Ojibwe is a member of the Algonquian language family. These languages are known for their complex verbal morphology. This makes Ojibwe an excellent case study for
testing theoretical concepts. In this thesis, I examine the syntax and semantics of the Ojibwe verbal domain, drawing on three theoretical frameworks, the Minimalist
Program (Chomsky, 1993; 1998), Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz, 1993; Embick & Noyer, 2007), and Neo-Davidsonian Semantics (Heim & Kratzer, 1998;
Kratzer, 2015).
I begin my analysis by looking at the composition of vP. I show that Ojibwe verb phrases may contain multiple vPs. Following a Distributed Morphology account
(Halle & Marantz, 1993; Embick & Noyer, 2007), this structure must be built in the syntax; at all stages in the derivation, if the verb stem has at least one vP, it may
be used as a fully-formed verb. Further, I discuss the semantics of categorising v in Ojibwe, and provide sample denotations for different types of v.
Ojibwe verbal agreement morphology is complex and a number of previous accounts have been proposed (Bruening, 2005; Béjar & Rezac, 2009; Lochbihler, 2012;
Oxford, 2013). I demonstrate that these previous proposals run into difficulty with multiple vP structures. Oxford (2013) comes closest, and I build on his proposal to
account for Ojibwe verbal agreement. I argue that Voice (Kratzer, 1996) is the phase edge, and verbal agreement occurs on a head above this. Agree happens simultaneously with both arguments, and a portmanteau morpheme (the theme sign) results.
Only the argument in the highest spec-v can agree with the theme sign. As a result, applicatives show agreement with the Goal rather than the Theme. I discuss two
other agreement suffixes and argue that they are the result of a post-syntactic fission operation (Embick & Noyer, 2007, p. 314).
Finally, I examine the semantics of agreement. While much has been written on the syntax of agreement in Ojibwe, the semantics has been left relatively unstudied.
I show that the theme sign puts constraints on argument structure based on the saliency of arguments to the discourse. My proposal assumes speech act participants
are always more salient than non-participants, and that obviation modifies a third person argument to mark it as less salient. I propose that instead of referring only
to semantic roles, the denotation of the theme signs refer to bundles of syntactic features. In this way, the theme sign will impose conditions on the two highest DPs
in a sentence, regardless of their semantic role. This allows the same denotation to target the Theme in monotransitive sentences, and the Goal in applicative sentences.
Thus, I provide both syntactic and semantic analyses of agreement in Ojibwe.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/38669 |
| Date | 09 January 2019 |
| Creators | Riccomini, Kate |
| 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 |
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