Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Russian polar particle li is usually analyzed as a second position clitic, constrained to appear at the linearly second position in the clause. I suggest that this requirement is a consequence of head movement: li is generated in —a polarity projection—merged directly above the associated polar constituent (X). This constituent must head‐move and left‐adjoin to li . The complex head (X+li) is largely equivalent to a wh ‐word: at later stages of the derivation, it is attracted to the left periphery of the clause. li can be seen as an analog of a wh ‐morpheme, which merges with different morphemes to form a wh ‐word. Treating X+li as a complex head allows us to reduce the second position requirement of li to the left edge requirement on the X+li, a requirement often postulated for wh ‐words. I provide further evidence for the hypothesis by showing the complementarity of li and negation.
Source: Syntax
DOI: 10.1111/synt.12288
Author: Philip Shushurin
Institutions: Institute of Linguistics, New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4397040298