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Ku Versus Null in Papiamentu

Florimon C.M. van Putte | University of Leiden

Erica C. García | University of Leiden

The present article analyzes the optional occurrence of KU (versus NULL) introducing complement sentences in Papiamentu. It is claimed that the choice between an overt connecting element or NULL is neither syntactically dependent nor arbitrary, but, rather, is independent and communicatively motivated. The difference between the presence versus absence of linguistic material is exploited to suggest the conceptual distance between (or closeness of, respectively) the events introduced in the complementizing and complement clauses. This analysis is supported by quantitative and qualitative data concerning the distribution of KU and NULL in relation to the lexical type of the complementizing verb.

Published online: 01 January 1990
https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.5.2.03put

Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

No author info given

2015. In Functional Categories in Three Atlantic Creoles [Creole Language Library, 50],

Kouwenberg, Silvia & Claire Lefebvre

2007. A new analysis of the Papiamentu clause structure. Probus 19:1

Levisen, Carsten & Karime Aragón

2017. In Creole Studies – Phylogenetic Approaches, ► pp. 315 ff.

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