Mixed categories in Irish

doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2011.01.013

Lingua

Volume 121, Issue 7, May 2011, Pages 1207-1224

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2011.01.013 Get rights and content

Abstract

In this short paper, I look at the phenomenon of “mixed category” verbal nouns in Irish. Unlike previous accounts, I claim that nominal characteristics of these categories follow from two sources: In one group of verbal nouns, they exhibit nominal properties because they have nominal functional morphology (following Borsley and Kornfilt, 2000). In the other group, there is no nominal functional structure and the “nominality” of verbal nouns is epiphenomenal. Instead, I claim that the relevant “nominal” properties of this second group are simply the effect of an inherent-case-as-repair strategy used when a structural case position is unavailable due to a variety of causes, including idiosyncratic selectional effects.

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Cited by (6)

The creation and interpretation of nominal predicates: Bi+ann in Scottish Gaelic
2015, Lingua
Citation Excerpt :
I take these forms to be ambiguous between nominal and verbal instantiations, much like participial -ing forms in English. The morphology (-amh, -adh, etc.) can be the marker either of a tenseless verb, or of a nominal (see Carnie, 2011 for Irish). In DM terms, we would need to be able to instantiate either a verbalizing (v) or nominalizing (n) terminal node with the same piece of phonology; so, the Vocabulary Item whose phonological instantiation is /əv/ (-amh), for example, would need to be unspecified for category.
In this paper I analyze a construction in Scottish Gaelic that presents challenges for our understanding of the individual level/stage level distinction, the mechanics of nonverbal predication, and the semantics of lexical items like ‘sit’, ‘stand’, and ‘lie’. I argue that this “stage-level” construction, with the verb bi ‘be’, the preposition ann ‘in’, and a noun or “verbal noun”, appears when a very specific kind of nominal predicate is required, not just one that is stage-level. This type of predicate requires functional structure not available in the nominal domain for creation, so the material is merged with prepositional structure. The “verbal nouns” that appear with bi + ann form an intuitive semantic class; I argue that what unites them is a root-internal specification for (a) posture of body or mind and (b) homogeneity in nonverbal environments. This analysis resolves several open questions about the construction, including the semantic characterization of the roots that occur with ann and the categorization and interpretation of the predicates it creates. The analysis has implications for our understanding of the creation of nonverbal predicates cross-linguistically and provides insight into the puzzling meanings of sit/stand/lie roots.
The structural underpinnings of multifunctionality and syncretism in non-finite forms in Irish
2022, Folia Linguistica
Ezafe, PP and the nature of nominalization
2021, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory
Adjacency and Case Morphology in Scottish Gaelic
2020, Linguistic Inquiry
Parameterizing split ergativity in Mayan
2020, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory
Peripheral, yet in the centre - A note on the use of -ach in deverbal adjective formation in Irish
2019, Centres and Peripheries in Celtic Linguistics

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Mixed categories in Irish

Abstract

Functional Structure in Nominals: Nominalization and Ergativity

Lexical Categories

A minimalist approach to some problems of word order in Irish

On so-called ‘verb nouns’ in Welsh

Journal of Celtic Linguistics

On a nominal analysis of Welsh verb-nouns

Mixed extended projections

Irish Nouns

Distinguishing the EPP and nominative case

Penn Working Papers in Linguistics