Possessor extraction in Indonesian-type languages

Abstract

Abstract. This paper examines possessor extraction in three Indonesian-type languages: Indonesian, Javanese and Madurese. I show that possessor extraction patterns are best captured under an analysis in which the possessor undergoes movement from an internal possession structure to the left periphery of the clause; the possessum remains in an A position, while the possessor occurs in an A' position. Possessor movement is subject to general constraints on DP movement in each of these languages, and the voice system determines the ability of the possessor to extract. I discuss implications for the relationship between voice and DP extraction, and conclude that in Indonesian-type languages, voice determines both A and A' movement of any DP moving from within VoiceP.

Discontinuous noun phrases in Yucatec Maya

“…Yucatec Mayan is not the only language that does not fulfil the predictions of the subject island condition. Possessor extraction out of subjects/objects but not out of adjuncts is reported for Italian (Longobardi 1991: 74), Indonesian and Javanese (Jeoung 2016: 7), and XPs can be extracted from nominatives/accusatives but not from genitives/datives in German (Fanselow 1988: 102); see the cross-linguistic overview in Stepanov (2007). The key to understanding these facts seems to be that subjects appearing in relatively low positions in the clause (e.g.…”