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Number/aspect interactions in the syntax ofnominalizations: A Distributed approach1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2010

ARTEMIS ALEXIADOU ,
GIANINA IORDĂCHIOAIA  and
ELENA SOARE
ARTEMIS ALEXIADOU*
Affiliation:
University of Stuttgart
GIANINA IORDĂCHIOAIA*
Affiliation:
University of Stuttgart
ELENA SOARE*
Affiliation:
University of Paris 8
*
Author address: (Alexiadou)Institut für Linguistik:Anglistik, UniversitätStuttgart, Keplerstr. 17, 70174Stuttgart, Germany[email protected]
Author address:(Iordăchioaia) Institutfür Linguistik: Anglistik,Universität Stuttgart,Keplerstr. 17, 70174Stuttgart, Germany[email protected]
Author address: (Soare)UFR Sciences du Langage,Université Paris 8, 2 ruede la Liberté, 93526 Saint-DenisCedex, Paris, France[email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper we focus on the ability of ArgumentSupporting Nominalizations (ASNs) to realizemorphological plural. We think that this aspect of their behavior isinstrumental in our understanding of their properties and their syntax withinone language and across languages. Our factual investigation deals withRomanian, English, German and Spanish, as well as Polish and Bulgarian ASNs. Weshow that the interplay between the aspectual properties – eitherinner or outer aspect – and the nominal/verbalcharacteristics, as justifying the internal structure of ASNs, allows us tocharacterize the ability of ASNs to accept plural marking across languages. Wefurther argue for a flexible syntactic theory that enables us to capture themixed properties of ASNs. We provide evidence for two parameters of variation.The first parameter is whether ASNs involve a nominalizer or not. If anominalizer is not included, ASNs lack nominal internal properties. If anominalizer is included, the second parameter comes into play and allows forlanguage variation with respect to the height of attachment of the nominalizer.Specifically, a nominalizer can attach to (and thusnominalize) distinct layers of syntactic structure (VP vs.AspectP).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , November 2010 , pp. 537 - 574
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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Footnotes

[1]

We thank the editors and two anonymous JL referees for stimulating comments and suggestions. Wealso thank Barbara Citko for suggesting the investigation of Slaviclanguages, and to Joanna Błaszczak, Adrian Krastev, StelaManova, Angelina Markova, Gergana Popova, Bożena Rozwadowska,Elena Stefanova and Beata Trawiński for providing us with thePolish and Bulgarian data. Alexiadou andIordăchioaia's contribution has been supported bya DFG [German Research Foundation] grant to theproject B1, The Formation and Interpretation of Derived Nominals, aspart of the Collaborative Research Center 732, Incremental Specificationin Context, at the University of Stuttgart.

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