詞化短語中包含動詞短語投射vP。本文的研究支持這一觀點。本文發現，英語中有論元結構的名詞化短語，既可以由表達有終點事件 (telic) 的動詞形成，也可以由表達無自然終點事件 (atelic) 的動詞形成，但是普通話只允許前者。這一差别可歸結于兩個原因：普通話是量詞型語言 (classifier language)，而英語不是；普通話中被名詞化的結構不同。普通話名詞短語中有Cl(assifier) 投射。有終點的事件本身是可數的，所以，普通話中表示有終點的動詞能形成带有論元結構的名詞化短語。英語不是量詞型語言，無Cl投射，所以英語带有論元結構的名詞化短語不要求動詞表達的事件有終點。因此，英語中表達事件有無終點的動詞都可以形成有論元結構的名詞化短語。普通話和英語的對比支持名詞化短語中存在vP投射。此外，普通話中被名詞化的動詞投射只包括動詞和動詞的內論元，這可以解釋為什麼普通話带有論元結構的名詞化短語只有一個論元。 / 上文所述的分析，同時表明带有論元結構的名詞化短語中，其（語義上的）中心語是由動詞在句法中经由名詞化得來的。由此看出，詞類是句法衍生的，而不是在詞庫中決定的。本文對普通話名詞化短語的研究表明，句法決定詞類和論元結構。 / The thesis aims at accounting for the realization of word category and argument structure in a type of Mandarin derived nominals. The properties of Mandarin derived nominals are attributed to functional projections, showing that it is syntactic structures rather than lexical information that determine word category and argument structure. / The crucial data are derived nominals with argument structure, namely “AS-nominals“. The analysis of Mandarin AS-nominals supports the view that the arguments of AS-nominals are introduced by vP (e.g., Marantz 1997). The novel observation is that while English AS-nominals can be derived from verbs denoting both telic and atelic events, Mandarin AS-nominals are exclusively based on verbs denoting telic events. The contrast of the AS-nominals in the two languages lies in two factors: the availability of classifiers and the type of verbal projection to be nominalized. As Mandarin is a classifier (Cl) language, there are both Cl and v projections in Mandarin AS-nominals. As telic events are inherently countable, verbs denoting telic events can combine with classifiers and form AS-nominals in Mandarin. Since English is not a classifier language, there is no Cl in English AS-nominals; thus, there is no boundedness/telicity requirement for v. Consequently, verbs denoting both telic and atelic events can form AS-nominals in English. Moreover, the nominalizing morpheme in Mandarin AS-nominals selects a minimal verbal projection (a VP with only the innermost argument and the verb). This accounts for our observation that Mandarin AS-nominals involve only the internal argument of the verb. / The analysis above also indicates that the head noun of AS-nominals is nominalized from a verb in syntax. In other words, word category is derived in syntax rather than stored as lexical information. The study of Mandarin derived nominals exemplifies the role of syntax in the construction of meaning, which is traditionally attributed to lexical information, including word category and argument structure. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Yang, Jing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-162). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 論文提要 --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Abbreviations --- p.vi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Theoretical background --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Research objectives --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.14 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Different approaches to derived nominals --- p.16 / Chapter 2.1 --- Transformationalist approach --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2 --- Lexicalist approach --- p.20 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Chomsky (1970) --- p.20 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Inflection and derivation --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Grimshaw (1990) --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3 --- Syntactic approach --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Underlying VPs --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The structure of English derived nominals and gerundive nominals --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Boundedness in the nominal and verbal domain --- p.45 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.55 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Derived nominals in Mandarin --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1 --- Observation and generalization --- p.58 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Preliminary observation of Mandarin derived nominals --- p.60 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- The derived NOUN --- p.65 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- The argument structure of derived