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On the status of inversion in an inverse language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Ileana Paul  and
Diane Massam
Diane Massam
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Abstract

This article addresses inversion in an inverse (VSO) language, Niuean, focusing on two issues. First, it has been proposed that in certain types of copular sentences, such as pseudo-cleft constructions (PCCs), the predicate rather than the subject may move into the specifier position of TP. This raises the question of PCCs in a language in which the predicate normally moves there. Such sentences might exhibit their normal inverse order or the inverse of this. The second issue is what constitutes the predicate in a PCC. The headless relative (and not the DP) is usually analyzed as the predicate because, in standard theories of predication, a referential nominal cannot be a predicate. However, in Niuean PCCs, the DP is usually analyzed as the predicate. I propose that it is in fact a reduced headless relative with a null predicate. It becomes clear that there is no special copular inversion: the inversion requirement is taken care of by the general predicate-fronting process. The analysis thus sheds new light on the general nature of copular inversion and allows Niuean PCCs to fall into the standard view of predication theory.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article étudie 1’ inversion dans une langue inverse (VSO), le niuéen, et se concentre sur deux questions. D’abord, il a été proposé que dans certains types de phrases à copule, telles que les pseudo-clivées (CPC), il est possible qu’un prédicat se déplace dans le spécifieur du Syntagme Temps plutôt que le sujet. Cela soulève la question des CPC dans une langue où le prédicat se déplace par défaut dans la position sujet. De telles phrases pourraient manifester leur ordre inverse habituel ou l’inverse de celui-ci. La deuxième question porte sur le statut du prédicat dans une CPC. La relative substantive (et non le SD) est habituellement identifiée comme le prédicat parce que, selon les théories conventionnelles de la prédication, un nom référentiel ne peut être un prédicat. Cependant, dans les CPC en niuéen, le SD est habituellement analysé comme le prédicat. Dans cet article, je propose qu’il est en fait une relative substantive réduite avec un prédicat nul. Il n’y a par conséquent aucune inversion copulative spéciale : l’exigence d’inversion est satisfaite par la nature générale du processus d’antéposition du prédicat. Cette analyse nous permet donc de mieux comprendre la nature générale de l’inversion copulative et situe les CPC en niuéen dans la perspective standard de la théorie de la prédication.

Keywords

inverse word ordercopular constructionpseudo-cleftpredicationheadless relativeordre des mots inverseconstruction à copulepseudo-clivéprédicationrelative substantive
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 57 , Issue 2: Properties of predication/Proprietes de la predication , July 2012 , pp. 241 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2012 

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