A default theory of default case

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F24%3A00139494" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/24:00139494 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.16571" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.16571</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.16995/glossa.16571" target="_blank" >10.16995/glossa.16571</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

A default theory of default case

Original language description

Schütze (2001) argues that Universal Grammar makes use of the so-called default case. These are “case forms used to spell out nominals that do not receive a case specification by assignment or other syntactic means” (Schütze 2001: 205). The goal of this paper is to capture the morphological realisation of the default without adding anything to the theory beyond the default’s defining property (the lack of case features): after the DP exits syntax without case features, it is realised in the morphological com- ponent as any object would, namely by finding the best matching lexical items. This theory is not only the simplest one theoretically, but also the most restrictive one empirically. Specifically, once combined with the cumulative case decomposition (Caha 2009), it restricts the range of possible values of the default: out of all cases, only the nominative (or absolutive) can provide the morphology for the default. This prediction is borne out in most languages, however, cases of an apparent accusative default have also been reported. This happens in a small set of languages with case on pronouns only. The paper argues that these languages, too, have the nominative as their default, but it is the nominative of a strong pronoun, which happens to be syncretic with the weak accusative pronoun. The paper further argues that once this analysis is adopted, only hanging-topic left dislocation must be treated as a default case environment, all other environments with a suspected default (e.g., fragment answers) are compatible with a non-default analysis.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

<a href="/en/project/GF23-04856K" target="_blank" >GF23-04856K: The Behavior of Czech and Slovenian Clitics</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

GLOSSA : A JOURNAL OF GENERAL LINGUISTICS

ISSN

2397-1835

e-ISSN

2397-1835

Volume of the periodical

9

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

43

Pages from-to

1-43

UT code for WoS article

001308176900002

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85209878200