This dissertation investigates intra-clausal relations, namely, the relations that obtain between the elements in a clause. This investigation is based on a detailed study of copular sentences in Russian and Italian. In particular, three types of intra-clausal relations are investigated here: phrase-structural relations, thematic relations, and case relations. / With respect to phrase-structural relations, it is argued that not all syntactic structures are asymmetrical. Rather, it is proposed that under certain conditions---when the two input phrases have the same features---Merge will result in a symmetrical structure. This requirement for matching features leads to a more parsimonious analysis of equative sentences where the interpretation derives directly from the syntactic structure, without postulating a special "identity copula". / As for thematic relations, it is claimed that there is no one-to-one correspondence between thematic positions and structural positions (contra the strong version of UTAH, Baker 1988). Instead, a more flexible theory of thematic relations is proposed. It is also proposed that theta-assignment is not a necessary condition for DP interpretation. Rather, a DP can be interpreted if it establishes a certain relationship with another theta-marked DP. This analysis extends to Left Dislocation, Pronoun Doubling and sound like -construction. / Finally, case relations are said to be tied to thematic relations. A version of the Visibility Condition is thus argued for. It is maintained that non-argument DPs---namely, those that are merged as neither complements nor specifiers of a lexical head---need not be case-marked in syntax at all and appear with the morphological default (i.e., nominative) marking. The alternative "agreement in case" analysis of NOM-NOM sentences is argued against; various conceptual and empirical problems for this analysis are identified and discussed. / The analysis developed in this dissertation accounts for a number of properties of copular sentences, including their interpretation, case-marking patterns, and such syntactic properties as extraction, inversion, binding possibilities and unaccusativity diagnostics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.38256 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Pereltsvaig, Asya. |
| Contributors | Travis, Lisa deMena (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Linguistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001871577, proquestno: NQ78750, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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