Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Variation
Vol. 14:2 (2014) ► pp.179–242

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The role of case in A-bar extraction asymmetries

Evidence from Mayan

Published online: 9 March 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.14.2.01coo
Many morphologically ergative languages display asymmetries in the extraction of core arguments: while absolutive arguments (transitive objects and intransitive subjects) extract freely, ergative arguments (transitive subjects) cannot. This falls under the label “syntactic ergativity” (see, e.g. Dixon 1972, 1994; Manning 1996; Polinsky to appear(b)). These extraction asymmetries are found in many languages of the Mayan family, where in order to extract transitive subjects (for focus, questions, or relativization), a special construction known as the “Agent Focus” (AF) must be used. These AF constructions have been described as syntactically and semantically transitive because they contain two non-oblique DP arguments, but morphologically intransitive because the verb appears with only a single agreement marker and takes an intransitive status suffix (Aissen 1999; Stiebels 2006). In this paper we offer a proposal for (i) why some morphologically ergative languages exhibit extraction asymmetries, while others do not; and (ii) how the AF construction in Q’anjob’al circumvents this problem. We adopt recent accounts which argue that ergative languages vary in the locus of absolutive case assignment (Aldridge 2004, 2008a; Legate 2002, 2008), and propose that this variation is present within the Mayan family. Based primarily on comparative data from Q’anjob’al and Chol, we argue that the inability to extract ergative arguments does not reflect a problem with properties of the ergative subject itself, but rather reflects locality properties of absolutive case assignment in the clause. We show how the AF morpheme -on circumvents this problem in Q’anjob’al by assigning case to internal arguments.
Keywords: case
References (138)
Abels, Klaus. 2012. The Italian left periphery: A view from locality. Linguistic Inquiry 431. 229–254. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abney, Steven P. 1987. The English noun-phrase in its sentential aspect. Doctoral dissertation, Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Adger, David. 2013. A syntax of substance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aissen, Judith. 1987. Tzotzil clause structure. Reidel: Dordrecht. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Topic and focus in Mayan. Language 681. 43–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1999. Agent focus and inverse in Tzotzil. Language 751. 451–485. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Depictives and serialization in Tzotzil. In Donna B. Gerdts, John C. Moore & Maria Polinsky (eds.), Hypothesis A/Hypothesis B, Current Studies in Linguistics, 1–17. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. On the syntax of agent focus in K’ichee’. In Kirill Shklovsky, Pedro Mateo Pedro & Jessica Coon (eds.), Proceedings of FAMLi 1: Formal approaches to Mayan linguistics, vol. 631. Cambridge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ajsivinac, Juan & Robert Henderson. 2011. Agent focus morphology without a focused agent: Restrictions on objects in Kaqchikel. In Kirill Shklovsky, Pedro Mateo Pedro & Jessica Coon (eds.), Proceedings of FAMLi 1: Formal approaches to Mayan linguistics: Formal approaches to mayan linguistics, vol. 631,. Cambidge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aldridge, Edith. 2004. Ergativity and word order in Austronesian languages. Doctoral dissertation, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
. 2008a. Generative approaches to ergativity. Language and Linguistic Compass: Syntax and Morphology 21. 966–995. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008b. Phase-based account of extraction in Indonesian. Lingua 1181. 1440–1469. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anagnostopoulou, Elena. 2003. The syntax of ditransitives: Evidence from clitics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anand, Pranav & Andrew Ira Nevins. 2004. Shifty operators in changing contexts. In Robert B. Young (ed.), Proceedings of the 14th semantics and linguistics theory conference (SALT 14), 20–37. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Assmann, Anke, Doreen Georgi, Fabian Heck, Gereon Müller & Philipp Weisser. 2013. Ergatives move too early: on an instance of opacity in syntax. Ms. Universität Leipzig.
