The interaction of person and number in Mi’gmaq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/12.3235Keywords:
syntax, features, Mi’gmaqAbstract
This paper presents puzzles concerning the representation of features in the agreement system of the Eastern Algonquian language, Mi’gmaq. A growing body of research converges on the idea that φ-agreement should be separated into distinct person (π0), number (#0), and sometimes gender (γ0) probes (e.g. Anagnostopoulou 2003, Béjar 2003, Béjar and Rezac 2003, Laka 1993, Shlonsky 1989, Sigurðsson 1996, Sigurðsson and Holmberg 2008, Preminger 2012). While these proposals account well for agreement and partial agreement patterns in a number of languages, we show that in order to account for the agreement system of Mi’gmaq, π0 and #0 must probe together, which we argue to be the result of fusion of two distinct probes. We discuss the implications of Mi’gmaq agreement for “prominence hierarchies” and feature geometries in the grammar.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).