In this thesis, I investigate the distribution and function(s) of gender in Tunisian
Arabic. Based on the observation that gender can ll multiple functions and hence
receive different interpretations in TA, I consider gender in this language to be subject
to contextual allosemy. Allosemy is the equivalent of conditioned allomorphy at the
level of LF (Wood, 2012; Marantz, 2013; Wood and Marantz, 2017) and is de ned as a
phenomenon in which a single morpheme can have multiple semantic realizations. My
proposal is based on the observation that the interpretation of gender is conditioned
by its syntactic environment, more speci fically, by the class of the base noun and the
function and interpretation of any node or abstract morpheme (e.g., number) that
is parasitic of the n head hosting the class feature.
The current predominant view of gender in syntactic theory is that it has a
nominalizing function (Lecarme, 2002; Kihm, 2005; Lowenstamm, 2008; Acquaviva,
2009; Kramer, 2009, 2014, 2015; Hammerly, 2018). According to this view, gender
is hosted on the n head, which selects the root, and assigns it a nominal category
(assuming DM). However, Arabic has other uses for the feminine gender, most of
them associated with number. This, I argue, originates from the diachronic trajectory
of the feminine a x -a in Proto-Semitic, where it started out as a nominalizer,
then a singulative a x, then a group marker, before finally marking feminine gender
(Hasselbach, 2014a,b; Dali and Mathieu, 2019a). These subsequent layers of meanings
associated with what is now known as gender are all present in the synchronic
picture of Arabic. Through an exhaustive inventory of data and diagnostics, I show
that the role of gender is pervasive within the Tunisian Arabic DP, and is not limited to nominalization. To account for these facts, I propose that gender is distributed
among the different functional heads of the DP: Num, Q, D (see also Farkas 1990;
Ritter 1993; Giurgea 2008; Croitor and Giurgea 2009; Steriopolo and Wiltschko 2010;
Fassi Fehri 2012, 2018b,a; Dali and Mathieu 2019a).
The present thesis also focuses on plurals. I show that plural markers can also
be distributed along the nominal spine (Acquaviva, 2008; Harbour, 2008; Wiltschko,
2008, 2012; Butler, 2012; Mathieu, 2012, 2013, 2014; Kramer, 2016), accounting for
their di erent functions (e.g., classifying, grouping, counting). These different functions
associated with Arabic plurals are, I argue, due to the existence of a singulative
operator that is not limited to the collective system, but is pervasive in Tunisian Arabic, as I show. Finally, these observations all suggest that one and the same abstract
morpheme (e.g., the feminine and the plural) can receive different interpretations
depending on the base they attach to and on their syntactic level, which motivates
the allosemic analysis put forward in this thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/40679 |
| Date | 26 June 2020 |
| Creators | Dali, Myriam |
| Contributors | Mathieu, Éric |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, text/plain |
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