This thesis proposes and defends a let of analyses of various aspects of the phrase structure of colloquial Egyptian Arabic (EA) clause structure, using the Generalised Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG) framework of Gazdar, Klein, Pullum and Sag (1985). In the first chapter the constituency of simple clause types is examined and it is argued that EA is a "configurational" SVO language with a VP constituent. These two proposals form the basis for the analyses developed in subsequent chapters. The second chapter pursues the themes of the first, examining the syntax of so-called "nominal" (verbless) sentences, and offering a unified account of both verbal and nominal sentence types. Chapter 3 is concerned with clausal complementation, and shows that under certain assumptions motivated in earlier chapters, the GPSG framework allows for a concise account of a number of hitherto problematic constructions. Chapter 4 is devoted to the syntax of subjects, and in particular to a discussion of "pro-drop" in EA. The relationship between the possibility of missing subjects, word order, and inflection is investigated, and an analysis of cliticisation is proposed which has implications for other areas of the grammar especially relative clauses, which are the subject of Chapter 5.The final chapter is concerned exclusively with the synta~ of relative clauses. A grammar for relative clauses is formulated, in which resumptive pronouns are generated using the feature SLASH. Under the analysis of relative clauses proposed here, the syntax of both subject and object relatives falls out from the interaction of a number of independent facts about EA grammar, and requires no special statement. Throughout the work the aim is to highlight important issues in the syntax of EA, and to offer accounts of these aspects of the grammar which involve the smallest amount of syntactic machinery and achieve maximum generality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:247629 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Edwards, Malcolm Howell |
| Publisher | SOAS, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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