nominals --- p.71 / Chapter 3.2 --- Mandarin AS-nominals cast in the lexicalist approach --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3 --- Mandarin AS-nominals cast in the syntactic approach --- p.85 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Fu (1994) --- p.85 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Simpson (2002) --- p.92 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Mandarin de as a determiner --- p.96 / Chapter 3.4 --- Conclusion --- p.107 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- The structure of Mandarin derived nominals --- p.109 / Chapter 4.1 --- Mandarin derived nominals in the DM framework --- p.110 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Mandarin classifiers --- p.110 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- The underlying VP --- p.114 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Mandarin AS-nominals --- p.117 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- simple event nominals and result nominals --- p.126 / Chapter 4.1.5 --- Psych nouns --- p.129 / Chapter 4.2 --- Counterevidence to our proposal --- p.131 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Events and facts --- p.133 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Mandarin gerundive nominals and event-denotation --- p.135 / Chapter 4.3 --- Summary --- p.138 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.140 / Bibliography --- p.150

In light of the observation made by Bowers (1991: 19) that Mandarin classifiers are phonetic realization of a functional head Nm, whose semantic function is to turn properties into propositional functions, it is postulated that classifiers in Nuosu Yi can also be identified as this type of predication operator (Pr). / The classifier in Nuosu Yi can appear in possessives. Its function is to link the possessor noun and possessed noun and form a possession relation between them. However, Pr in Nuosu Yi possessives may not always be realized as a CL. When a Nuosu Yi speaker does not want to specify the number of the possessed item, he will not use classifiers to link the possessor and the possessed noun. In this case, Pr has no phonetic realization. Based on this observation, we propose that classifiers in East Asian classifier languages are likely to be grammaticalized into Pr, but this grammaticalization path is not unitary. Besides classifiers, Pr may take on other forms such as possessive marker ge in Cantonese, possessive marker de in Mandarin, possessive marker a in Jingpo, and an empty possessive marker in Nuosu Yi. / The conclusion of this thesis is that possessive markers and relative markers are indeed of the same syntactic category Pr and they come into narrow syntax computation (from Numeration to LF) in the same manner. / The nature of predication within complex nominals is studied through examination of the syntax and semantics of possessive and relative constructions in Nuosu Yi. The proposed theory is also shown to be applicable to Mandarin, Cantonese, and Jingpo. / The whole picture of the complex nominal structure in Yi is further complicated by the cooccurrence of su and a classifier with a RC. In this case, su is analyzed as a D-element. The real predication operator is still the classifier. / When classifiers serve as RC markers in Nuosu Yi, we are able to tell the exact number of the relativized item. When a Nuosu Yi speaker does not want to specify the exact number of the relativized item, he will use the morpheme su. Semantically, it does not specify the number of the relativized noun, but it renders the relativized noun definite. We propose that this morpheme su is a definite article D, which plays a deciding role in encoding the definiteness of the whole complex nominal which contains a RC. The relative clause marker, in this case, is a phonetically null element. / Liu, Hongyong. / "November 2006." / Adviser: Yang Gu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: A, page: 3369. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-245). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

