We are happy to announce a talk by Johannes Mursell and Anke Himmelreich (GU) in the Syntax Colloquium.
The talk will take place in person. Room IG 4.301
Date: June 19, 2023
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct
Title: Imperfective marking in Sisaali and Gurene
Abstract:
In this talk we present patterns of imperfective marking in two Mabia languages: Gurene and Sisaali. In both languages, the morphology of the imperfective depends on its interaction with movement. The generalization is that the imperfective marker takes on a special form if material inside the VP (objects or adverbials) undergoes A-bar movement (wh-movement or focus movement) to the sentence-initial position. If there is no A-bar movement or if the subject undergoes A-bar movement, the default imperfective marker is chosen. Additionally, in the Tumulung dialect of Sisaali, the form depends on the linearly preceding element: A pronominal subject or a focus marker are followed by a special kind of imperfective marker, while non-pronominal subjects trigger the default marker. In the talk, we discuss how these patterns can inform our understanding of the structure of vP as well as what this implies for the status of the vP as a phase and for theories of successive-cyclic movement.