Construct Phrases and other Genitive Constructions – אוניברסיטת בר-אילן
שם הקורס באנגלית:
37-941 Construct Phrases and other Genitive Constructions
Office Hours: Gonda Brain Research Centre Room 402 by appointment.
This course explores the syntax and semantics of Construct Phrases and genitive constructions cross-linguistically. We start with an exploration of the Construct Phrases in Modern Hebrew, the different types of construct state phrases, their syntactic structure and semantic interpretation. In the second part of the course, we investigate similar structures in Biblical Hebrew and in Arabic, noting similarities and differences in the way these constructions work in these languages. Finally we explore the parallels between construct phrases in Semitic and genitive phrases in non-Semitic languages, including the English N of NP construction and the Russian genitive.
The goals of the class are:
- To explore the syntax and semantics of genitive constructions in Hebrew and other languages.
- To explore techniques in crosslinguistic semantics and in particular using an in-depth study of a construction in one language as a diagnostic tool for investigating a similar structure in another language.
- To train students in basic research techniques, including collection and the analysis of data and the application of techniques of formal semantics learned in technical classes.
- To provide some experience in reading research articles in formal semantics.
Students will be expected to attend all classes and participate, to do the assigned reading, and to do an independent research project under the guidance of the instructor. The research project will have two parts (i) a presentation in class and (ii) a research paper based on the presentation. The grade will be based on class participation, the presentation and the paper.
The class is open to graduate students and undergraduates who have completed 589. Students who have completed 289 with a grade of 92 or above may also register, subject to permission of the instructor.
Course content.
Week 1: October 25
Introduction Reading: Doron and Meir 2013
Week 2: November 1
Various types of N headed constructs: Reading: Borer 1999, 2008.
Week 3: November 8
Tutorial on lambdas. Non-nominal constructs. Reading Siloni 2000.
Week 4: November 15
Constructs and other complex nominals. Reading: Engelhardt 2000.
Week 5: November 22
Proper names in constructs: Reading: Rothstein in press
Week 6: November 29
Adjectivally headed construct states. Reading: Rothstein 2013
Week 7: December 6
Numericals in constructs: Reading: Rothstein 2012.
Week 8: December 13
Constructs in Biblical Hebrew: reading to be announced
Week 9: December 20
Changes in Modern Hebrew constructs. Reading: Doron and Meir 2014
Week 10: December 27
Constructs in Arabic: an introduction reading to be announced.
Week 11: January 3
Genitive constructions in English. Reading: Munn 1995
Week 12: January 10
Russian Genitives. Partee 2008, Khrizman 2013
Week 13: January 17
Student presentations
Week 14: January 24
Student presentations
Bibliography: (starred items are those that appear on the reading list. The other items are background reading or for those who want to read deeper into a particular topic.)
Al-Sharifi, Budour, and Louisa Sadler 2009. The adjectival construct in Arabic.
Proceedings of LAGB. : 26-43.
*Borer, Hagit. 1999. Deconstructing the Construct,’ in K. Johnson and I. Roberts (eds.),
Beyond Principles and Parameters: Essays in Memory of Osvaldo Jaeggli, Springer,
Berlin.
*Borer, Hagit. 2008. ‘Compounds: the view from Hebrew,’ in R. Lieber and P. Stekauer
(eds.)The Oxford Handbook of Compounding, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Borschev, Vladimir, Elena V. Paducheva, Barbara H. Partee, Yakov G. Testelets and
Igor Yanovich, 2008. Russian genitives, non-referentiality, and the property-
type hypothesis. In: A. Antonenko, J. F. Bailyn & C. Bethin (eds.), Formal
Approaches to Slavic Linguistics: The Stony Brook Meeting 2007. pp. 48–67.
Ann Arbor: Michigan Slavic Publications.
Danon Gabi, 2011. Agreement and DP-internal feature distribution. Syntax 14.4 297-317.
Danon, Gabi, 2012. ‘Two structures for numeral-noun constructions,’ in Lingua 122(12),
1282-1307.
Doron Edit, 2014. The interpretation of construct-state morphology. In Sabrina Bendjaballah,
Noam Faust, Mohamed Lahrouchi and Nicola Lampitelli (eds.) The form of structure,
the structure of form: essays in honor of Jean Lowenstamm. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins. 361-374.2014.
*Doron, Edit and Irit Meir. 2013. ‘Construct state: Modern Hebrew,’ in G. Khan (ed.) The
Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Leiden, Brill.
