30.3845, Diss: Persian, Iranian; Indo-European; Syntax: Mehrnoosh Taherkhani: ''The Syntax of Comparative Correlatives in Persian''

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-3845. Fri Oct 11 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.3845, Diss: Persian, Iranian; Indo-European; Syntax: Mehrnoosh Taherkhani: ''The Syntax of Comparative Correlatives in Persian''

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Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2019 19:04:14
From: Mehrnoosh Taherkhani [mehr.taherkhani at gmail.com]
Subject: The Syntax of Comparative Correlatives in Persian

 
Institution: Tarbiat Modares University 
Program: Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2017 

Author: Mehrnoosh Taherkhani

Dissertation Title: The Syntax of Comparative Correlatives in Persian 

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax

Subject Language(s): Persian, Iranian (pes)

Language Family(ies): Indo-European


Dissertation Director(s):
Mohammad Dabir Moghaddam
Arsalan Golfam

Dissertation Abstract:

This dissertation is an analysis, assuming the framework of Minimalist
Program, of the syntactic derivation of comparative correlative constructions
(hereafter CCs for short) in Persian. It attempts to evaluate the theoretical
adequacy of extant treatments of CCs and propose an alternative analysis to
the prevailing adjunct approach. CC constructions exist cross linguistically.
In Persian, a simplex CC sentence consists of two non-coordinated clauses; the
lexical word harche (how much), which indicates degree, is obligatory in first
clauses and the second clause can optionally contain the lexical referential
word hamanghadr (that much). Unlike the English comparative phrase, which has
been shown to undergo A-bar movement in earlier studies, the
harche-constituent remains in situ in Persian. I argue that harche is
base-generated in [Spec, DegP] and behaves as an indefinite in-situ degree
element on a par with an in-situ wh-element. In addition to the idiosyncratic
in-situ degree-phrase, another property of CCs is the syntactic
interdependency between the constitutive clauses. Earlier studies (Dikken
2005, Taylor 2006, 2009, Tsao and Hsiao 2002) treat the preceding clause as an
adjunct. However, an adjunct approach cannot account for the property of
syntactic interdependency. As an alternative, I assume Rizzi’s (1997) work on
the Split CP Hypothesis, arguing that Persian CCs implicate the information
structure in the left periphery and that they are a type of Focus
construction. A Persian CC sentence is projected by a null functional head
Foc0. The first clause is focused and base-generated in [Spec, FocP] and the
second clause is the complement of the null Foc0. The [+focus] feature in Foc0
licenses the co-occurrence degree phrases in both clauses.




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