Copular, Nominal, and Small Clauses: A Study of Israeli Hebrew
T. R. Rapoport, 1987
This dissertation is a study of structures of verbless predication in Israeli Hebrew and English. Predicative and equative nominal and copular constructions are closely examined, as are embedded subject-predicate constructions ("small" clauses).
Chapters 2 and 3 explore the thematic relations and corresponding syntactic properties of two major classes of nominal and copular constructions: predicative and equative. It is claimed that while in predicative sentences the predicate XP assigns a theta-role to the referential subject; in equatives, both NPs are referential, and neither assigns a theta-role. The identity relation of equative sentences is shown to require the mediation of a functional head (e.g. INFL), whereas the predication relation of predicative sentences does not. It is assumed that small clauses have no functional head; they therefore are never read as equative. The study of small clauses in Chapter 4 allows, in turn, a refinement in the principles constraining the predication relation.
In Hebrew, the present tense equivalents of copular constructions contain no verb. Such nominal sentences are discussed in Chapter 2 of this thesis, and their syntactic and semantic properties are studied. Under the assumptions about copular constructions argued for in this thesis, the Israeli Hebrew nominal sentences are seen to offer strong evidence in favour of a syntactic and thematic division of such verbless constructions into two classes: predicative and equative.
There are two nominal sentence types. One type is analysed as a matrix small clause, an analysis which, along with certain assumptions about small clause structures in general, correctly predicts its properties and behaviour. A second nominal sentence construction is analysed as a full (tenseless) clause, headed by the Case-assigning AGR in INFL. this analysis, together with a strict view of AGR as a bundle of features, accounts for the distribution and semantic properties of this nominal sentence type.
In Chapter 3, the properties of predicative and equative copular constructions in general, and in English in particular, are discussed. Arguments are given to support a thematic and syntactic distinction between predicatives and equatives. It is claimed further that the relevant characterization of this distinction is to be made solely in terms of the thematic relation involved in each construction type. This makes possible a simple classification of copular constructions.
In the theory of copular constructions outlined in this chapter, noun phrases of every type (e.g. definite, or proper NPs) can be used predicatively, under specific interpretations. The verb be is argued to have no semantic content, nor thematic role, in either predicative or equative constructions. Thus, it follows that noun phrases can be licensed even when they do not receive a theta-role projected from a predicator"s argument structure.
Chapter 4 deals with the facts of embedded subject-predicate constructions in Israeli Hebrew. It is demonstrated that there is a limited class of argument small clauses in Hebrew, and it is argued that the small clause possibilities are limited due to the presence in Hebrew of a restriction on Case assignment: all verbal Case assignment must be theta-related. Small clauses are found in Hebrew only in those sentences whose matrix verb is causative. The fact that causative verbs and affixes require the incorporation of the second predicate is what allows the requirement in Hebrew Case assignment to be met. Embedded subject-predicate constructions which are not an argument of the verb, on the other hand, are comparatively free in Israeli Hebrew, since they do not constitute a violation of the Case-marking restriction.
As part of the account of small clauses, an analysis of their structure in terms of projection sets is presented. This analysis in turn allows the revision of the restriction on the domain of theta-marking in general, and on the predication relation in particular.
