A head-movement approach to construct-state noun phrases

Abstract

This paper proposes an analysis of construct-state noun phrases in ModernHebrew which argues for a strict parallelism between the internal structure of noun phrases and sentences. Recent proposals to analyze the S(entence) as the maximal projection of INFL(ection) and the noun phrase as the maximal projection of D(eterminer) are exploited to extend the treatment of sentence subjects to subjects of noun phrases. This extension accounts for the relative position of genitives as well as the lack of overt genitive anaphors in the construct-state construction. In addition, the absence of prenominal definite articles in construct-state noun phrases is shown to follow from the assumption that D is the noun-phrase counterpart of INFL.

Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics

“…This vulnerability can be illustrated by data from Arabic; the case in point has to do with the reanalysis of the construct state in several varieties of heritage Arabic. In Afro-Asiatic languages, the construct state is the way to form a genitive construction with a semantically definite head noun (Ritter 1988, Borer 1996, Benmamoun 2000, Siloni 2001. The head noun is placed in the construct state, which lacks any overt definite marking (despite being semantically definite), and is often phonetically shortened.…”

Defining an “ideal” heritage speaker: Theoretical and methodological challenges Reply to peer commentaries

“…For a discussion of the construct state in Hebrew, see Borer (1996), Ritter (1988. (7) Ɂil-xaatim Ɂil-dahab the-gold the-ring 'the gold ring' However, as Albirini and Benmamoun (in press) show, this type of construction is ungrammatical in Palestinian Arabic.…”

Exponence, allomorphy and haplology in the number and State morphology of Modern Hebrew

“…This raises the question of how the head noun ends up preceding the modifier. It has been suggested as early as Ritter (1988) that the noun raises out of the NP into a position above the modifier. In addition, the modifier is assumed to be base-generated under a DP structure, because it may carry the definite marker sus ha-eʦ 'the wooden horse'.…”