Register Variation and Syntactic Theory
Edited by Diane Massam and Tim Stowell
Special issue of Linguistic Variation 17:2 (2017) v, 198 pp.
Diane Massam
List of John Benjamins publications in which Diane Massam is involved.
Title
2024 Chapter 10. Varieties of DP recursion: Syntax, semantics, and acquisition Perspectives on Input, Evidence, and Exposure in Language Acquisition: Studies in honour of Susanne E. Carroll, Hracs, Lindsay (ed.), pp. 245–266 | Chapter
Our objective is to shed light on recursion through an exploration of the L1 development of four DP structures in English. Since recursion is in narrow syntax, there is no reason to expect asymmetries between constructions but specific formal differences between structures might make acquisition… read more
2017 Obligatorily null pronouns in the instructional register and beyond Register Variation and Syntactic Theory, Massam, Diane and Tim Stowell (eds.), pp. 272–291 | Article
English is not canonically considered a pro-drop language. Despite this, it does allow null pronouns, although less freely than traditional pro-drop languages like Italian and Japanese. The focus of this paper is the instructional register (characteristic of recipes) where we claim that object… read more
2017 Introducing register variation and syntactic theory Register Variation and Syntactic Theory, Massam, Diane and Tim Stowell (eds.), pp. 149–156 | Article
2010 Deriving inverse order: The issue of arguments Austronesian and Theoretical Linguistics, Mercado, Raphael, Eric Potsdam and Lisa deMena Travis (eds.), pp. 271–296 | Article
This paper explores word order in Niuean, a Polynesian language with VSO word order, within the context of theories that attempt to constrain the range and limits of possible word orders across languages (in particular Kayne 1994, Cinque 1999, 2005). First it is argued that V-initial order in… read more
2009 The proper D connection Determiners: Universals and variation, Ghomeshi, Jila, Ileana Paul and Martina Wiltschko (eds.), pp. 67–96 | Article
We examine the concepts “proper” and “common” to determine how they are encoded in noun phrases. We address the issue of the noun-determiner relation in fixing the value of a noun phrase, arguing that both noun class and determiner features are involved. We suggest that in both definite common and… read more
2005 Lexical categories, lack of inflection, and predicate-fronting in Niuean Verb First: On the syntax of verb-initial languages, Carnie, Andrew, Heidi Harley and Sheila Dooley (eds.), pp. 227–242 | Article
1997 Operator-bound clitics and Niuean ai Clitics, Pronouns and Movement, Black, James R. and Virginia Motapanyane (eds.), pp. 273–300 | Article
1988 Haitian Creole Syntax: A Case for Det as Head Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 3:2, pp. 213–243 | Article
In this paper we examine several aspects of Haitian Creole syntax in light of the recent proposal that a determiner can be the head of a minor maximal projection. We argue that an incorporation of this proposal into the analysis of several aspects of Haitian Creole syntax, including clause… read more