Ayres, Glenn. 1983. The antipassive “voice” in Ixil. International Journal of American Linguistics 491. 20–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1991. La gramática Ixil. Guatemala: Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamérica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, Mark C. 1988. Incorporation: A theory of grammatical function changing. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Lexical categories: Verbs, nouns and adjectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. The syntax of agreement and concord. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berinstein, Ava. 1985. Evidence for multiattachment in K’ekchi Mayan. New York: Garland. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1990. On distinguishing surface datives in K’ekchi. In Paul M. Postal & Brian D. Joseph (eds.), Studies in relational grammar 31, 3–48. Chicago: University of Chicago.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1998. Antipassive and 2–3 retreat in K’ekchi Mayan: Two constructions with the same verbal reflex. In Leanne Hinton & Pamela Munro (eds.), Studies in American Indian languages: Description and theory, 212–222. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bittner, Maria & Kenneth Hale. 1996a. Ergativity: Toward a theory of a heterogeneous class. Linguistic Inquiry 271. 531–604.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1996b. The structural determination of case and agreement. Linguistic Inquiry 271. 1–68.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bobaljik, Jonathan David. 1993. On ergativity and ergative unergatives. In Colin Phillips (ed.), Papers on case and agreement II, vol. 191, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, 45–88. Cambridge, MA: MITWPL.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bok-Bennema, Reineke. 1991. Case and agreement in Inuit. Dordrecht: Foris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bok-Bennema, Reineke & A. Groos. 1984. Ergativiteit. GLOT 71. 1–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria R. 1977. Pronominal inflection in the Mayan languages. In Occasional paper 1, New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University and the Zemurray Foundation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1978. Antipassive constructions in Yucatec Maya. In Nora C. England, Collette G. Craig & Louanna Furbee-Losee (eds.), Papers in Mayan linguistics. Columbia: University of Missouri.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1979. Wh-questions, relativization, and clefting in Yucatec Maya. In William Norman Victoria R. Bricker (ed.), Papers in Mayan linguistics, 109–138. Columbia, Missouri: Lucas Brothers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1981. The source of the ergative split in Yucatec Maya. Journal of Mayan Linguistics 21. 83–127.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campana, Mark. 1992. A movement theory of ergativity. Ph.D. thesis,Montreal: McGill University.
Campbell, Lyle & Terrence Kaufman. 1985. Mayan linguistics: Where are we now? Annual Review of Anthropology 141. 187–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In Roger Martin, David Michaels & Juan Uriagereka (eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik, 89–155. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. Derivation by phase. In Michael Kenstowicz (ed.), Ken Hale: A life in language, 1–52. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chung, Sandra & Maria Polinsky. 2009. Introduction. Natural language and linguistic theory 271 (Topic/Comment Special: Comparative Syntax of Austronesian Languages). 659–673. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cinque, Guglielmo. 1999. Adverbs and functional heads: A crosslinguistic perspective. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clemens, Lauren Eby & Maria Polinsky. To appear. Verb-initial word orders (primarily in Austronesian and Mayan languages). In Martin Everaert & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds.), The Blackwell companion to syntax, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Collins, Chris. 2005a. A smuggling approach to raising in English. Linguistic Inquiry 361. 289–298. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005b. A smuggling approach to the passive in English. Syntax 81. 81–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coon, Jessica. 2010. VOS as Predicate Fronting in Chol. Lingua 1201. 354–378. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Split ergativity and transitivity in Chol. Lingua 1221. 241–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Aspects of split ergativity. Cambridge: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. To appear. Little-v agreement: Evidence from Mayan. In Proceedings of the 50th chicago linguistics society (CLS 50), Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Coon, Jessica & Maayan Adar. 2013. Ergativity. In Mark Aronoff (ed.), Oxford bibliographies in linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coon, Jessica & Robert Henderson. 2011. Two binding puzzles in Mayan. In Rodrigo Gutiérrez Bravo, Line Mikkelsen & Eric Potsdam (eds.), Representing language: Essays in honor of Judith Aissen, 51–67. University of California, Santa Cruz: Linguistic Research Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coon, Jessica & Pedro Mateo Pedro. 2011. Extraction and embedding in two Mayan langauges. In Kirill Shklovsky, Pedro Mateo Pedro & Jessica Coon (eds.), Proceedings of FAMLi: Formal approaches to mayan linguistics, vol. 631, 93–104. Cambidge, MA: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Craig, Collette. 1986. Jacaltec noun classifiers. Lingua 701. 241–284. 10.1016/0024–3841(86)90046-x Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Craig, Collette Grinevald. 1977. The structure of Jacaltec. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1979. The antipassive and Jacaltec. In Laura Martin (ed.), Papers in Mayan linguistics, vol. 11, 139–164. Lucas Brothers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Danziger, Eve. 1996. Split intransitivity and active-inactive patterning in Mopan Mayan. International Journal of American Linguistics 621. 379–414. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, William D. & Luis Enrique Sam-Colop. 1990. K’iche’ and the structure of antipassive. International Journal of American Linguistics 661. 522–549. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dayley, Jon. 1981. Voice and ergativity in Mayan languages. Journal of Mayan Linguistics 21. 3–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deal, Amy Rose. 2009. The origin and content of expletives: Evidence from “selection”. Syntax 121. 285–323. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Ergative case and the transitive subject: A view from Nez Perce. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 281. 73–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. To appear. Ergativity. In A. Alexiadou & T. Kiss (eds.), Syntax – theory and analysis: An international handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Dixon, R.M.W. 1972. The Dyirbal language of North Queensland. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1994. Ergativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Edmonson, Barbara Wedemeyer. 1988. A descriptive grammar of Huastec (Potosino dialect). Ph.D. thesis, New Orleans, LA: Tulane University.
