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In:Boundaries, Phases and Interfaces: Case studies in honor of Violeta Demonte
Edited by Olga Fernández-Soriano, Elena Castroviejo Miró and Isabel Pérez-Jiménez
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 239] 2017
► pp. 85–104

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A note on the syntax of possession in Paraguayan Guaraní

 | University of Southern California
 | University of Southern California
Published online: 14 June 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.239.05zub
This article shows that the pronominal system of Paraguayan Guaraní provides evidence that 3p (null) possessor pronouns behave differently from 1p and 2p (overt) possessor pronouns and argues that this difference can be captured by a conjunction of hypotheses, namely, that the 3p possessor pronoun in Paraguayan Guaraní is negatively specified for Person feature and that its syntax is crucially different from that of 1p and 2p possessor pronouns. The null possessor pronoun is an nP (not a DP) that receives its interpretation via local binding. We furthermore argue that all inalienable possessor pronouns in Paraguayan Guaraní originate as an nP and that 1p and 2p pronouns must sideward-merge with a D and then merge as specifiers of higher heads (either in the nominal or verbal domain) to be syntactically realized as full DPs. We extend the analysis proposed for inalienable possessors to a certain class of transitive verbs (known as triforme verbs) as well as to nominal possessor constructions.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Triforme nouns and the +Part vs. 3p distinction
  • 3.Triforme verbs as derived from triforme nouns
  • 4.Other predicates with inalienably possessed nominals
  • 5.Oblique pronouns as inalienable possessed nominals
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (15)
References
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