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Auteur: Ameen ALAHDAL

Titre:
On C/T-v relation: Feature inheritance and feature sharing


Abstract/Résumé: Certain morphological markers, such as u and a below, that verbs carry, have been a mystery in Arabic linguistics. (1) yuriid-u an yarhal-a 3m.want-ind to 3m.leave-subj 'he wants to step down' There have generally been three approaches to account for these markers. The first approach, found in traditional grammar and Al-Balushi (2011), looks at them as Case markers assigned to verbs. The second analyzes them as Mood markers (Wright 1967, Fassi Fehri 2012). The third approach (Fassi Fehri 1993, Soltan 2007, Pesetsky and Torrego 2001 and Biberauer and Roberts 2010) adopts a minimalist view and takes these markers to be formal features that are checked/valued like other features. This paper argues that these morphological markers are manifestaion of the valued version of an unvalued [Tense] feature on C/T (assuming feature inheritance), valued by Agree with v. Considering feature inheritance (Chomsky 2008), this [Tense] feature seems to exhibit the three possibilities that Ouali (2008) proposes, namely KEEP, DONATE and SHARE. KEEP is witnessed with C-particles such as conditional and imperative morphemes. DONATE is manifested with so-called tensed negatives, which are argued here to be auxiliaries. SHARE appears in 'kay/li-an' constructions, where 'an' is claimed to be the phonetic realization of [Tense] on T. The paper also sheds light on head movement. Specifically, it argues that V-to-T movement, at least in Arabic, is triggered by an EPP on (deictic) tense features, rather than by rich tense inflection as suggested in Biberauer and Roberts (2010). References Benmamoun, E. 2000. The feature structure of functional categories. OUP. Biberauer,T.&Ian Roberts.2010.Subjects,tense and verb-movement.In Parametricvariation:null subjects in minimalist theory, eds. Theresa Biberauer et al.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chomsky,N.2008.On Phases.In Foundational issues in linguistic theory: Essays in honour ofJean-Roger Vergnaud, eds. C. Otero et al. 134-166. Cambridge MA: MIT PRESS. Ouali,H.2008.On C-to-T phi-feature transfer.In Agreement restrictions,eds.D'Alessandro et al. 159-180.Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.