Gautam Sengupta · Shruti Sircar Madhavi Gayathri Raman · Rahul Balusu Editors Perspectives on the Architecture and Acquisition of Syntax Essays in Honor of R. Amritavalli Perspectives on the Architecture and Acquisition of Syntax Gautam Sengupta Shruti Sircar (cid:129) Madhavi Gayathri Raman Rahul Balusu Editors Perspectives on the Architecture and Acquisition of Syntax Essays in Honor of R. Amritavalli 123 Editors Gautam Sengupta MadhaviGayathri Raman Centerfor Applied Linguistics Department ofMaterials Development, andTranslation Studies Testing andEvaluation University of Hyderabad TheEnglish andForeignLanguages Hyderabad, Telangana University India Hyderabad, Telangana India Shruti Sircar Department ofLinguistics and RahulBalusu ContemporaryEnglish Department ofComputational Linguistics TheEnglish andForeignLanguages TheEnglish andForeignLanguages University University Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad, Telangana India India ISBN978-981-10-4294-2 ISBN978-981-10-4295-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4295-9 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017939307 ©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore Foreword Raghavachari Amritavalli has made outstanding contributions to syntactic theory, the study of the interfaces, and the analysis of South Asian languages. She also focused on the acquisition of morpho-syntax and on language-related develop- mental pathologies, as well as on language teaching and education curricula. This volume honors Amritavalli’s contribution to the field through a collection of cutting-edge research papers ranging from syntactic theory and the morpho-syntax of South and East Asian languages, to the syntax–semantics inter- face,andtheacquisitionofsyntax.ThisimpressivecollectionmirrorsAmritavalli’s wide range of interests and reflects the need to extend the empirical coverage of syntactic theorizing to new empirical domains, such as the study of language acquisition, a need that many syntacticians now consider a priority for the field. Why is this aspect so important? In these introductory remarks, I would like to briefly dwell on the reasons which lead many of us to consider different kinds of enrichmentoftheempiricaldomainsofourformalmodels.Onemotivationfindsits roots in the very nature of formal linguistic theoretical work (and, in fact, in any form of abstract modeling). Theoreticians are typically confronted with a prolif- eration of analytic options, consistent with the available empirical data and inconsistent with each other. One reasonable tack to reduce the explosion of pos- sible analytic paths is to severely constrain the technical apparatus, our “bag of tricks,” trying to admit only the bare minimum required to meet empirical ade- quacy. This is the tack adopted by minimalism. One difficulty that this research strategy is confronted with is to agree on what the “bare minimum” is: Different concepts of simplicity may give conflicting results on what is the minimal speci- fication of analytic tools. For instance, if we understand “simplest” as “least constrained,” we may be led to assume n-ary merge as the optimal form of the operation:Theleastconstrainedformulationofmergeisonewhichdoesnotspecify thenumberofelementsundergoingtheoperation,hencen-arymerge,forn = 1,2, 3,…. On the other hand, if we understand “simplest” as “requiring minimal com- putational resources,” we may be led to assume binary merge: Unary merge is too weakinexpressivepowertocapturethepropertiesofnaturallanguages,andternary merge (and, a fortiori, merge of 4 elements, 5 elements, etc.) requires more v vi Foreword resourcesthanbinarymerge,asalltheelementstobemergedtogethermustbeheld simultaneouslyinoperativememory.Inthiscase,muchevidenceinfavorofbinary branchingsyntacticstructures,eversinceRichardKayne’sclassicalcontributionsin the 1980s, supports the conception of simplicity qua “requirement of minimal computational resources,” which selects binary merge. This leads us to the second strategy to limit the proliferation of analytic paths, which can fruitfully integrate the minimalist strategy. If the empirical coverage oftheoretical models isextended tonew domains, itistobe hoped thatnew kinds of evidence will emerge which will favor certain analytic paths over others. Over the last quarter of century, much work on the theory-guided study of language acquisitionhasnourishedformal theoreticalworkinimportant ways,andthesame is to be expected