The Syntactic Agreement of Verbs With Plural Controller Subjects in Najdi Arabic: An HPSG Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1504.06Keywords:
agreement, Najdi Arabic, semantics, analysisAbstract
Agreement is a rich area of debate that has continually proved to be a challenging topic for linguists. It interacts, among others, with syntax, semantics, morphology, pragmatics, and lexicology. Despite the complexity of the subject, it continues to be an essential part of research in linguistics, drawing attention to the intricate and nuanced aspects of languages. There is a wealth of literature on this topic. However, most previous studies have tended to focus on the core aspects of the phenomenon rather than the idiosyncratic ones, which, up to date, have not received proper attention from researchers in the field, especially in the field of modern linguistics. Hence, this paper aims to contribute to the growing understanding of the phenomenon by exploring an idiosyncratic topic in Najdi Arabic (NA) verb agreement, namely plural controllers. The topic will be described with a sufficient amount of data. In addition, the paper attempts to present a theoretical account of the relevant structures of plural controllers within the framework of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG).
References
Abeillé, A., & D. Borsley, R. (2021). Basic properties and elements. In S. Müller, A. Abeillé, R. Borsley., & J. P. Koenig (Eds.), Head Driven Phrase Structure Grammar The handbook (Vol. 9, pp. 3-45). Language Science Press. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5599818
Alawadh, S., & Althawab, A. (2023). Cognate Object Constructions in Najdi Arabic: An HPSG Approach. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(11), 2821-2829. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1311.12
Althawab, A. (2022). The Syntactic Structure of an Introductory PP in Standard Arabic: A Non-Transformational Approach. World Journal of English Language, 12(8), 242-251. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v12n8p242
Baker, M. C. (2008). The syntax of agreement and concord (Vol. 115). Cambridge University Press.
Barlow, M., & Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.). (1988). Agreement in natural language. Center for the Study of Language (CSLI).
Brustad, K. (2000). The syntax of spoken Arabic: A comparative study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian, and Kuwaiti dialects. Georgetown University Press.
Bettega, S. (2018). Agreement patterns in Omani Arabic: Sociolinguistic conditioning and diachronic developments. Sociolinguistic Studies, 144-163.
Bettega, S. (2019). Rethinking Agreement in Spoken Arabic: The Question of Gender. Annali Sezione Orientale, 79(1-2), 126-156.
Belnap, K. R. (1993). The meaning of deflected/strict agreement in Cairene Arabic. In M. Eid & C. Holes (Eds), Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics (pp. 97-119). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.101.07bel
Boeckx, C. (2007). Aspects of the syntax of agreement (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203930335
Cantarino, V. (1974). Syntax of modern Arabic prose: the simple sentence. London: Indiana University Press, Vol. 1.
Corbett, G. G. (2006). Agreement. Cambridge University Press.
Corbett, G. G. (1979). The agreement hierarchy. Journal of linguistics, 15(2), 203-224.
Corbett, G. G. (2000). Number. Cambridge University Press.
D’Anna, L. (2017). Agreement with plural controllers in Fezzānī Arabic. Folia Orientalia, 54, 101-123.
Dali, M. (2020). Gender and number in Tunisian Arabic: A case of contextual allosemy (Doctoral dissertation, Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa).
Dror, Y. (2016). Collective Nouns in Journalistic Arabic. Bulletin de l’Académie Belge pour l’Étude des Langues Anciennes et Orientales, 301-329.
Eynde, F. V. (2007). The Big Mess Construction. In S. Müller (ed.), Proceedings of the HPSG07 Conference, 415-433. Stanford: CSLI Publications. https://doi.org/10.21248/HPSG.2007.24
Ferguson, C.A. (1989). Grammatical Agreement in Classical Arabic and the Modern Dialects. A Response to Versteegh’s Pidginization Hypothesis. Al-ʕArabiyya, 22, 5-17.
Ingham, B. (1994). Najdi Arabic: Central Arabian. John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Kramer, R., & Winchester, L. (2018). Number and gender agreement in Saudi Arabic: morphology vs. syntax. The Proceedings of the 17th Texas Linguistic Society, 39-53.
Levin, M. (1999). Concord with collective nouns revisited. ICAME Journal, 23, 21-34.
Mathieu, E. (2014). Many a plural. Weak referentiality, 157-182.
Pollard, C. and I. A. Sag. (1994). Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ritt-Benmimoun, V. (2017). Tunisian and Libyan Arabic dialects: common trends-recent developments-diachronic aspects. Tunisian and Libyan Arabic dialects, 1-189.
Sag, I. A., T. Wasow, and E. M. Bender. (2003). Syntactic Theory, Second Edition, Stanford: CSLI Publications.
Steele, S. (1978). Word order variation: a typological study. In J. H. Greenberg, C. A. Ferguson, & E. A. Moravcsik (Eds.), Universals of human language (Vol. 4, pp. 585-623). Stanford University Press: Walter de Gruyter.
Wechsler, S. & L. Zlatic. (2003). The many faces of agreement. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
Yassin, S. (2022). Agreement in Palestinian Arabic: An LFG Perspective (Doctoral dissertation, University of Essex).
Zabbal, Y. (2003). The semantics of number in the Arabic noun phrase. National Library of Canada= Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, Ottawa.