Cover not available
Part of
Theoretical Approaches to Linguistic Variation
Edited by Ermenegildo Bidese, Federica Cognola and Manuela Caterina Moroni
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 234] 2016
► pp. 317–336

Little v and cross-linguistic variation

Evidence from code switching and the Surinamese creoles

ORCID logo | Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
| University of Illinois at Chicago

The main claim of this paper is that little v is responsible for a range of grammatical properties of the predicate phrase that it selects for. Bilingual light verb constructions in several code-switching varieties provide strong evidence for this claim. It allows us to broaden the empirical scope and deepen the theoretical insights of the Borer-Chomsky Conjecture concerning parametric variation, and provides a new insight into the clause structure of creole languages.

Keywords: copulas, cross-linguistic variation, little v, roots, word order
Published online: 1 December 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.234.12vee
References
Abney, Steven P
1987 The English Noun Phrase in its Sentential Aspect. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Aboh, Enoch O
2009 Clause structure and verb series. Linguistic Inquiry 40(1): 1-33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Adamson, Lilian & Smith, Norval
1995 Sranan. In Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction [Creole Language Library 15], Jacques Arends, Pieter Muysken & Norval Smith (eds), 219-232. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Adger, David
2014 Variability and grammatical architecture. In Linguistic Variation in the Minimalist Framework, Carme Picallo (ed.), 179-196. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aghinotri, Rama Kant
1987 Crisis of Identity. The Sikhs in England. New Delhi: Bahri.Google Scholar
Alexiadou, Artemis
2014 Roots don't take complements. Theoretical Linguistics 40: 287-298. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alexiadou, Artemis, Borer, Hagit & Schäfer, Florian
2014 The Syntax of Roots and the Roots of Syntax. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alleyne, Mervyn
1980 Comparative Afro-American. Ann Arbor MI: Karoma.Google Scholar
Annamalai, E
1971 Lexical insertion in a mixed language. In Papers from the Seventh Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society , 20-27. Chicago IL: CLS.
Arad, Maya
2003 Locality constraints on the interpretation of roots: The case of Hebrew denominal verbs. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21: 737-778. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005 Roots and Patterns: Hebrew Morpho-Syntax. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Arends, Jacques
1989 Syntactic Developments in Sranan. PhD dissertation, University of Nijmegen.Google Scholar
Arends, Jacques, Muysken, Pieter & Smith, Norval
1995 Conclusions. In Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction [Creole Language Library 15], Jacques Arends, Pieter Muysken & Norval Smith (eds), 319-330. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Backus, Ad
1992 Patterns of Language Mixing. A Study in Turkish-Dutch Bilingualism. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
1996 Two in One. PhD dissertation, University of Tilburg.Google Scholar
Baker, Mark
1996 The Polysynthesis Parameter. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2008 The macroparameter in a microparametric World. In The Limits of Syntactic Variation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 132], Theresa Biberauer (ed.), 351-374. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boeschoten, Hendrik E. & Huybregts, Riny
1997 Code switching without switching codes. Paper presented at TULP workshop on code switching and language change , Tilburg University, 15-16 May.
Bolle, Jette
1994 Sranan Tongo – Nederlands. Code-wisseling en Ontlening. MA thesis, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Borer, Hagit
2003 Exo-skeletal vs. endo-skeletal explanations. In The Nature of Explanation in Linguistic Theory, John Moore & Maria Polinsky (eds), 31–67. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
2005a In Name Only [Structuring Sense, Vol. I]. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2005b The Normal Course of Events [Structuring Sense, Vol. II]. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2014 Taking Form [Structuring Sense, Vol. III]. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Boumans, Louis
1995 The integration of verbs in codeswitching. In Summer School Code-Switching and Language Contact, 294-8.Google Scholar
Bullock, Barbara E. & Toribio, Almeida Jacqueline