This thesis presents an analysis of participles in MA which show verbal and nominal features but are not nouns or verbs. Participles pattern with verbs, combine with adverbs and take objects. Like nouns, they partially agree with their subjects, are negated with mu or inflected ma and cannot appear in VSO order nor do they allow subject-drop. I propose that without the functional projection vP, bare VPs are not fully verbal. When participles occur in a finite present-tense sentence, they act like non-verbal predicates and the resulting copula construction conforms to Benmamoun’s (2008) framework of verbless sentences in Arabic. The existence of VP explains the verbal properties, and the absence of vP explains the nominal ones. The lack of vP explains lacking full agreement and using non-verbal negative particles with participles. Viewing participles as bare VPs is consistent with Croft’s (1991) de-verbalizing hierarchy where verb types range from being fully finite to completely nominalized forms.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study investigates the nature of Xitsonga deverbatives that are derived from three types of syntactic verbs, namely intransitive verbs, monotranstive verbs and ditransitive verbs .The aim is to determine the classes in which nominalisation occurs as well as to determine the semantic features which occur with these deverbatives in various noun classes. The three types of verbs are further distinguished into agentive verbs and non-agentive verbs. The deverbatives that are examined in this study are arranged in terms of Levin (1993)’s semantic classification of verbs. The focus of this study is on the verbs without derivational suffixes. However, few deverbatives with derived verbal forms have been included. The nominal morphology of Xitsonga is also examined in this study The study is conducted within the framework of four assumptions in morphology and lexical semantics, namely lexeme-based theory, X-bar syntax, lexical semantic properties of verb classes advanced by Levin (1993), and the Generative Lexicon theory advanced by Pustejovsky (1995), specifically the assumption about the meta-entry for a lexeme. The study illustrates that nominalisation in Xitsonga, in particular, and in African Languages in general occurs through the affixation of the class prefix and the nominal suffix onto the verb stem. The study found that the deverbal nominals occur in a similar morphological structure to that of nonderived nouns. It was also demonstrated that Xitsonga deverbatives may be classified in terms of Busa’s view of distinguishing between stage-level nominals and individual-level nominals. The study has established that nominalisation in Xitsonga is a phenomenon that occurs in classes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14 with both agentive and non-agentive verbs as verb stems. It however, found that the most productive classes are 1, 3,5,7,and 14. The study demonstrated that class 1 deverbatives refer strictly to humans, while deverbatives in other classes refer to various things. The data examined in this study revealed that in general, Xitsonga deverbatives exhibit the following semantic features across various noun classes: [Actor], [Experiencer], [Theme], [Patient] [Result], [Event], [Act], [State], [Artifact], [Instrument]. [Excessive act], [Excessive state], [Place], [Expert], [Excessive actor], [Excessive experiencer], [Excessive theme], and [Excessive patient]. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie ondersoek die aard van deverbatiewe naamwoorde in Xitsonga wat afgelei word vanaf drie soorte werkwoorde, naamlik, intransitiewe, enkel-transitiewe en dubbel-transitiewe werkwoorde. Die doelstelling van die studie is om te bepaal in watter naamwoordklasse nominalisering kan voorkom, en wat die semantiese kenmerke is van die deverbatiewe wat in die verskillende naamwoordklasse voorkom. Die drie tipes werkwoordklasse word voorts onderskei in terme van agentiewe en nieagentiewe werkwoorde. Die deverbatiewe naamwoorde wat in die studie ondersoek word, word verder onderskei volgens die klassifikasie van semantiese werkwoordklasse van Levin (1993). Die studie fokus op naamwoorde afgelei van werkwoorde sonder afleidingsagtervoegsels. Nietemin is enkele werkwoordvorme met afleidings-agtervoegsels ingesluit. Die studie ondersoek ook die naamwoordmorfologie van Xitsonga. Die studie is onderneem binne die raamwerk van vier breë weergawes van morfologie, sintaksis en leksikale semantiek, naamlik morfeem-lekseem gebaseerde teorie, X-balk sintaksis, Levin (1993) se semantiese werkwoordklas klassefikasie, en Generatiewe Leksikon Teorie van Pustejovsky (1995), in die besonder die aanname