Discontinuous noun phrases in Yucatec Maya

Languages differ in whether or not they allow discontinuous noun phrases. If they do, they further vary in the ways the nominal projections interact with the available syntactic operations. Yucatec Maya has two left-peripheral configurations that differ syntactically: a preverbal position for foci o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of linguistics 2022-08, Vol.58 (3), p.609-648
Main Authors: SKOPETEAS, STAVROS, VERHOEVEN, ELISABETH, FANSELOW, GISBERT
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clauses
Focus
Linguistics
Morphosyntax
Noun phrases
Nouns
Phrases
Quantifiers
Syntactic islands
Syntactic movement
Syntactic structures
Syntax
Topic and comment
Yucatec Maya language
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Summary:Languages differ in whether or not they allow discontinuous noun phrases. If they do, they further vary in the ways the nominal projections interact with the available syntactic operations. Yucatec Maya has two left-peripheral configurations that differ syntactically: a preverbal position for foci or wh-elements that is filled in by movement, and the possibility to adjoin topics at the highest clausal layer. These two structural options are reflected in different ways of the formation of discontinuous patterns. Subextraction from nominal projections to the focus position yielding discontinuous NPs is possible, but subject to several restrictions. It observes conditions on extraction domains, and does not apply to the left branch of nominal structures. The topic position also appears to license discontinuity, typically involving a non-referential nominal expression as the topic and quantifiers/adjectives that form an elliptical nominal projection within the clause proper. Such constructions can involve several morphological and syntactic mismatches between their parts that are excluded for continuous noun phrases, and they are not sensitive to syntactic island restrictions. Thus, in a strict sense, discontinuities involving the topic position are only apparent, because the construction involves two independent nominal projections that are semantically linked.
ISSN:0022-2267
1469-7742
DOI:10.1017/S0022226720000419