Article published in:
Advances in the Syntax of DPs: Structure, agreement, and case
Edited by Anna Bondaruk, Gréte Dalmi and Alexander Grosu
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 217] 2014
► pp. 95–116

Syntactic (dis)agreement is not semantic agreement

This chapter looks at two cases where subject agreement in Hebrew does not follow the morphosyntactic (phi) features of the subject: singular agreement with plural subjects, and plural agreement with singular group-denoting subjects. The paper argues that there are important differences between these two cases; in particular, it is argued that the former is not agreement but lack of agreement, whereas the latter involves (syntactic) agreement. Lack of agreement is tied to constraints on thematic role assignment. Neither case poses a real problem to current syntactic models of agreement.
Published online: 14 October 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.217.04dan
References
Bobaljik, Jonathan D
2008 Where's phi? Agreement as a post-syntactic operation. In Phi-theory: Phi Features Across Interfaces and Modules, Daniel Harbour, David Adger & Susana Béjar (eds), 295–328. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Bock, Kathryn, Cutler, Anne, Eberhard, Kathleen M., Buttefield, Sally, Cutting, J. Cooper & Humphreys, Karin R
2006 Number agreement in British and American English: Disagreeing to agree collectively. Language 82(1): 64–113. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, Noam
1986 Knowledge of Language. New York NY: Praeger.Google Scholar
2000 Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In Step by Step: Essays in Minimalist Syntax in Honor of Howard Lasnik, Roger Martin, David Michaels & Juan Uriagereka (eds), 89–155. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
2001 Derivation by phase. In Ken Hale: A Life in Language, Michael Kenstowicz (ed.), 1–52. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Corbett, Greville G
1979 The agreement hierarchy. Journal of Linguistics 15: 203–224. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Danon, Gabi
2011 Agreement and DP-internal feature distribution. Syntax 14(4): 297–317. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2012 Nothing to agree on: Non-agreeing subjects of copular clauses in Hebrew. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 59(1–2): 85–108. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2013 Agreement alternations with quantified nominals in Modern Hebrew. Journal of Linguistics 49(1): 55–92. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
In press. ma ze ze? nituax taxbiri šel ha-oged "ze" ba-ivrit ha-modernit (What's ze? A syntactic analysis of the copula "ze" in Modern Hebrew). To appear in Hebrew Linguistics.
Davies, Mark
2013 Corpus of Global Web-Based English: 1.9 billion words from speakers in 20 countries. <http://​corpus2​.byu​.edu​/glowbe​/>
den Dikken, Marcel
2001 ‘Pluringulars’, pronouns and quirky agreement. The Linguistic Review 18: 19–41.Google Scholar
Doron, Edit
1983 Verbless Predicates in Hebrew. PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Dowty, David & Jacobson, Pauline
1988 Agreement as a semantic phenomenon. In Proceedings of ESCOL , Joyce Powers & Kenneth de Jong (eds), 95–108. Columbus OH: Ohio State University, Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Elbourne, Paul
1999 Some correlations between semantic plurality and quantifier scope. In NELS 29: Proceedings of the North East Linguistic Society , Pius Tamanji, Masako Hirotani & Nancy Hall (eds), 81–92. Amherst MA: GLSA.Google Scholar
Geist, Ljudmila
2007 Predication and equation in copular sentences: Russian vs. English. In Existence: Semantics and Syntax, Ileana Comorovski & Klaus Heusinger (eds), 79–105. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Yael
2008 Predication and equation in Hebrew (nonpseudocleft) copular sentences. In Current Issues in Generative Hebrew Linguistics [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 134], Sharon Armon-Lotem, Gabi Danon & Susan Rothstein (eds), 161–196. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hellan, Lars
1986 The headedness of NPs in Norwegian. In Features and Projections, Pieter Muysken & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds), 89–122. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Heller, Daphna
2002 On the relation of connectivity and specificational pseudoclefts. Natural Language Semantics 10: 243–284. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Josefsson, Gunlög
2009 Peas and pancakes: On apparent disagreement and (null) light verbs in Swedish. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 32(1): 35–72. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kathol, Andreas
1999 Agreement and the syntax-morphology interface in HPSG. In Studies in Contemporary Phrase Structure Grammar, Robert D. Levine & Georgia M. Green (eds), 223–274. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Kim, Jong-Bok
2004 Hybrid agreement in English. Linguistics 42(6): 1105–1128. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Landau, Idan
2013 Agreement at PF: An argument from partial control. Ms, Ben-Gurion University. <http://​ling​.auf​.net​/lingbuzz​/001813>Google Scholar
Levin, Magnus
2001 Agreement With Collective Nouns in English. Lund: Lund University Press.Google Scholar
Markman, Vita G
2008 Pronominal copula constructions are what? Reduced specificational pseudo-clefts. In Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics , Charles B. Chang & Hannah J. Haynie (eds), 366–374. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Partee, Barbara & Borschev, Vladimir
2008 Existential sentences, BE and GEN NEG in Russian. In Existence: Semantics and Syntax, Ileana Comorowski & Klaus von Heusinger (eds), 147–191. New York NY: Springer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pollard, Carl & Sag, Ivan A
1994 Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Reeve, Matthew
2010 Clefts. PhD dissertation, University College London.Google Scholar
Reid, Wallis
1991 Verb and Noun Number in English: A Functional Explanation. London: Longman.Google Scholar
2011 The communicative function of English verb number. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 29(4): 1087–1146. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sauerland, Uli
2004 A team definitely. Snippets 9: 11–12.Google Scholar
Smith, Peter W
2013 Collective (dis)agreement: On a 3/4 pattern of British English collective NPs. In Proceedings of ConSOLE XX , Enrico Boone, Martin Kohlberger & Maartje Schulpen (eds), 229–253. Leiden: Universiteit Leiden.Google Scholar
Wechsler, Stephen & Zlatić, Larisa
2000 A theory of agreement and its application to Serbo-Croatian. Language 76(4): 799–832. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2003 The Many Faces of Agreement. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Wechsler, Stephen
2011 The structure of Swedish pancakes. Paper presented at CSSP 2011, Université Paris 8.