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Part of
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXX: Papers from the annual symposia on Arabic Linguistics, Stony Brook, New York, 2016 and Norman, Oklahoma, 2017
Edited by Amel Khalfaoui and Matthew A. Tucker
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 7] 2019
► pp. 93–112

The syntax of negative coordination in Jordanian Arabic

| Georgetown University

Coordination constructions can either conjoin or disjoin phrases or clauses. Languages vary in the strategies employed to establish these logical relationships, creating distributional contrasts and co-occurrence restrictions on the coordination particles. This paper describes negative coordination and puts forward an analysis for this unexplored topic in Arabic. The paper argues that laa-wala coordination is a disjunction construction distinct from the construction involving two negative phrases/clauses coordinated by wa-. The analysis projects a Disjunction Phrase (DisjP) headed by wala and two DPs/CPs, CP1 for the first disjunct occupying the Spec,DisjP and CP2 for the second disjunct as a complement of DisjP. The analysis shows that wala is a disjunction operator with an uninterpretable negation feature (i.e., an NCI) licensed by a negative operator. With a postverbal DisjP, the negative operator is maa; elsewhere it is a covert negative operator that dominates DisjP. With coordinated DPs, the analysis shows that singular agreement on the verb involves clausal coordination and VP ellipsis in one disjunct.

Keywords: coordination, Arabic, negation, disjunction, ellipsis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and empirical generalizations
  • 2.Theoretical issues
  • 3.Empirical contrasts between wa- and wala
  • 4.Analysis of negative coordination by wala
    • Status and locus of laa
    • Status and locus of wala as an NCI and disjunction operator
    • Ellipsis
    • Negative coordination and first conjunct agreement
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.7.06alq
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