England, Nora. 1983. A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language. Austin: University of Texas Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1991. Changes in basic word order in Mayan languages. International Journal of American Linguistics 571. 446–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. To appear. Cláusulas con flexión reducida en mam. In Roberto Zavala & Enrique Palancar (eds.), Estudios sintácticos en lenguas de Mesoamérica.
England, Nora C. & Roberto Maldonado Zavala. 2013. Mayan languages. In Mark Aronoff (ed.), Oxford bibliographies in linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka. 2014. Anti-locality and optimality in Kaqchikel Agent Focus. Ms. MIT (lingbuzz/001841).
Furbee-Losee, Louanna. 1976. The correct language: Tojolabal. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gärtner, Hans-Martin, Paul Law & Joachim Sabel. 2006. Clause structure and adjuncts in Austronesian languages: A critical introductory survey. In Hans-Martin Gärtner, Paul Law & Joachim Sabel (eds.), Clause structure and adjuncts in Austronesian languages, 1–42. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grinevald, Colette & Marc Peake. 2012. Ergativity and voice in Mayan: A functionaly-typological approach. In Gilles Authier & Katharina Haude (eds.), Ergativity, valency and voice, 15–49. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gutiérrez Bravo, Rodrigo & Jorge Monforte. 2009. Focus, agent focus, and relative clauses in Yuctec Maya. In Heriberto Avelino, Jessica Coon & Elisabeth Norcliffe (eds.), New perspectives in Mayan linguistics. Cambridge: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halpert, Claire. 2012. Argument licensing and agreement in Zulu. Doctoral dissertation, Cambridge, MA: MIT. URL: 〈 [URL]〉.
Harley, Heidi. 2013. External arguments and the mirror principle: On the distinctness of Voice and v. Lingua 1251. 34–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henderson, Robert. 2007. Observations on the syntax of adjunct obervations on the syntax of adjunct extraction in Kaqchikel. In Proceedings of Congreso de Idiomas Indígenas de Latinoamérica (CILLA) III.
. 2012. Morphological alternations at the intonational phrase edge: The case of K’ichee’. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 301. 741–789. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henderson, Robert, Jessica Coon & Lisa Travis. 2013. Micro- and macro-parameters in Mayan syntactic ergativity. Paper presented at Towards a Theory of Syntactic Variation, EHU, Bilbao.
Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. 2005. The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar: Typological characteristics. In Alexander K. Adelaar & Nikolaus P. Himmelmann (eds.), The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar, 110–181. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hofling, Charles A. 1998. Irrealis and perfect in Itzaj Maya. Anthropological Linguistics 401. 214–227.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Itzaj Maya grammar. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hou, Liwen. 2013. Agent focus in Chuj reflexive constructions. BA thesis, McGill University, Montréal Québec.