van die meta-inskrywing vir die lekseem. Die studie bevestig dat nominalisering in Xitsonga, soos in die Afrikatale in die algemeen, manifesteer deur die affiksering van 'n prefiks en 'n suffiks aan die werkwoordstam waarvandaan die naamwoord afgelei word. Die studie het bevind dat afgeleide naamwoorde in 'n soortgelyke morfologiese struktuur voorkom as nie-afgeleide naamwoorde in Xitsonga. Daar is ook bevind dat Xitsonga deverbatiewe geklassifiseer kan word in terme van Busa se onderskeid tussen fase-vlak en individuele-vlak nominate. Die studie het bevind dat nominalisering in Xitsonga voorkom in klasse 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 en 14, afgelei van sowel agentiewe as nie-agentiewe werkwoord stamme. Daar is bevind dat die mees produktiewe klasse, klas 1, 3, 5, 7 en 14 is. Die studie het voorts aangetoon dat klas 1 deverbatiewe slegs mensverwysing het, terwyl die deverbatiewe in ander klasse na 'n verskeidenheid semantiese entiteite verwys. Volgens die data wat ondersoek is, volg dit dat Xitsonga deverbatiewe in die algemeen, die volgende semantiese kenmerke vertoon oor die verskillende naamwoordklasse: [Akteur], [Ervaarder], [Tema], [Pasiënt], [Resultaat], [Gebeurtenis], [Aksie], [Toestand], [Artifak], [Instrument], [Oordrewe aksie], [Plek], [Ekspert], [Oordrewe akteur], [Oordrewe ervaarder], [Oordrewe tema] en [Oordrewe pasiënt]. / NKOMISO: Dyondzo leyi yi kambisisa xivumbeko xa mavitimpfelelo ya Xitsonga lama ya pfelelaka ya suka eka tinxaka tinharhu ta maendli ma le ka vulongoloxamarito, ku nga, maendli yo pfumala xiendliwa, maendli ya xiendliwa xin’we, na maendli ya swiendliwa swimbirhi. Xikongomelo i ku lava ku kumisisa mitlawa ya maviti leyi pfumelelaka mpfelelo wa maviti ku humelela ni ku kumisisa swihlawulekisi swa tinhlamuselo leswi kumekaka eka mavitimpfelelo eka mitlawa yo hambanahambana. Tinxaka tinharhu ta maendli ti tlhela ti hambanyisiwa ku ya hi maendli ya nghingiriko ni maendli yo pfumala nghingiriko. Mavitimpfelelo lama kambisisiwaka eka dyondzo leyi ma longoloxiwa hi ku ya hi maavelo ya maendli ya Levin (1993). Mhakankulu leyi dyondzo leyi yi langutanaka na yona yi le ka maendli mo pfumala swilandzi swa mpfelelo. Hambiswiritano, mavitimpfelelo ma nga ri mangani lama nga na swilandzi swa mpfelelo ma katsiwile eka dyondzo leyi. Mofoloji ya Xitsonga ya kambisisiwa na yona eka dyondzo leyi. Dyondzo leyi yi endliwa hi ku landza endlelo leri katsaka mavonelo ma mune eka mofoloji ni le ka semantiki, ku nga Lexeme -based theory, X – bar syntax, lexical semantics properties of verb classes leyi tumbuluxeke hi Levin (1993), na Generative Lexicon theory leyi tumbuluxeke hi Pustejovsky (1995), ku kongomisiwa ngopfu eka meta-entry ya rito.Dyondzo leyi yi kombisa leswaku mpfelelo wa maviti eka Xitsonga, hi ku kongomisa, na le ka tindzimi ta Xintima hi ku angarhela, wu va kona hikokwalaho ka ku lungeleriwa ka xirhangi xa ntlawa na xilandzi xa riendli eka nsinya wa riendli. Dyondzo leyi yi kumile leswaku mavitimpfelolo ma tirhisa xifaniso xa murhi xo fana na xa maviti mo ka ma nga ri ma mpfelelo. Ku tlhele ku kombisiwa leswaku mavitimpfelelo ya Xitsonga ma nga aviwa hi ku landza vonelo ra Busa (1996) ro hambanyisa exikarhi ka mavitipfelelo lama thyiwaka munhu hi ku landza mhaka leyi humelelaka hi nkarhi wolowo ni lama ya thyiwaka munhu hi ku ya hi mhaka leyi fambelanisiwaka na munhu wa kona, hambi a nga ri ku yi endleni hi nkarhi wolowo. Dyondzo leyi yi kumile leswaku mpfelelo wa maviti eka Xitsonga I mhaka leyi humelelaka eka mitlawa ya maviti ya 1,3,4,6,7,8,9, and 14 eka maendli ya nghingiriko ni yo pfumala nghingiriko. Hambiswiritano, ku kumekile leswaku mitlawa leyi mpfelelo wu humelelaka ngopfu eka yona I ya 1,3,5,7, and 14. Dyondzo leyi yi kombisile leswaku mavitimpfelelo ma le ka ntlawa wa 1 ma kongomisa eka vanhu, loko mavitimpfelelo ma le ka mitlawa yin’wana ma kongomisa eka swilo swo hambanahambana.Vuxokoxoko lebyi kamberiweke eka dyondzo leyi byi paluxile leswaku hi ku angarhela mavitimpfelelo ma humesa swihlawulekisi leswi landzelaka swa tinhlamuselo eka mitlawa ya maviti yo hambanahambana: [Muendli], [Mutokoti], [Nkongomelo], [Mutwisiwa ku vava], [Mbuyelo], [Xiendleko], [Nghingiriko], [Xiyimo], [Ximakiwa], [Xitirho], [Nghingiriko wo tlurisa], [Xiyimo xo tlurisa], [Ndhawu], [N’wavuswikoti], [[Muendli wo tlurisa], [Mutokoti wo tlurisa], [Nkongomelo wo tlurisa], na [Mutwisiwa ku vava wo tlurisa].

