| dcterms.abstract | This thesis investigates nominal structure in Serbian, focusing on the issue of DP paramaterization. Since the introduction of DP as a syntactic category in the late 1980s (Fukui and Speas (1986), Abney (1987)), various investigators have questioned its universality on the basis of " article-less" languages, such as Japanese and Serbian. Two proposals have emerged. The Universal DP-Hypothesis holds that all languages project DP (Progovac (1998), Rappaport (2001), Basic (2004), Cinque (2005), i.a.). The Parameterized DP-Hypothesis claims that languages without (definite) articles do not project DP (Fukui (1986), Corver (1992), Zlatic (1997), Boskovic (2005), Despic (2011), i.a.). The second view holds, in particular, that: (a) D-like elements in DP-less languages are categorially adjectives/adjective-like elements and/or are NP-adjoined, and (b) the lack of a DP projection has empirically verified syntactic implications for binding and extraction. In this thesis I examine data offered to support (a) and (b) and show that it is not persuasive. Specifically, I offer counterarguments to the adjectival view of D-elements (morphological characteristics, copular constructions, stacking, word order and ban on modification of pre-nominal possessives) and to their claimed syntactic position as adjuncts (binding). I also show that two syntactic implications for extractability out of nominals (Left Branch Extraction and Adjunct Extraction) involve incorrect cross-linguistic generalizations and as such, require reexamination. I go on to offer new arguments in favor of the Universal DP-Hypothesis, examining a key syntactic point that has received little attention in the literature, viz., that lack of a DP projection in " article-less" languages will require an NP-adjunct analysis of relative clauses. I discuss apparent selectional dependencies between D-elements and relative clauses that strongly undermine this view. These findings thus support the presence of DP in " article-less" languages, and the broader claim of universality for the functional category set. | |