Imanishi, Yusuke. 2014. Default ergative: A view from Mayan. Ph.D. thesis, Cambidge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jelinek, Eloise. 1984. Empty categories, case, and configurationality. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21. 39–76. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johns, Alana. 1992. Deriving ergativity. Linguistic Inquiry 231. 57–88.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Ergativity: A perspective on recent work. In Lisa L.-S. Cheng & Rint Sybesma (eds.), The first glot international state-of-the-article book, 47–73. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufman, Terrence. 1990. Algunos rasgos estructurales de los idiomas mayances con referencia especial al K’iche’. In Nora England & Stephen R. Elliot (eds.), Lecturas sobre la lingüística maya, 59–114. Antigua: CIRMA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Larsen, Tomas W. & William M. Norman. 1979. Correlates of ergativity in Mayan grammar. In Frans Plank (ed.), Ergativity: Towards a theory of grammatical relations, 347–370. London/New York: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Legate, Julie Anne. 2003. Some interface properties of the phase. Linguistic Inquiry 341. 506–516. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Types of ergativity. Lingua 1221. 181–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. Warlpiri: Theoretical implications. Doctoral dissertation, Cambridge, MA: MIT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Morphological and abstract case. Linguistic Inquiry 391. 55–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manning, Christopher. 1996. Ergativity: Argument structure and grammatical relations. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markman, Vita G. & Pavel Grashchenkov. 2012. On the adpositional nature of ergative subjects. Lingua 1221. 257–266. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Massam, Diane. 2001. Pseudo Noun Incorporation in Niuean. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 191. 153–197. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mateo Pedro, Pedro. 2009. Nominalization in Q’anjob’al Maya. In Stephanie Lux & Pedro Mateo Pedro (eds.), Kansas working papers in linguistics, vol. 311, 46–63. Lawrence: University of Kansas.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. The acquisition of unaccusativity in Q’anjob’al Maya. Ms. Harvard University.
Mateo-Toledo, B’alam Eladio. 2003a. Ergatividad mixta en Q’anjobal (Maya): un reanálisis. In Proceedings of the conference of indigenous language of Latin America 1.
. 2003b. The use of languages’ names: The Mayan case. International Journal of American Linguistics 691. 151–153. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. The family of complex predicates in Q’anjob’al (Maya): Their syntax and meaning. Ph.D. thesis, Austin, TX: University of Texas Austin.
McCloskey, James. 1997. Subjecthood and subject positions. In Liliane Haegeman (ed.), Elements of Grammar, 197–235. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McQuown, Norman A. 1956. The classification of the Mayan languages. International Journal of American Linguistics 221. 191–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne. 1984. The evolution of noun incorporation. Language 601. 847–894. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mondloch, James. 1981. Voice in Quiche-Maya. Ph.D. thesis, SUNY Albany.
Mora-Marín, David F. 2003. Historical reconstruction of Mayan applicative and antidative constructions. International Journal of American Linguistics 691. 186–228. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murasugi, Kumiko. 1992. Crossing and nested paths. Ph.D. thesis, Cambidge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nissenbaum, Jon. 2000. Investigations of covert phrase movement. Doctoral dissertation, Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Norcliffe, Elisabeth. 2009. Revisiting agent focus in Yucatec. In Heriberto Avelino, Jessica Coon & Elisabeth Norcliffe (eds.), New perspectives in Mayan linguistics. Cambridge: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ordóñez, Francisco. 1995. The antipassive in Jacaltec: A last resort strategy. CatWPL 41. 329–343.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oxford, Will. 2014. Microparameters of agreement: A diachronic perspective on Algonquian verb inflection. Ph.D. thesis, Tortonto, Ontario: University of Toronto.
Pascual, Adán F. 2007. Transitividad y dependencia sintáctica y discursiva en Q’anjob’al. MA thesis, México: CIESAS.
Polian, Gilles. 2013. Gramática del tseltal de Oxchuc. Publicaciones de la Casa Chata, México: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria. 1994. Relativiation in Chukchi. In H. Aronson (ed.), Papers from the 7th conference on the non-slavic languages of the USSR. University of Chicago Press.
. 2008. Antipassive construtions. In David Gil Martin Haspelmath Matthew Dryer & Bernhard Comrie (eds.), vol. The World Atlas of Language Structures Onlineß, chap. 108, Max Planck Digital Library.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. To appear(a). A tale of two ergatives. Oxford University Press.