from the theory-guided experimental study of production and comprehension, of language-related pathologies, and, through brain imaging techniques,oftheconcreteexpressioninneuralcircuitryofourlinguisticcapacities, among other research directions. Reciprocally, richly structured theoretical analyses are of fundamental impor- tanceforallkindsofexperimentalworkonlanguage,withtheroleofgeneratorsof precise predictions identifying interesting research questions. Otherwise, there is a concrete risk that a sophisticated methodological apparatus may be used by experimental approaches to merely test commonsense ideas on language. Clearly, experimental approaches must be based on structured theories of the fundamental capacities under investigation, rather than on mere commonsense ideas, if the potential of an extraordinary investment in methodology, a characteristic of experimental psycholinguistics, is to be fully exploited. Another importantreasonfavoringtheextensionofformalsyntacticapproaches tonewtestinggrounds hastodowiththeimageandroleofsyntactictheoryinthe larger scientific context of cognitive and brain studies, and of its applications in clinical work and education. It is of decisive importance for the future of our disciplinethatitwillnotbeperceivedasanexoteric,self-centereddomain,butasa fundamental research direction capable of offering insights on language to neigh- boring disciplines and generating a wealth of applicative studies on linguistic capacitiesbroadlyconstrued.Thisisessentialifformallinguisticswantstomaintain the central role that it had from the outset of the cognitive revolution. Amritavalli’s work has always aimed at such a breadth of range, without sac- rificing the necessary depth of formal analysis of such phenomena as ergativity, finiteness, argument structure and the nature and properties of thematic roles, and the other phenomena addressed in her scientific production. This volume, through its joint focus on theoretical architecture and language acquisition in chapters written by major figures in the field, pays a well-deserved tribute to Amritavalli’s influential contribution to linguistic studies, in Asia and in the world. Geneva, Switzerland Luigi Rizzi December 2016 Professor of Linguistics, University of Geneva Contents 1 A Life in Linguistics .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1 Gautam Sengupta, Shruti Sircar, Madhavi Gayathri Raman and Rahul Balusu Part I Architecture of Syntax: The Engines of Syntax 2 A Note on Huave Morpheme Ordering: Local Dislocation or Generalized U20?.... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23 Hilda Koopman 3 Tense and the Realization of the Feminine Plural in Hindi-Urdu . .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 49 Rajesh Bhatt and Stefan Keine 4 English One and Ones as Complex Determiners... .... ..... .... 77 Richard S. Kayne 5 Parallel Work Spaces in Syntax and the Inexistence of Internal Merge.... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 115 K.A. Jayaseelan Part II Architecture of Syntax: Focus and the VP domain 6 Argument Doubling in Japanese with VP-Internal Focus .... .... 137 Mamoru Saito 7 Self and Only: A Comparative Study of Reflexive Adverbials in Squliq Atayal and Mandarin Chinese. .... .... .... ..... .... 149 Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai 8 Getting the Identical Infinitives Filter in Bangla Under Control. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 171 Probal Dasgupta vii viii Contents Part III Architecture of Syntax: The Syntax-Semantics Interface 9 Binding Theory, Scope Reconstruction, and NPI Licensing Under Scrambling in Hindi ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 183 Utpal Lahiri 10 Prima La Musica, Dopo Le Parole? A Small Note on a Big Topic .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 195 Josef Bayer Part IV Acquisition of Syntax 11 The Influence of Visual, Auditory, and Linguistic Cues on Children’s Novel Verb Generalization .... .... .... ..... .... 217 Bhuvana Narasimhan, Fanyin Cheng, Patricia Davidson, Pui Fong Kan and Madison Wagner 12 On the Child’s Role in Syntactic Change .... .... .... ..... .... 235 William Snyder 13 Root Infinitive Analogues: Evidence from Tamil, Korean, and Japanese.. .