Chapter published in:
Discourse Particles: Syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and historical aspectsEdited by Xabier Artiagoitia, Arantzazu Elordieta and Sergio Monforte
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 276] 2022
► pp. 101–130
Chapter 4Agreeing complementizers may just be moody
Ömer Demirok | Boğaziçi University
Balkız Öztürk | Boğaziçi University
This study investigates two discourse-related particles, ya and şo, in
Laz, an endangered South Caucasian language. We argue that both ya and şo are
indexical shift complementizers which can occur without an overt embedding verb, suggesting root
complementizer behavior. However, when they appear embedded, the mood specification of the embedding verb determines
which of the two will surface, suggestive of complementizer agreement in mood features. We show that, while
ya and şo need to be semantically distinct in their root occurrences, there are
compositionality challenges against the null hypothesis that ya and şo keep their
meanings when embedded. As an alternative to a formal agreement account, we propose to semantically relate the
embedded and root occurrences of these complementizers.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The particles ya and şo are complementizers
- 2.1Evidence for the complementizer status of ya and şo
- 2.2Evidence for the complementizer status of ya and şo
- 3.On the morphological distinctness of ya and şo
- 3.1What do the roots complementizers in Laz mean?
- 3.2Embedded ya and şo
- 3.2.1Are embedded ya and şo differentiated through agreement?
- 3.2.2Are embedded ya and şo differentiated semantically?
- 4.Final remarks
-
Acknowledgments -
Notes -
References
Published online: 17 May 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.276.04dem
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.276.04dem
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