. To appear(b). Syntactic ergativity. In Martin Everaert & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds.), Blackwell companion to syntax, 2nd Edition, Paper given at Case by Case workshop. Paris, France: Blackwell Publishers.
Polinsky, Maria & Eric Potsdam. To appear. Austronesian syntax. In Bill Palmer (ed.), Oceanic languages.
Postal, Paul M. 1974. On raising. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Preminger, Omer. 2009. Breaking agreements: Distinguishing agreement and clitic-doubling by their failures. Linguistic Inquiry 401. 619–666. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011a. Agreement as a fallible operation. Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge, MA: MIT.
. 2011b. Asymmetries between person and number in syntax: A commentary on Baker’s SCOPA. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 291. 917–937. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. Agreement and its failures. Linguistic Inquiry monographs. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pye, Clifton. 1989. The focus antipassive in K’iche’ Mayan. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 141. 88–98.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quesada, J. Diego. 1997. A note on Mayan ‘crazy’ antipassivization. Theoretical Linguistics 231. 79–112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rackowski, Andrea & Norvin Richards. 2005. Phase edge and extraction: A Tagalog case study. Linguistic Inquiry 361. 565–599. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rice, Keren. 1989. A grammar of Slave. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Richards, Norvin. 2001. Movement in language: Interactions and architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robertson, John. 1992. The history of tense/aspect/mood/voice in the Mayan verbal complex. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rudin, Catherine. 1988. On multiple questions and multiple wh-fronting. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 61. 445–501. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schlenker, Philippe. 2004. Person and binding. Rivista di Linguistica 161. 155–218.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith-Stark, Thom. 1978. The mayan antipassive: Some facts and fictions. In Nora England (ed.), Papers in Mayan linguistics, 169–187. The Curators of the University of Missouri.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Starke, Michal. 2001. Move dissolves into merge: A theory of locality. Doctoral dissertation, Geneva: University of Geneva. URL: 〈 [URL]〉.
Stiebels, Barbara. 2006. Agent focus in Mayan languages. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 241. 501–570. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tada, Hiroaki. 1993. A/A-bar partition in derivation. Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Tonhauser, Judith. 2003. F-constructions in Yucatec Maya. In Jan Anderssen, Paula Menéndez-Benito & Adam Werle (eds.), Proceedings of semantics of under-represented languages of the Americas (sula) 2, 203–223. Amherst, MA: GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Agent focus and voice in Yucatec Maya. In J. Cihlar, A. Franklin, D. Kaise and I. Kimbara (eds.), Proceedings of the 39th meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 540–558. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vázquez Álvarez, Juan J. 2002. Morfología del verbo de la lengua chol de Tila Chiapas. M.A. Thesis, México: CIESAS.
. 2011. A grammar of Chol, a Mayan language. Ph.D. thesis, Austin, TX: University of Texas Austin.
Woolford, Ellen. 2000. Ergative agreement systems. University of Maryland Working Papers in Linguistics 101. 157–191.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure. Linguistic Inquiry 371. 111–130. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. PF factors in pronominal clitic selection in Tzotzil. In Rodrigo Gutiérrez Bravo, Line Mikkelsen & Eric Potsdam (eds.), Representing language: Essays in honor of Judith Aissen, 313–320. University of California, Santa Cruz: Linguitic Research Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wurmbrand, Susi. 2001. Infinitives: Restructuring and clause structure. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (57)