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 243 Keiko Murasugi Editors and Contributors About the Editors Gautam Sengupta received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherstin1990andiscurrentlyProfessorattheCenterforAppliedLinguisticsandTranslation Studies, University of Hyderabad. He has also taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,andJadavpurUniversity,Kolkata.Hisareasofinterestaresyntax,semantics,andlanguage processing. Shruti Sircar teaches at the Department of Linguistics and Contemporary English, EFL University,asaProfessor.Hermajorareasofinterestarefirst-andsecond-languageacquisition, psycholinguistics,readingdevelopment,anddisorders. Madhavi Gayathri Raman teaches at the Department of Materials Development, Testing and Evaluation, EFL University. Her research interests are Specific Language Impairment and DyslexiaintheESLcontext,curriculumdevelopment,materialsdesignandcognitivelinguistics. Rahul Balusu teaches at the Department of Computational Linguistics, EFL University. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics at NYU in 2009. His areas of interest are syntax and semantics, focusingonDravidianlanguages. Contributors JosefBayer isprofessoroflinguisticsattheUniversityofKonstanz.Before2000, he held a professor’s position at the University of Jena and various research positions. His interest focuses on syntax and its interfaces as well its relation to languageprocessing.HehasworkedonGermanic(mainlyGermananditsdialects) and on Indo-Aryan (Bangla). For a number of years, the proper syntactic repre- sentationoffocus,aswellasdiscourseparticles,hasbeencentraltohiswork.Josef Bayer’s research was funded by a number of grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG) (German Research Counsil). He is author or coau- thor of two monographs and seventy six articles, and editor or coeditor of eight volumes. ix x EditorsandContributors Rajesh Bhatt received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvaniain1999andiscurrentlyProfessorintheDepartmentofLinguisticsat the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has also taught at UT Austin and MIT. His work focuses on syntax and its interfaces with semantics and on the Modern Indo-Aryan languages. FanyinCheng isagraduatestudentattheUniversityofColoradoatBoulder.She is interested in speech and language processing of bilinguals. Her current project examines the language processing of Mandarin–English bilinguals. Probal Dasgupta Ph.D. (Linguistics), 1980, New York University, has taught in NewYork,SanFrancisco,Melbourne,Barlaston,Kolkata,Pune,Hyderabadandis presentlybasedattheIndianStatistical Institute,Kolkata,since2006.Hiseditorial work includes Indian Linguistics (1982–87), Language Problems and Language Planning (with Humphrey Tonkin, Tim Reagan 1990–), Beletra Almanako (with Jorge Camacho, Istvan Ertl, Tim Westover, Jesper Jacobsen, Suso Moinhos, 2007–), book series Language and Development (with Udaya Narayana Singh, 1993–2004), and Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics (with Rajendra Singh, 1998–06). He is Member of the Akademio de Esperanto since 1983 [on account of translationof50poemsbyTagoreinto Esperanto, publishedasPrimico,Antwerp: TK/Stafeto, 1977], its Vice-President 2001–15, and now its President (2016–). He is an honorary member of the Linguistic Society of America (2004–) and was President of the World Esperanto Association, Universala Esperanto-Asocio (2007–2013). He was awarded the Annual Visiting Lectureship in Philosophy 2008–09 by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research. He has over 400 other publications in Bangla, English, Esperanto, in the domainsoflinguistics,literature,translation,philosophy.Book-lengthpublications in English include The Otherness of English: India’s Auntie Tongue Syndrome, New Delhi: Sage, 1993; Inhabiting Human Languages: The Substantivist Visualization, Delhi: Samskriti, on behalf of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research. Books in Bangla include: Kathaar Kriyaakarmo (Dey’s 1987), Chinno Kathaae Shaajaaye Taroni (Gangchil 2011), Bhaashaar Bindubishargo (Gangchil 2013), Merur Praarthonaa: Bishuber Uttor (Abhijan 2015). Books translated into Bangla: Hlaapicer Kaando by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (Samatat 2006); Nemesis by Alfred Nobel (M.C. Sarkar 2014). PatriciaDavidson isagraduatestudentinLinguisticsatSyracuseUniversitywith aconcentrationinInformationRepresentationandRetrieval,aswellasaCertificate of Advanced Study in Data Science. Research interests include Language Acquisition and Natural Language Processing, with a particular interest in text mining and machine translation.