2009 The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-Switching. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canfield, Kip
1980 Navaho-English code-mixing. Anthropological Linguistics 22: 218-20.Google Scholar
Chan, Brian Hok-Shing
2008 Code switching, word order and the lexical/functional category distinction. Lingua 118: 777–809. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, Noam
1981 Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
1995 The Minimalist Program. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
2008 On phases. In Foundational Issues in Linguistic Theory, Robert Freidin, Carlos P. Otero & Maria Luisa Zubizarreta (eds), 133–166. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corver, Norbert
1991 Evidence for DegP. In Proceedings of NELS 21, Tim Sherer (ed.), 33-47. Amherst MA: GSLA.Google Scholar
D’Alessandro, Roberta, Franco, Irene & Gallego, Ángel J
2016 The Verbal Domain. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
den Dikken, Marcel
2006 Relators and Linkers. The Syntax of Predication, Predicate Inversion, and Copulas. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Domingue, Nicole M.Z
1971 Bhojpuri and Creole in Mauritius: A Study of Linguistic Interference and its Consequences in Regard to Synchronic Variation and Language Change. PhD dissertation, University of Texas.Google Scholar
Dryer, Matthew
2005 Relationship between the order of object and verb and the order of adposition and noun phrase. In The World Atlas of Language Structures, Martin Haspelmath, Matthew Dryer, David Gil & Bernard Comrie (eds), 386-389. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Emonds, Joe
1976 A Transformational Approach to English Syntax: Root, Structure-preserving, and Local Transformations. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Fromkin, Victoria
(ed.) 2000 Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistic Theory. Malden MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
González-Vilbazo, Kay & López, Luis
2011 Some properties of light verbs in code-switching. Lingua 121: 832-850. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
González-Vilbazo, Kay, & López, Luis
2012 Little v and parametric variation. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 30: 33-77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Groot, Adrianus H.P
1977 Woordregister Nederlands-Saramakaans. Amsterdam: Artex.Google Scholar
1981 Woordregister Saramakaans-Nederlands. Amsterdam: Artex.Google Scholar
Grosjean, Francois
2008 Studying Bilinguals. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Harley, Heidi
1995 Subjects, Events and Licensing. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
2013 External arguments and the Mirror Principle: On the distinctness of Voice and v. Lingua 125: 34-57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 On the identity of Roots. Theoretical Linguistics 40(3/4): 225-276.Google Scholar
Isurin, Ludmila, Winford, Donald & de Bot, Kees
2009 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Codeswitching [Studies in Bilingualism 41]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jansen, Bert, Koopman, Hilda & Muysken, Pieter
1978 Serial verbs in the Creole languages. Amsterdam Creole Studies II: 125-159.Google Scholar
Kato, Mary
2003 Child L2 acquisition: An insider account. In (In)vulnerable Domains in Multilingualism [Hamburg Studies on Multilingualism 1], Natascha Müller (ed.), 271–294. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kouwenberg, Silvia
1996 The relation between adjectives and verbs, with special reference to Berbice Dutch Creole. In Caribbean Language Issues Old and New. Papers in Honour of Professor Mervyn Alleyne on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, Pauline Christie (ed.), 27-40. Mona: The University of the West Indies Press.Google Scholar
Kratzer, Angelika
1996 Severing the external argument from its verb. In Phrase Structure and the Lexicon, Johan Rooryck & Laurie Zaring (eds), 109 – 137. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacSwan, Jeff
1999 A Minimalist Approach to Intrasentential Code Switching. New York NY: Garland Press.Google Scholar
Marantz, Alec
1997 No escape from syntax: Don’t try morphological analysis in the privacy of your own lexicon. In University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 4, Alexis Dimitriadis, Laura Siegel, Clarisa Surek-Clark & Alexander Williams (eds), 201-225. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
2000 Words. Ms, MIT.Google Scholar
Migge, Bettina