*Doron, Edit and Irit Meir 2014. Amount definites. In P.Cabredo Hofherr (ed.) Weak Definites
across Languages – Theoretical and Experimental Investigations. Recherches Linguistiques
de Vincennes 42: Presses Universitaires de Vincennes, Saint-Denis. 139-165.
*Engelhardt, Miriam. 2000. The projection of argument taking nominals.
Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 18, 41-88.
Gesenius, Wilhelm, Emil Kautzsch, and Arthur Ernest Cowley. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar.
English version of the 28th edition, Oxford University Press 1910. Reprinted Dover 2006.
Hazout, Ilan 2000. ‘Adjectival genitive constructions in Modern Hebrew: a case study in
Co-analysis,’ in The Linguistic Review 17: 29-52.
Heller, Daphna. 2002. ‘Possession as a lexical relation: evidence from the Hebrew
construct state,’ in L. Mikkelsen and C. Potts (eds.) Proceedings of WCCFL 21, 127–140.
Khrizman, Keren 2013. Genitive Case and Aspect in Russian. . In: Cassandra
Chapman, Olena Kit, Ivona Ku?erová (eds.) Proceedings of Formal Approaches to
Slavic Linguistics The McMaster Meeting 22. Michigan Slavic Publications: Ann
Arbor.
Kremers, Joost. 2005. Adjectival Constructs in Arabic,’ in Linguistische Berichte 203: 331–
348
Moshavi, Adina and Susan Rothstein 2016. The šešet yamim construction: Indefinite
numerical phrases in Biblical Hebrew. Ms Bar-Ilan University.
*Munn, Alan, 1995. The possessor that stayed close to home. In Proceedings of WECOL Vol.
24, pp. 181-195.
Ouwayda, Sarah 2012 Construct state nominal as semantic predicates. In Reem
Bassiouney & E. Graham Katz (eds.) Arabic Language and Linguistics
Georgetown University Press p79 -98
*Partee, Barbara 2008 Negation, intensionality and aspect: interaction with NP Semantics. In
- Rothstein (ed.) Theoretical and Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Semantics of
Aspect. 291-317 Amsterdam, John Benjamins.
Partee, Barbara H. and Vladimir Borschev. 2003. ‘Genitives, relational nouns, and
argument-modifier ambiguity,’ in E. Lang C. Maienborn, C. Fabricius-Hansen (eds.),
Modifying Adjuncts, 67-112, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin.
Partee, Barbara H. and Vladimir Borschev, 2012. Sortal, relational, and functional
interpretations of nouns and Russian container constructions. Journal of
Semantics 29,4. pp. 445-486.
Ritter, Elizabeth. 1988. A head-movement approach to construct-state noun phrases, Linguistics, 26(6), 909-930.
Ritter, Elizabeth. 1991. Two functional categories in the noun phrase: evidence from
Modern Hebrew, in S. Rothstein (ed.), Perspectives on Phrase Structure: Heads and
Licensing, San Diego, Academic Press, 37–62.
Rothstein, Susan. 2009. Measuring and counting in Modern Hebrew, in Brill’s Annual of
Afro-asiatic Languages and Linguistics, Volume 1. 2009. 106-145.
Rothstein, Susan, 2012. Reconsidering the Hebrew construct state. Italian Journal of
Linguistics 24(2); 227-266. Special Issue edited by Lisa Cheng, Denis Delfitto and Lutz
Marten.
*Rothstein, Susan, 2013. Adjectivally-headed construct states in Hebrew. Lingua.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2013.10.005
*Rothstein, Susan, in press Proper names in Modern Hebrew construct phrases. To appear
Folia Linguistica.
Shlonsky, Ur. 2004. The form of Semitic nominals. Lingua 114.12, 1465-1526.
Siloni, Tal. 1997. Noun Phrases and Nominalizations: The Syntax of DPs. Springer
(Kluwer)M Dordrecht.
*Siloni, Tal. 2000. Non-nominal constructs, in J. Lecarme, J. Loewenstam and U.
Shlonsky (eds.) Studies in Afro-asiatic Languages 2, 301-323, John Benjamins,
Amsterdam
Siloni, Tal. 2001. Construct states at the PF interface, in Language Variation Yearbook
1, 229-266.
Siloni, Tal. 2002. Adjectival constructs and inalienable constructions, in J. Ouhalla
and U. Shlonsky (eds.) Themes and issues in the syntax of Arabic and Hebrew ,
161-187, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