Cited by 57 other publications

Burukina, Irina & Maria Polinsky
2025. The antipassive and verbal projections. Journal of Linguistics 61:4 ► pp. 689 ff. DOI logo
Deal, Amy Rose & Justin Royer
2025. Mayan animacy hierarchy effects and the dynamics of Agree. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 43:3 ► pp. 1607 ff. DOI logo
Elkins, Noah
2025. Fixed-VSO word order in Mayan is a syntactic, not prosodic, innovation. Linguistic Variation DOI logo
Hopperdietzel, Jens & Artemis Alexiadou
2025. Marked unergatives: Syntactic ergativity and nominalizations. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 43:4 ► pp. 2617 ff. DOI logo
Myers, Willie
2025. Expanding the Typology of Absolutive Syntax in Mayan: Evidence From Northern Mam. Language and Linguistics Compass 19:3 DOI logo
Royer, Justin & Jessica Coon
2025. Correlates of Object Raising in Mayan. Language and Linguistics Compass 19:4 DOI logo
Branan, Kenyon & Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine
2024. Ā-Probing for the Closest DP. Linguistic Inquiry 55:2 ► pp. 375 ff. DOI logo
Newman, Elise
2024. The order of operations and A/Ā interactions. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 42:4 ► pp. 1623 ff. DOI logo
Newman, Elise
2025. Probing for the Closest DP: A Reply to Branan and Erlewine 2022. Linguistic Inquiry 56:1 ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo
Sheehan, Michelle & Sonia Cyrino
2024. Restrictions on Long Passives in English and Brazilian Portuguese: A Phase-Based Account. Linguistic Inquiry 55:4 ► pp. 769 ff. DOI logo
Mendes, Gesoel & Jason Kandybowicz
2023. Salvation by Deletion in Nupe. Linguistic Inquiry 54:2 ► pp. 299 ff. DOI logo
Momme Holtmann
2023. The position of Set B markers in Proto-Mayan. Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México 10 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Oxford, Will
2023. A tale of two inverses. Syntax 26:3 ► pp. 311 ff. DOI logo
Brodkin, Dan
2022. Two steps to high absolutive syntax: Austronesian voice and agent focus in Mandar. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 31:4 ► pp. 465 ff. DOI logo
Brodkin, Dan
2025. The prosody of the extended VP. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 43:3 ► pp. 1239 ff. DOI logo
Ganenkov, Dmitry
2022. Person agreement with inherent case DPs in Chirag Dargwa. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 40:3 ► pp. 741 ff. DOI logo
Lyskawa, Paulina & Rodrigo Ranero
2022. Optional agreement as successful/failed Agree. Linguistic Variation 22:2 ► pp. 209 ff. DOI logo
Royer, Justin
2022. Prosody as syntactic evidence. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 40:1 ► pp. 239 ff. DOI logo
Royer, Justin
2025. Binding and Anticataphora in Mayan. Linguistic Inquiry 56:2 ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo
SKOPETEAS, STAVROS, ELISABETH VERHOEVEN & GISBERT FANSELOW
2022. Discontinuous noun phrases in Yucatec Maya. Journal of Linguistics 58:3 ► pp. 609 ff. DOI logo
Tollan, Rebecca & Diane Massam
2022. Licensing unergative objects in ergative languages: The view from Polynesian. Syntax 25:2 ► pp. 242 ff. DOI logo
Can Pixabaj, Telma Angelina & Judith Aissen
2021. Nominalization and the Expression of Manner in K’iche’. International Journal of American Linguistics 87:1 ► pp. 109 ff. DOI logo
Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka & Theodore Levin
2021. Philippine Clitic Pronouns and the Lower Phase Edge. Linguistic Inquiry 52:2 ► pp. 408 ff. DOI logo
Ershova, Ksenia
2021. Diagnosing Clause Structure in a Polysynthetic Language:Wh-Agreement and Parasitic Gaps in West Circassian. Linguistic Inquiry 52:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Ershova, Ksenia
2024. Phasehood as defective intervention: Possessor extraction and selective DP islandhood in West Circassian. Syntax DOI logo
Levin, Theodore, Paulina Lyskawa & Rodrigo Ranero
2021. Optional agreement in Santiago Tz’utujil (Mayan) is syntactic. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 39:3 ► pp. 329 ff. DOI logo
Mendes, Gesoel & Rodrigo Ranero
2021. Chain Reduction via Substitution: Evidence from Mayan. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 6:1 DOI logo
Sychev, Roman V.
