ABSTRACT

The Journal of Studies in Language 27.2, 307-327. Chomsky (1981, 1986), claims that in DOCs the first object, which is adjacent to the verb, is assigned structural Case; the second object, which is thematically restricted, is assigned inherent Case. Chomsky’s inherent Case assumption successfully explains that in English DOCs only the indirect object can be passivized. However, it fails to explain languages (such as Mandarin Chinese) in which only the direct object can be passivized and languages (such as Kinyarwanda) in which either the indirect object or the direct object can be passivized. This paper pursues the possibility that the two objects in DOCs are assigned structural Case. we assume that in active sentences little v and applicative V have the Case assigning ability and check the structural Case of the indirect object and the direct object respectively. In passive sentences, our assumption is that passive morpheme absorbs either the Case assigning ability of little v or the applicative V in a given language. At last, we examine how the Case features of the two objects in active and passive DOC sentences are checked off under Chomsky’s (2000) Agree operation from a cross-linguistic perspective.

KEYWORD

Double Object Constructions, structural/inherent Case, Case assignment/checking, little v, applicative V

REFERENCES(34)open

  1. [book] Adger, D. / 2003 / Core Syntax: A Minimalist Approach / Oxford University Press

  2. [book] Baker, M. / 1988 / Incorporation: A Theory of Grammatical Function Changing / The University Chicago Press

  3. [book] Chomsky, N. / 1981 / Lectures on Government and Binding / Foris Publications

  4. [book] Chomsky, N. / 1986 / Barriers / MIT Press

  5. [book] Chomsky, N. / 1986 / Knowledge of Language: Its nature, Origin, and Use / Praeger

  6. [book] Chomsky, N. / 1993 / Language and Thought / Moyer Bell

  7. [book] Chomsky, N. / 1995 / The Minimalist Program / MIT Press

  8. [book] Chomsky, N. / 2000 / Minimalist Inquiries: The Framework, In Step by Step / MIT Press

  9. [book] Chomsky, N. / 2001 / Derivation by Phase, In Ken Hale: A Life in Language / The MIT Press

  10. [jounal] Donohue, M. / 2003 / Morphological Templates, Headedness, and Applicatives in Barupu / Oceanic Linguistics 42 (1) : 111 ~ 143

  11. [jounal] Goodall, G. / 1999 / Accusative Case in Passives / Linguistics 37 (1) : 1 ~ 12

  12. [book] Haegeman, L. / 1991 / Introduction to Government and Binding Theory / Basil Blackwell

  13. [jounal] Harley, H. / 2002 / Possession and the Double Object Construction / Yearbook of Linguistic Variation 2 : 29 ~ 68

  14. [book] Hashimoto, M. J. / 1987 / Regional Development and the History of Passives in Chinese [J] (in Chinese) / Zhongguo Yuwen

  15. [book] Hornstein, N. / 2005 / Understanding Minimalism / Cambridge University Press

  16. [jounal] Hsueh, F. / 1983 / A Note on the Grammatical Function of Gei / Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association 14 : 81 ~ 85

  17. [jounal] Huang, C.-T. J. / 1999 / Chinese Passives in Comparative Perspective / Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies 29 : 423 ~ 509

  18. [book] Huddleston, R. / 2002 / The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language / Cambridge University Press

  19. [jounal] Jaeggli, O. A. / 1986 / Passive / Linguistic Inquiry 17 (4) : 587 ~ 622

  20. [book] Kayne, R. / 1984 / Connectedness and Binary Branching / Foris

  21. [jounal] Larson, R. / 1988 / On the Double Object Construction / Linguistic Inquiry 19 : 335 ~ 392

  22. [book] Li, Y-H, A. / 1990 / Order and Constituency in Mandarin Chinese / Kluwer

  23. [book] Marantz, A. / 1993 / Implications of Asymmeries in Double Object Constructions, In Theoretical Aspect of Bantu Grammar I / CSLI Publications : 113 ~ 150

  24. [book] Paul, W. / 2010 / Applicative Structure and Mandarin Ditransitives, In Argument Structure and Syntactic Relations / John Benjamins : 261 ~ 282

  25. [book] Pesetsky, D. / 1984 / (UMass/Boston) Case. draft of a chapter to appear, In The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Minimalism., The Passive: A Comparative Linguistic Analysis / Croom Helm

  26. [book] Pesetsky, D. / 1995 / Zero Syntax: Experiencers and Cascades / MIT Press

  27. [thesis] Pyllänen, L / 2002 / Introducing Arguments

  28. [book] Siewierska, A. / 1984 / The Passive: A Comparative Linguistic Analysis / Croom Helm

  29. [thesis] Ura, H. / 1996 / Multiple Feature Checking: A Theory of Grammatical Function Splitting

  30. [jounal] Vázquez E. / 1997 / Case Assignment in Double Object Constructions / Revista Alicantinade Estudios Ingleses 10 : 209 ~ 220

  31. [jounal] Woolford, E. / 1993 / Symmetric and Asymmetric Passives / Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 11 : 679 ~ 728

  32. [jounal] Woolford, E. / 1997 / Four-way Case System: Ergative, Nominative, Objective, Accusative / Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 15 : 181 ~ 227

  33. [jounal] Woolford, E. / 2006 / Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure / Linguistic Inquiry 37 : 111 ~ 130

  34. [jounal] Wunderlich, D. / 1997 / Cause and the structure of Verbs / Linguistic Inquiry 28 : 27 ~ 68