The syntax and semantics of Modern Standard Arabic resumptive tough-constructions

Fayssal Tayalati (1) , Lieven Danckaert (1)

1 STL - Savoirs, Textes, Langage (STL) - UMR 8163

This paper is concerned with a hitherto undiscussed type of tough-construction in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Our starting point is the observation that the tough-adjective in this construction invariably displays nominative masculine singular morphology, a pattern of ‘default’ agreement which does not seem to occur elsewhere in the grammar of MSA. At a semantic level, the relevant adjective is argued to form a complex predicate with a deverbal nominalization that acts as its complement: together, these two elements indirectly modify the subject noun phrase. To explain the default agreement pattern, we propose that MSA tough-constructions involve two distinct subjects, viz. a phonologically null expletive subject which controls agreement on the tough-adjective, and a Broad Subject which acts as the semantic subject of the whole construction. We show that there is independent evidence for the existence of both null expletives and Broad Subjects in MSA.

Mots clés: tough-construction; Modern Standard Arabic; Broad Subject; agreement; modification

Domaines: Sciences cognitives; Linguistique

Fayssal Tayalati, Lieven Danckaert. The syntax and semantics of Modern Standard Arabic resumptive tough-constructions. Folia Linguistica, 2020, 54 (1), pp.197-238. ⟨10.1515/flin-2020-2031⟩. ⟨hal-02867528⟩