Shin Mi-kyong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Contents --- p.3 / List of Figures --- p.4 / List of Tables --- p.5 / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.6 / Chapter 1.1 --- Nominalizers in some East Asian languages --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2 --- Forms and functions of four East Asian nominalizers --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Linker --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Pronominalization --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3 --- Grammaticalization of East Asian nominalizers --- p.14 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research questions and organization of the thesis --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5 --- Abbreviation --- p.16 / Chapter 2 --- Development of Korean nominalizing system --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1 --- Two distinct properties of Korean nominalizers --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- "Korean Linking morphemes -n, -neun, -l" --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- """Bound noun"" geot" --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2 --- Degrees of nominalization --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Linker to Pronominal --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Pronominal to Nominalizer --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Nominalizer to Stance marker --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3 --- Competition from other nominalizers --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Nominalizer -(o/u)m --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Competition with Middle Korean *-n/do/ --- p.30 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Korean Linkers -eui and -n --- p.31 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.33 / Chapter 3 --- Development of Japanese no --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1 --- Syntactic behavior of no --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Diachronic perspectives on no --- p.40 / Chapter 3.3 --- Summary --- p.44 / Chapter 4 --- Mandarin de and Cantonese ge --- p.45 / Chapter 4.1 --- Synchronic descriptions --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Dual properties of Mandarin de and Cantonese ge --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Zhu's classification of Mandarin de --- p.47 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- [Demonstrative + Classifier] structure in Cantonese --- p.49 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- ge insertion after Classifier in Cantonese --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1.5 --- Nominalization and further development in Mandarin de --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2 --- Diachronic perspectives --- p.53 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Competition between Classifier and Demonstrative pronoun --- p.54 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- From Classifier to nominalizer: Cantonese go --- p.55 / Chapter 4.3 --- Summary --- p.56 / Chapter 5 --- Some solutions on their incompatibilities --- p.58 / Chapter 5.1 --- Definiteness in Nominalizers --- p.59 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Type I Determiners: Linking morphemes --- p.59 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Type II Determiners: Pronominals --- p.64 / Chapter 5.2 --- Nominalized complementation in Japanese and Korean --- p.68 / Chapter 5.3 --- Further extension to Cleft and Stance --- p.74 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Unidirectional pathway view --- p.74 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Sentential pronominal to Cleft construction --- p.76 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Cleft to stance --- p.78 / Chapter 5.4 --- Tense/Aspect reflected on Adnominal systems --- p.80 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Spell-outs of time in Korean linking morphemes --- p.80 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Infinitival RC --- p.82 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.83 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.85 / References --- p.87

This study exammes different approaches to analysing the syntactic derivation of nouns from verbs within the theoretical framework of Principles and Parameters (PP phrases by presenting a contrastive study of English and Greek derived nominal expressions. The thesis discusses the well-known distinction between result nominals and process nominals, and it demonstrates that, in contrast to result nominals, process nominals license argument structure obligatorily and can be modified by aspectual adverbials. It is shown that the role of functional categories is crucial for an explanation of the differences between these two noun classes of derived nominals. In particular, it is suggested, following a proposal by Alexiadou (2001), that the verbal functional categories vP and AspectP are projected with process nominals, but not with result nominals. This analysis also accounts for the derivation of Greek nouns from ergative/unaccusative verbs, but it also explains the projection of the patient/theme as the internal argument of a result nominal and the aspectual modification of passive nominals. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

