ComSyn Lectures

Speaker: Leonel Tadjo Fongang (Universität Leipzig)
Title: Towards a Unified Theory for Noun Class Agreement in Grassfields Bantu
Date: Thursday 8 December
Location: Lipsius 208
Time: 16:15 – 17:30

Abstract
DP-internal agreement in Grassfields Bantu languages exhibits cross-linguistically rare patterns. In canonical order, where the agreeing modifiers (possessive and demonstrative pronouns, for example) generally follow the noun, we find regular agreement in noun class. In the reverse order, we get what, on the surface, looks like (1) regular agreement (Yemba and Medumba), (2) reduced/impoverished agreement (Ngemba) (3) zero agreement (Shupamem?) or (4) more agreement than expected (Aghem and Nweh). In this talk, I argue that Feature Gluttony (Coon & Keine 2021) may provide the correct setting for proposing a unified account of the observed patterns. I show, specifically for Ngemba, that noun class probes in surface N-POSS/DEM order (canonical order) agree with and copy exactly the features they need for vocabulary insertion in the post-syntax. In POSS/DEM-N order, they agree with and copy more gender features than they need for vocabulary insertion. This, I claim, creates a conflict in the morphology, as there is no vocabulary item that can spell out all the features on the terminal node made available to the morphology by syntax (Morphological Ineffability; Coon & Keine 2021). I adopt a repair mechanism that necessarily assumes Impoverishment before vocabulary insertion for Ngemba. Moreover, I provide empirical evidence from Nweh that Feature Gluttony might be the correct way to look at intricate patterns of noun class agreement in Grassfields Bantu in general. languages only differ in the type of repairs they apply to Feature Gluttony. While Ngemba, for example, does Impoverishment, Nweh does Fission which, in turn, presupposes multiple exponence.

Speaker: Zhen Li (LUCL)
Title: Word order, information structure and agreement in Teke (Bantu B70)
Date: Thursday 1 December
Location: Lipsius 208
Time: 16:15 – 17:30

Abstract
In this talk, I will discuss the information structure and its interactions with syntax in Teke-Kukuya, which is a Narrow Bantu language (Guthrie code B77) spoken in the Republic of Congo. I will identify a dedicated immediate-before-verb (IBV) focus position in this language and show its interpretational properties. Based on some segmental and tonal evidence, I suggest that the IBV focus construction has its historical origin in a cleft. I will also propose the syntactic derivation of this preverbal focus strategy. There is also an intriguing a-/ka- class 1 subject marking alternation which co-varies with preverbal focus and word order, and I will provide an approach to explaining this phenomenon. The data presented is based on my field work in 2019 and 2021.

Speaker: Marijke De Belder (Universiteit Utrecht)
Title: Dutch primary compounding: towards a new inventory
Date: Thursday 17 November
Location: Lipsius 208
Time: 16:15 – 17:30

Abstract
I present an overview of my work on Dutch primary compounding. I show that there are three basic types, which are defined by a different syntax for the compound’s left-hand part (i.e. the non-head): there are bare roots as non-heads, roots which are nominalized by means of a nominal class marker and roots which incorporate into a D-layer, resulting in referential semantics for the non-head, which I argue is an option. I argue that the following facts are captured by the proposal: the distribution of so-called linking elements, the resemblance between linking elements and plural markers and ‘erroneous reference’ in Dutch. The proposal also brings the morphosyntax of Dutch NN compounding closer to what is known on NV incorporation (see Baker 1988).

Speaker: Romane Pedro (Nantes Université)
Title: The impact of the French wh-in-situ option in the acquisition of L2 English questions: An analysis of transfer
Date: Thursday 3 November
Location: Lipsius 208
Time: 16:15 – 17:30

Abstract
When learning a new language, being able to produce questions is essential. Question formulation and the linguistic similarities and differences it demonstrates across languages is thus becoming a crucial issue to Second Language Acquisition (Omane & Höhle 2021). Studying the case of L1 French learners of L2 English, my study deals with the acquisition of this phenomenon. The two languages under study involve differences in the production of questions, in terms of morpho-syntactic patterns, and in the information structure of questions, especially in the case of wh-questions (Engdahl 2006). While English wh-questions demonstrate an almost obligatory wh-fronting, the French language offers a wh-in-situ option when asking for information (Glasbergen-Plas 2021). In my talk, I will discuss the early stages of my investigation on question formation in L1 French and L2 English with a special focus on wh-in-situ questions, as in (1).