Thesis supervisor: Kenneth Hale
Title: Ferrari P. Ward Professor of Linguistics
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 11
1.1 Theoretical assumptins " GB theory 11
1.1.1 Levels of representation 11
1.1.2 D-structure 12
1.1.3 The projection principle 13
1.1.4 S-structure 13
1.1.5 The Case filter 14
1.1.6 PF 14
1.1.7 LF 15
1.1.8 The theta criterion and visibility 15
1.1.9 The principle of full interpretation 16
1.1.10 The Empty Category Principle and configurational notions 17
1.2 Predication and Williams" theta theory 18
1.2.1 Small clauses 22
1.3 Introduction to this thesis 23
1.3.1 Chapter 2 23
1.3.2 Chapter 3 24
1.3.3 Chapter 4 25
1.3.4 Chapter 5: Appendix 26
Chapter 2 Nominal sentences in Israeli Hebrew 27
2.1 Introduction 27
2.1.1 The copula in Hebrew 27
2.1.2 Predicative and equative nominal sentences 28
2.1.3 H 34
2.1.3.1 Against H as subject 36
2.1.3.2 Against H as verb 39
2.1.4 A note on INFL specification in Hebrew tenses 49
2.1.4.1 AGR 51
2.2 Doron"s analysis of nominal sentences 52
2.2.1 Problems with Doron"s analysis 54
2.2.1.1 Sentences without H 56
2.2.2 A ntoe on Hebrew word order 57
2.3 H as INFL and case assigner 61
2.3.1 H as AGR 62
2.3.2 Equative constructions 64
2.3.3 Matrix small clauses 69
2.3.3.1 Case in matrix small clauses 73
2.3.4 A brief survey of nominal sentences in Russian and Arabic 81
2.3.5 Relative clauses and long-distance questions 83
2.3.5.1 COMP and small clauses 88
2.3.6 Declaratives 93
2.3.6.1 Predicatives 93
2.3.6.2 Equatives 94
2.3.6.3 Long wh-movement revisited 95
2.3.7 Pronouns in nominal sentences 101
2.3.7.1 Doron on pronouns 104
2.3.7.2 H as subject 107
2.3.7.3 Wh in nominal sentences 112
2.4 Definite predicates 116
2.5 A note on generic subjects 120
2.6 Conclusion 123
Chapter 3 Copular constructions 125
3.1 Introduction 125
3.1.1 Predicative and equative constructions 126
3.2 Against an "inversion" analysis 128
3.3 Syntactic distinctions between predicatives and equatives 133
3.4 The thematic relations in copular constructions 137
3.4.1 Predication 137
3.4.2 Against two verbs Be 139
3.4.3 Equation 143
3.4.4 Embedded small clauses and equatives 152
3.5 Be-support 155
3.5.1 Be vs. Do 159
3.5.2 Main verb be 160
3.6 Case in equatives 162
3.7 Definite NPs as predicates 166
3.7.1 Definite NPs as roles or offices 169
3.7.2 Proper names as roles 171
3.7.3 A note on relative clauses 174
3.8 Against a feature [predicative] 176
3.9 Against a classification of copular constructions by referentiality 180
3.9.1 Ahmajian and reference 181
3.9.2 Higgins" classification by referentiality 183
3.9.2.1 Specificational sentences 185
3.9.2.2 Identificational sentences 187
3.9.3 The classification of copular constructions 191
3.10 Conclusion 193
Chapter 4 Embedded small clauses in Israeli Hebrew 196
4.1 Introduction 196
4.2 Exceptional Case Marking 197
4.2.1 An apparent counter-example 199
4.3 The structure of small clauses 203
4.3.1 Structural restrictions on theta-marking 206
4.3.2 Issues raised by small clause structures 210
4.3.2.1 The projection principle 210
4.3.2.2 Asymmetry of domains 212
4.3.2.3 Extraction 215
4.3.3 A structural restriction on Case-marking 217
4.4 A thematic restriction on Case-marking 219
4.4.1 Adjunct predicate constructions 222
4.5 Embedded small clauses in Hebrew 223
4.5.1 Causative incorporation 228
4.5.1.1 A revised Case-marking restriction 229
4.6 Conclusion 234
4.6.1 Embedded small clauses in Arabic 235
Chapter 5 Appendix: matrix small clauses and functional categories 237
5.1 Introduction 237
5.2 Articles 238
5.2.1 The indefinite article 238
5.2.2 Hebrew DP predicates 240
5.2.2.1 Hebrew superlative noun phrases 243
5.2.3 Haitian matrix small clauses 245
5.2.4 Modifiers in Spanish predicative noun phrases 247
5.3 Irish predicates and tense 248
5.4 Extended visibility 250
5.4.1 Embedded small clauses 251
5.4.2 Adjunct predicates 253
5.4.3 Extended visibility and arguments 255
5.5 Russian predicates and instrumental Case 256
5.6 Papago and secondary predicates 257
5.7 Conclusion 258