The Syntax of Agreement and Concord (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 115)

'Agreement' is the grammatical phenomenon in which the form of one item, such as the noun 'horses', forces a second item in the sentence, such as the verb 'gallop', to appear in a particular form, i.e. 'gallop' must agree with 'horses' in number. Even though agreement phenomena are some of the most familiar and well-studied aspects of grammar, there are certain basic questions that have rarely been asked, let alone answered. This book develops a theory of the agreement processes found in language, and considers why verbs agree with subjects in person, adjectives agree in number and gender but not person, and nouns do not agree at all. Explaining these differences leads to a theory that can be applied to all parts of speech and to all languages. Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Abbreviations and conventions......Page 16 1.1 A generalization to be explained......Page 21 1.2 The incompleteness of previous discussions......Page 23 1.4 What is in this book......Page 26 1.5 What is not in this book......Page 27 2 Basic agreement and category distinctions......Page 32 2.1 The generality of the categorical asymmetries in agreement......Page 33 2.1.1 Adjectives versus nouns: predicative structures......Page 34 2.1.2 Adjectives versus nouns: modifying structures......Page 37 2.1.3 Adjectives versus verbs......Page 41 2.2.1 Essentials of category theory......Page 47 2.2.2 Functional heads as the loci of agreement......Page 54 2.3.1 Characteristic properties of agreement......Page 60 2.3.2 Generalizing agreement theory to adjectives......Page 64 2.4.1 Explaining the noun-adjective contrast......Page 68 2.4.2 Explaining the adjective-verb contrast......Page 71 2.5.1 Person agreement on adjectives and nouns......Page 76 2.5.2 Agreement differences among adjectives......Page 80 2.6 Conclusion......Page 84 3 The unity of verbal and adjectival agreement......Page 85 3.1.1 Adjectives with NP complements......Page 87 3.1.2 Raising adjectives......Page 89 3.1.3 Comparing adjectival and verbal agreement......Page 90 3.2.1 Upward agreement on tense......Page 94 3.2.2 Upward agreement on v......Page 97 3.3 Verbs that cannot agree in person, like adjectives......Page 105 3.3.1 Tense agreeing with Spec, CP......Page 106 3.3.2 Agreement in quirky subject constructions......Page 107 3.3.3 Agreement in double object constructions......Page 114 3.3.4 Agreement into an embedded clause......Page 123 3.4 Conclusion......Page 127 4 Explaining the restriction on person agreement......Page 131 4.1.1 Adpositions......Page 132 4.1.2 Determiners......Page 134 4.1.3 Degree heads......Page 136 4.1.4 Complementizers: a favorable case......Page 137 4.1.5 Complementizers: problematic cases......Page 139 4.2 Operator-variable agreement and Agree......Page 141 4.3.1 The Person Licensing Condition......Page 144 4.3.2 Locality and shifted interpretations of first and......Page 149 4.3.3 Comparison with logophoric pronouns......Page 155 4.4 On the strictness of locality conditions involving heads......Page 158 4.5 Deriving the SCOPA......Page 162 4.6 Conclusion......Page 168 Appendix: a note on anaphoric agreeement and the SCOPA......Page 170 5.1 Introduction: parameters and other kinds of variation......Page 173 5.2.1 Tense agreement in NC versus IE languages......Page 177 5.2.2 Agreement on tense in other languages......Page 185 5.3 Agreement on FA and the formulation of the parameters......Page 191 5.4.1 C-agreement in NC and IE languages......Page 198 5.4.2 C-agreement in other languages......Page 202 5.5.1 D agreement in Bantu and IE languages......Page 204 5.5.2 D agreement in other languages......Page 209 5.6.1 P agreement in Bantu and IE......Page 211 5.6.2 P agreement in other languages......Page 214 5.7.1 v agreement in NC and IE languages......Page 216 5.7.2 v agreement in other languages......Page 220 5.8 Agreement on the linker head......Page 226 5.9.1 Auxiliary constructions in Bantu vs. IE languages......Page 227 5.9.2 Auxiliary constructions in other languages......Page 232 5.10 A third value for the Direction of Agreement Parameter......Page 234 5.11 Many little parameters or two big parameters?......Page 239 5.11.1 A 108-language survey of agreement behavior......Page 240 5.11.2 Two apparent exceptions......Page 244 5.11.3 Two minimal comparisons......Page 256 5.12 General conclusion......Page 264 Appendix: Table of languages and their agreement properties......Page 266 References......Page 274 Index......Page 284 'agreement' Is The Grammatical Phenomenon In Which The Form Of One Item Forces A Second Item In The Sentence. This Book Develops A Theory Of The Agreement Processes Found In Language, Explaining Why The Differences Lead To A Theory That Can Be Applied To All Parts Of Speech And To All Languages. Mark C. Baker. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 254-263) And Index.