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Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXIX: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2015
Edited by Hamid Ouali
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 5] 2017
► pp. 205–226

Chapter 8
The Merge Condition on Adjuncts

Evidence from circumstantial clauses in Lebanese Arabic

| University of Florida

Discussion of merge as a feature-driven operation has predominantly focused on the restrictions on Set Merge, or substitution. This paper addresses the topic of Pair Merge, or adjunction. It suggests that Pair Merge is subject to a restriction called the Merge Condition on Adjuncts. While Set Merge is contingent on the feature specifications of the heads of the two merging elements, the Merge Condition on Adjuncts states that an adjunct must merge in accordance with the feature specifications of its own head. Two edge features are available: [+ Predicational] and [− Predicational]. Only the former forces the adjunct to function as an open predicate and to establish a predication dependency – or a subject-predicate relation – with an element in the matrix clause. This requirement is syntactic, and it overrides the semantic specifications of adjuncts. Support comes from adjunct control into circumstantial clauses in Lebanese Arabic.

Keywords: adjunction, Arabic, control, movement, structural theory of predication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Circumstantial clauses: An overview
  • 3.The derivation of COMP-less circumstantial clauses
    • The PRO approach to adjunct control
    • The predication approach to adjunct control
    • The movement approach to adjunct control
  • 4.Beyond circumstantial clauses
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.5.09had
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