by Wai-Hoo Au Yeung. / Thesis submitted in 1997. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves i-v (3rd gp.)). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Acknowledgments / Abstract / Contents / Abbreviations & Tables / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1. --- What is a parameter? / Chapter 1.2. --- Parameter resetting in SLA / Chapter 1.3. --- Parameter as feature checking / Chapter 1.4. --- Research goals and outline of the thesis / Chapter 2. --- PARAMETERIZATION IN CHINESE NOMINALS --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1. --- DP-analysis and its parameterization / Chapter 2.2. --- Evaluation of the four models of Chinese nominal structures / Chapter 2.3. --- Parameterization in Cantonese and Mandarin nominals / Chapter 2.4. --- The Lexical CL Parameter / Chapter 3. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.86 / Chapter 3.1. --- The subject / Chapter 3.2. --- Timing of recording / Chapter 3.3. --- What is recorded / Chapter 3.4. --- The corpus / Chapter 3.5. --- Criteria of counting utterances and point of acquisition / Chapter 4. --- THE ACQUISITION OF CANTONESE NOMINALS --- p.92 / Chapter 4.1. --- Overall development of Cantonese nominal structure / Chapter 4.2. --- Acquisition of Cantonese-specific CLP properties / Chapter 4.3. --- Comparison with native Cantonese children's data / Chapter 4.4. --- Acquisition by resetting the Lexical CL Parameter / Chapter 5. --- AN INFORMAL EXPERIMENT ON GENERIC di AND di-N PHRASES --- p.118 / Chapter 5.1. --- Design of the experiment / Chapter 5.2. --- Materials / Chapter 5.3. --- Procedures and results / Chapter 5.4. --- Comparison between Ching's and native children's results / Chapter 6. --- CONCLUSION --- p.134 / Chapter 6.1. --- Theoretical and acquisition findings / Chapter 6.2. --- Further evidence for parameter resetting / Chapter 6.3. --- Implications for future research / Chapter 6.4. --- Concluding remarks / References / Appendix A: 3 sample files of the corpus

This thesis presents a new description and theoretical analysis of the nominal system of Katcha (Nilo-Saharan, Kadu), spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The description and analysis are based on a synthesis of data from several sources, including unpublished archive material and original fieldwork. The study is placed in context with a discussion of the demographic, cultural and political background affecting the Katcha linguistic community, a review of the current state of linguistic research on Katcha and a discussion of the ongoing controversy over the place of the Kadu languages within the language phyla of Africa. The morphosyntactic descriptions first focus on the role of nominals as heads, considering phenomena such as classification, agreement and modification. It is shown that Katcha has a unusual system of gender agreement with three agreement classes based on the concepts of Masculine, Feminine and Plural and that the gender of a noun may change between its singular and plural forms. Surprisingly, these phenomena are both most commonly found in Afro-Asiatic, which is not a phylum to which Kadu has previously been ascribed. The gender changes are shown to be predictable, determined by number-marking affixes. The study then gives a unified analysis of various types of nominal modifiers; relative clauses, possessives, demonstratives and adjectives all display similar morphological properties and this is accounted for by analysing all modfiers as appositional, headed by a demonstrative pronoun. This analysis of modifiers shows them to be related to, though not the same as, the notions of relative markers and construct state found widely in African languages. The role of nominals within sentential argument structure is then considered, with discussion of phenomena such as prepositional phrases, case and verbal valency. From the interaction of prepositions and pronouns, it is tentatively concluded that Katcha has three cases: Nominative, Accusative and Oblique. From the interaction of verbs and nouns, it is demonstrated that the verbal suffixes known as ‘verb extensions’ primarily serve to license the absence of otherwise mandatory core arguments. The second part of the thesis provides a theoretical analysis of the nominal system within the framework of Dynamic Syntax (DS). Two key features of the DS formalism come into play. Firstly, DS construes semantic individuals as terms of the epsilon calculus. Verb extensions are analysed as projecting context-dependent epsilon terms, providing a value for the ‘missing’ argument. Secondly, DS allows information sharing between propositions by means of a ‘LINK’ relation. Prepositional phrases are analysed as projecting a subordinate proposition which shares an argument with the matrix tree. These two formal tools come together in the analysis of nominal modifiers, which are construed as projecting an arbitrarily complex epsilon term LINKed to some term in the matrix tree, directly reflecting their descriptive analysis as appositional nominals. In presenting new data for a little studied language, this thesis adds to our knowledge and understanding of Nuba Mountain languages. In describing and analysing some of the typologically unsual features of Katcha’s nominal system, it challenges some standard assumptions about these constructions and about the genetic affiliation of the Kadu family. And in the theoretical analysis it demonstrates the suitability of Dynamic Syntax to model some of the key insights of the descriptive analysis.

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