Morphological and Abstract Case
- 1 January 2008
- journal article
- Published by MIT Press in Linguistic Inquiry
- Vol. 39 (1), 55-101
- https://doi.org/10.1162/ling.2008.39.1.55
Abstract
This article examines the relationship between abstract and morphological case, arguing that morphological case realizes abstract Case features in a postsyntactic morphology, according to the Elsewhere Condition. A class of prima facie ergative-absolutive languages is identified wherein intransitive subjects receive abstract nominative Case and transitive objects receive abstract accusative Case; these are realized through a morphological default, which is often mislabeled as absolutive. Further support comes from split ergativity based on a nominal hierarchy, which is shown to have a morphological source. Proposals that case and agreement are purely morphological phenomena are critiqued.Keywords
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