- Enseignant-e: Tabea Ihsane
Syntax of the DP
In generative syntax, nominal expressions are traditionally analyzed as DPs (Determiner Phrases; cf. Abney 1987, a.o.), implying that the lexical layer (Noun Phrase) is dominated by a functional layer, DP. In this seminar, we will see that the structure of nominal expressions is in fact much more complex in that it comprises a whole sequence of functional projections between DP and NP. Evidence for this observation comes, for instance, from the study of nominal modifiers - such as numerals (e.g., three) and adjectives (e.g., big, red...) - which shows that these elements cannot simply be adjoined to the noun. Zooming in on the inventory of functional projections in the structure of nominals will allow us to highlight the basics of Cartography (e.g., Rizzi & Cinque 2016; Cinque 2024) and to examine some aspects of the CP-DP parallelism, that is, the view that the syntax of nominal expressions (DPs) strongly parallels the one of clauses (CPs) (following seminal work by Szabolcsi 1981, 1987 and Abney 1987). The approach will be cross-linguistic and remain rather descriptive although some formal/theoretical aspects will be considered as well.
The seminar presupposes basic knowledge of syntax (e.g., the introduction to syntax of module BA2).