I will discuss primary results of the oral production experiment I conducted on native speakers and learners of the two languages examined. I will argue that the cross-linguistic differences between French and English questions may cause negative transfer from L1 French. I may also introduce the upcoming developments to my research project, including the addition of a third language for a better comparison and conclusion on the effect of the L1 in formulating questions in L2 English.

Speaker: Esther Ruigendijk (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg)
Title: Pronoun interpretation and processing in Dutch and German
Date: Thursday 20 October
Location: Lipsius 208
Time: 16:15 – 17:30

Abstract
It is well-known that Dutch-speaking children, like English-speaking children, make mistakes in the interpretation of pronouns until age 7 (originally called Delay of Principle B Effect, Chien & Wexler, 1990), whereas German-speaking children already interpret pronouns correctly from age 4 (Ruigendijk et al, 2010). This cross-linguistic difference is not yet fully understood. Explanations have been sought in differences in the pronominal systems of the languages. In this talk, I will present the original child data as well as a discussion of the puzzle this provides us: why do German children not have problems in the comprehension of pronouns? After this, I will discuss processing studies (reaction time and eyetracking studies) with data from Dutch- and German speaking adults that confirm the idea that there are subtle but relevant differences between the pronominal systems of Dutch and German. I will argue that this may be an explanation as to why the Delay of Principle B Effect is not found in German. Should there be time left, I will present recent data from bilingual Dutch-German children on their performance on pronoun comprehension in their two languages.

The new season of ComSyn will run from October through December. Talks will be on the same day and time as the previous season: Thursdays, 16:15-17:30 CET. All talks will be in Lipsius 208.

Talks are planned to be in person, with drinks afterwards. Of course this will remain subject to covid measures—particularly for international speakers.

The full program is as follows:

Speaker: Prerna Nadathur (Universität Konstanz)
(Joint work with Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Title: Modeling progress: event types, causal models, and the imperfective paradox
Date: Thursday 2 June
Venue: Online (join our mailing list to receive link)
Time: 16.15 – 17.30 hrs

Abstract
Under progressive marking, telic predicates (e.g. write a novel, run a marathon) can describe events that fail to reach culmination, an effect famously known as the imperfective paradox (Dowty 1979).  Prominent accounts of the effect tie the truth of telic progressives to the accessibility of culmination (Dowty, Asher 1992, Landman 1992, a.o.), intensionalizing the progressive operator (PROG), so that it instantiates qualifying (culminated) eventualities across a set of modal alternatives to the evaluation world.  This approach faces empirical challenges from acceptable progressives of unlikely-to-succeed events (e.g., cross a minefield) and progressives in ‘out of reach’ contexts, where culmination is circumstantially precluded by reference-time facts (cf. Szabó 2008, Varasdi 2014).

We propose an approach on which telic progressives are instead sensitive to (mereological) structure inherited from an event type introduced by (telic) predicate P.  An event type constitutes a formal causal model (e.g., Pearl 2000) in which P‘s culmination condition C occurs as a dependent (caused) variable.  The model provides a set of causal pathways for realizing C, each of which comprises a set of jointly sufficient conditions (events and/or properties) for C, and establishes (sets of) conditions which preclude C.   On this approach, the progress of an actual (token) P-eventuality can be measured with respect to the event type.   A reference time situation s  satisfies PROG(P) just in case it is a plausible cross-section of an incomplete causal pathway in P: s must verify some but not all the conditions in a causal pathway for C, and fail to verify a sufficient set of conditions for non-culmination.

This approach severs the truth of telic progressives from the locally-assessed likelihood of culmination, shifting the intensional element of imperfective paradox effects from the progressive aspectual operator to the mereological structure of telic predicates themselves.    We show that this delivers improved judgements for challenging paradox data, including progressives of unlikely and ‘out of reach’ events, and—by means of the special status awarded to intentions in models for agentive predicates—offers an immediate account of progressive data where an agent’s intentions appear to supersede realistic assessment of the likelihood of culmination.