2021. Morphosyntactic features of progressive in the K’iche’an languages of the Mayan family. Open Linguistics 7:1 ► pp. 594 ff. DOI logo
Heaton, Raina
2020. Antipassives in Crosslinguistic Perspective. Annual Review of Linguistics 6:1 ► pp. 131 ff. DOI logo
Heaton, Raina
2021. Antipassive and antipassive-like constructions in Mayan languages. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 549 ff. DOI logo
Heaton, Raina
2024. Competing constructions in Kaqchikel focus contexts. Linguistics 62:6 ► pp. 1379 ff. DOI logo
Parker, Clinton
2020. Vestigial ergativity in Shughni: At the intersection of alignment, clitic doubling, and feature-driven movement. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 5:1 DOI logo
Quizar, Robin
2020. Tracing the Ch’orti’ Antipassive System: A Comparative/Historical View. International Journal of American Linguistics 86:2 ► pp. 237 ff. DOI logo
Aldridge, Edith
2019. Labeling and verb-initial word order in Seediq. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 28:4 ► pp. 359 ff. DOI logo
Amaechi, Mary & Doreen Georgi
2019. Quirks of subject (non-)extraction in Igbo. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 4:1 DOI logo
Holmberg, Anders, Michelle Sheehan & Jenneke van der Wal
2019. Movement from the Double Object Construction Is Not Fully Symmetrical. Linguistic Inquiry 50:4 ► pp. 677 ff. DOI logo
Imanishi, Yusuke
2019. The Clause‐Mate Condition on Resumption: Evidence from Kaqchikel. Studia Linguistica 73:2 ► pp. 398 ff. DOI logo
Imanishi, Yusuke
2020. Parameterizing split ergativity in Mayan. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 38:1 ► pp. 151 ff. DOI logo
Kotek, Hadas & Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine
2019. Wh-indeterminates in Chuj (Mayan). Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 64:1 ► pp. 62 ff. DOI logo
Bennett, Ryan
2018. Recursive prosodic words in Kaqchikel (Mayan). Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1 DOI logo
Bennett, Ryan, Boris Harizanov & Robert Henderson
2018. Prosodic Smothering in Macedonian and Kaqchikel. Linguistic Inquiry 49:2 ► pp. 195 ff. DOI logo
Henderson, Robert & Jessica Coon
2018. Adverbs and variability in Kaqchikel Agent Focus. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 36:1 ► pp. 149 ff. DOI logo
Sheehan, Michelle, Albertyna Paciorek & John Williams
2018. Case/agreement matching: Evidence for a cognitive bias. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1 DOI logo
SHEEHAN, MICHELLE & JENNEKE VAN DER WAL
2018. Nominal licensing in caseless languages. Journal of Linguistics 54:3 ► pp. 527 ff. DOI logo
Tollan, Rebecca
2018. Unergatives are different: Two types of transitivity in Samoan. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1 DOI logo
Tollan, Rebecca
2021. The Role of the Absolutive Object in Morphological Accessibility. Linguistic Inquiry 52:3 ► pp. 640 ff. DOI logo
Coon, Jessica & Elizabeth Carolan
2017. Nominalizations and the structure of progressives in Chuj Mayan. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 2:1 DOI logo
Polinsky, Maria
2017. Syntactic Ergativity. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Watanabe, Akira
2017. The division of labor between syntax and morphology in the Kichean agent-focus construction. Morphology 27:4 ► pp. 685 ff. DOI logo
Charnavel, Isabelle & Dominique Sportiche
2016. Anaphor Binding: What French Inanimate Anaphors Show. Linguistic Inquiry 47:1 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Coon, Jessica
2016. Mayan Morphosyntax. Language and Linguistics Compass 10:10 ► pp. 515 ff. DOI logo
Coon, Jessica
2017. Little‐v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol. Syntax 20:2 ► pp. 101 ff. DOI logo
COON, JESSICA
2019. Building verbs in Chuj: Consequences for the nature of roots. Journal of Linguistics 55:1 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Deal, Amy Rose
2016. Syntactic Ergativity: Analysis and Identification. Annual Review of Linguistics 2:1 ► pp. 165 ff. DOI logo
Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka
2016. Anti-locality and optimality in Kaqchikel Agent Focus. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 34:2 ► pp. 429 ff. DOI logo
Clemens, Lauren Eby, Jessica Coon, Pedro Mateo Pedro, Adam Milton Morgan, Maria Polinsky, Gabrielle Tandet & Matthew Wagers
2015. Ergativity and the complexity of extraction: a view from Mayan. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 33:2 ► pp. 417 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2015. The Acquisition of Inflection in Q’anjob’al Maya [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 14], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue