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JSL Vol. 3, No. 2 (Summer-Fall 1995; 219-430)
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ABSTRACTS:
Asymmetries in the Scope of Russian Negation Sue Brown and Steven Franks Russian ni-phrase Negative Polarity Items and the Genitive of Negation are not coextensive: the former must be in the scope of negation while the latter is restricted to direct objects, but does not show the scope requirement. These distributional asymmetries can be understood in terms of a functional category NegP analysis of sentential negation, where the negation operator resides in [Spec, NegP] and ne is its head. Several phenomena, including Negative Polarity Items, Relativized Minimality, and partitive genitives, are sensitive to the operator. Genitive of Negation, on the other hand, only requires there to be a NegP and for this reason can even occur in pleonastic contexts. Pleonastic negation, which we analyze as NegP with no negation operator, is canonically selected by certain verbs and adverbials, but is also syntactically forced in Yes/No questions with V-to-C raising. [Journal of Slavic Linguistics 3(2): 239-87, 1995]A Comparative Analysis of the Slavic Imperfective General-Factual Stephen M. Dickey This paper examines data from the Slavic languages concerning the general-factual use of the imperfective aspect. It is shown that the general-factual does not pattern identically in the individual Slavic languages, and that the difference can be concisely formulated in terms of Vendler's lexico-semantic predicate types: in the westernmost languages (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, and Serbo-Croatian), achievements do not occur in the general-factual--the perfective aspect is required. In the eastern lang uages (Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian) achievements are much more acceptable in the general-factual. On the basis of this distinction suggestions are made for definitions of aspectual semantics in the two halves of Slavic, utilizing the concepts of totality and temporal definiteness for the perfective, and temporal indefiniteness for the imperfective. [Journal of Slavic Linguistics 3(2): 288-307, 1995]
Wh-Movement-in-Comp in Slavic Syntax and in Logical Form Gilbert C. Rappaport This paper supports the application of Wh-Movement-in-Comp in Logical Form to "undo" Pied Piping. More precisely, the general convention "Move Alpha" can apply on a recursive basis not only to a moved category as a whole (creating familiar cyclic chains), but within a moved category as well. First a case for Wh-Movement-in-Comp in Logical Form is sketched in terms of the Principles-and-Parameters theory of generative grammar. Then an empirical argument is developed, relying on an important h ypothesis of the theory: overt syntactic movement in a given language is a marked reflection of an isomorphic movement on a universal basis in Logical Form. Evidence is presented for Wh-Movement-in-Comp in Polish syntax, which entails the correspon ding mechanism in Logical Form. A brief survey of the relevant Slavic languages shows that some join Polish in exhibiting Wh-Movement-in-Comp, while others do not. The distinction can be traced to a difference in morphosyntactic typology involving the expression of the Specifier of NP. [Journal of Slavic Linguistics 3(2): 308-56, 1995]The Effect of Discourse Functions on the Voice of Bidiathesis -sja Verbs Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby This article reexamines the claim that verbs suffixed in -sja in Contemporary Standard Russian are distinguished by voice, i.e., imperfectives in -sja may be read as passives, while perfectives in -sja may not. Previous analyses have concluded that the perfective in -sja has an inchoative reading, i.e., is non-active, but non-passive, while the imperfective in -sja is the imperfective member of a passive aspect pair. The perfective member of the pair is a participial construction, composed of 'be' and a past passive participle of a perfective verb. The data in this paper show that passive readings of imperfective -sja are much more restricted than has been suggested previously. These limitations on the passive readings of both perfective and imperfective -sja predicates are examined in light of the Transitivity Hierarchy. The paper concludes that discourse functions, namely Transitivity Ranking and concomitant patient foregrounding, play a significant role in the likelihood that a predicate will be read as a passive in Russian. Discourse analysis offers an explanation for the limitations on the passive reading of -sja predicates, and supports the claim that these verbs are not distinguished by voice, as has often been suggested. [Journal of Slavic Linguistics 3(2): 257-77, 1995]On Phonologically Null Prepositions: A Reply to Fowler and Yadroff Zheng-Min Dong Fowler and Yadroff (1993) propose to explain the Russian use of the accusative case in duration phrases, as in vsju nedelju 'for a whole week', suggesting two separate accounts of such case assignment. This article presents arguments against their first hypothesis, that the accusative case is assigned by a null preposition, and provides additional evidence in support of the second approach, that the accusative case is intrinsic, or semantically independent. [Journal of Slavic Linguistics 3(2): 378-86, 1995] |