Speakers: Giuseppe Rugna (University of Florence/LUCL)
Title: The morphosyntax of wh-paradigms and wh-copying
Date: Thursday 19 May
Venue: Lipsius 123 [note room change]
Time: 15.00 – 16.15 hrs [note time change]

Abstract
This talk addresses the question of how grammars can classify wh-elements into construction-specific paradigms. The paradigmatic nature of wh-elements can be observed in different ways in externalization. One such ways pertains to the distinction between e.g. interrogative vs relative elements, which can assume different morphophonological and morphosyntactic properties in different languages (e.g. Standard Dutch interrogative wie vs relative die, Italian interrogative che vs relative cui, etc.; cf. Rugna to appear). Furthermore, in so-called wh-copying constructions (e.g. Felser 2004, Barbiers et al. 2009), languages can spell-out intermediate copies differently from the copy at scope position, and in disparate ways (e.g., as free relative pronouns in German (Pankau 2013), as headed relative pronouns in Dutch (Barbiers et al. 2009, Boef 2013), as full-fledged copies in Afrikaans (Lohndal 2010), as personal pronouns in Seereer (Baier 2018)), a seemingly problematic state of affairs under the Copy Theory of Movement. Assuming that the grammar bars construction-specific features (e.g. [+interrogative] [+relative]; Chomsky 1981), questions arise as to the nature of wh-elements and their interaction with Merge and the interfaces. In this talk we attempt to address such issues by arguing in favor of a minimalist framework that eschews morphosyntactic features and relegates most morphophonological operations at the mapping with PHON.

Speakers: Jutta Hartmann (University of Bielefeld)
Title: Syntax-Information-Structure Interaction: Data and analysis
Date: Thursday 12 May
Venue: Online (join our mailing list to receive link) / watch on campus in Lipsius 121
Time: 16.15 – 17.30 hrs

Abstract
In this talk, I discuss a number of different structures which show different ways of the interaction of syntax and information-structure: specificational copular clauses in Germanic, clefts and pseudoclefts, and (apparent) topic movement in German. These structures ilustrate different concepts of information-structure and different ways of interaction with syntax. I propose that such interaction should indeed be modelled as part of syntax, but in close interaction with an information-structural module. The core idea is that syntax and information-structure interact during the derivation with phases being sent to the information-structural module, which assigns feature bundels to these structures. The feature bundels combine information-structureal features, formal features readable in syntax, semantic features readable to LF, and phonological features relevant for PF. In this way, this module handles the interaction with context. I discuss the merits of such an appraoch compared to syntactic approaches using TopP and FocP, and contrast it with interface proposals for such an interaction.

Speakers: Justin Case (University of Ottawa/LUCL)
Title: Constructing the Siona nominal from the bottom up: a Minimalist perspective
Date: Thursday 28 April
Venue: Lipsius 121
Time: 16.15 – 17.30 hrs

Abstract
This talk focuses on the Ecuadorian variety of Siona, a Tukanoan language of the Western branch spoken by roughly 200-300 individuals, with a special emphasis on the syntax of nominal structures. Over the past decades there has been a lively discussion in the literature regarding how much structure is hosted within the extended nominal projection and whether all nominals can be unified as a single category, corresponding to a (more or less) universal structure (e.g., Abney 1987, Alexiadou 2004, Chomsky 1995, and many others). Here I contribute to this discussion by considering the structure and functions of nominals (DPs) as particular to the empirical facts of Siona – a language with, among other relevant properties, a mildly agglutinating character, a mid-sized inventory of nominal classifiers, a plural marker split, complex differential case marking patterns, and radical argument drop. Translated to the perspective of generally accepted tenets of minimalist structure building, I address (i) which heads are projected to form nominal “words” and DP-internal modifiers, (ii) the set of features that these heads host, (iii) some aspects of adnominal modification, in the absence of an independent syntactic adjectival category. Finally, I discuss these baseline facts in the context of microvariation across the Tukanoan family and languages belonging to neighbouring families which display similar defining properties of the North-West Amazonian (NWA) typological profile.