2000 The origin of the syntax and semantics of property items in the Surinamese plantation creole. In Language Change and Language Contact in Pidgins and Creoles [Creole Language Library 21], John McWhorter (ed.), 201-233. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moravcsik, Edith
1975 Verb borrowing. Wiener Linguistische Gazette 8: 3-31.Google Scholar
1978 Language contact. In Universals of Human Language I, Joseph E. Greenberg (ed.), 95-122. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Muysken, Pieter
1981 Creole tense/mood/aspect systems: The unmarked case? In Generative Studies on Creole Languages, Pieter Muysken (ed.), 181-199. Dordrecht: Foris. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2000 Bilingual Speech. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Nishimura, Miwa & Yoon, Keumsil Kim
1998 Head directionality and intrasentential code-switching: A study of Japanese and Korean Americans’ bilingual speech. In Japanese/Korean Linguistics, Vol. 8, David James Silva (ed.), 121–130. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Pap, Leo
1949 Portuguese American Speech: An Outline of Speech Conditions among Portuguese Immigrants in New England and Elsewhere in the United States. New York NY: Columbia University, King’s Crown. Distributed by University Microfilms International. Ann Arbor MI, 1979.Google Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves
1989 Verb movement, Universal Grammar and the structure of IP. Linguistic Inquiry 20(3): 365–424.Google Scholar
Ramchand, Gillian
2008 Verb Meaning and the Lexicon: A First Phase Syntax. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Ian
2012 Macroparameters and minimalism. A programme for comparative research. In Parameter Theory and Linguistic Change, Charlotte Galves, Sonia Cyrino, Ruth Lopez & Juanito Avelar (eds), 320-54. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Ian, & Holmberg, Anders
2010 Introduction: Parameters in Minimalist Theory. In Parametric Variation. Null Subjects in Minimalist Theory, Theresa Biberauer, Anders Holmberg, Ian Roberts & Michelle Sheehan (eds), 1-57. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne
1989 Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sebba, Mark
1986 Adjectives and copulas in Sranan Tongo. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 1: 109-121. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seiss, Melanie
2009 On the difference between auxiliaries, serial verbs and light verbs. In Proceedings of the LFG09 Conference, Miriam Butt & Tracy Holloway King (eds), 501-519. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Seuren, Pieter
1986 Adjectives as adjectives in Sranan. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 1: 123-134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sundaresan, Sandhya & McFadden, Thomas
Forthcoming. The articulated Voice/v layer in Tamil. In The Verbal Domain, Roberta d’Alessandro, Irene Franco & Ángel J. Gallego (eds) Oxford OUP
Tamis, A
1986 The State of Modern Greek Language as Spoken in Victoria. PhD dissertation, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Tjon, S
1988 Conversationele codewisseling bij Chinese jongeren. Seminar paper, Chinese Department, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.
Travis, Lisa
1984 Parameters and Effects of Word Order Variation. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
2010 Inner Aspect. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Veenstra, Tonjes
2006 Modeling creole genesis: Headedness in morphology. In Structure and Variation in Language Contact [Creole Language Library 29], Ana Deumert & Stephanie Durrleman (eds), 61-84. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Copulas are not what they seem … to be. Paper presented at the Bologna Workshop on Copulas , March 13-14.
Veenstra, Tonjes & Muysken, Pieter
In press. Serial verb constructions. In The Syntax Companion, 2nd edn, Martin Everaert & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds) London Blackwell
Veerman-Leichsenring, Annette
1991 Gramatica del Popoloca de Mezontla (con vocabulario y texto). Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Voorhoeve, Jan
1981 Multifunctionality as a derivational problem. In Generative Studies on Creole Languages, Pieter Muysken (ed.), 25-34. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Winford, Donald
1993 Predication in Caribbean English Creoles [Creole Language Library 10]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1997 Property items and predication in Sranan. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 12(2): 237-301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

López, Luis
2020. Bilingual Grammar, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 april 2024. 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.