Empty operator raising in Kitharaka

The Kenyan Bantu language Kitharaka (E.54) has a biclausal construction in which a verb with an athematic subject takes a finite complement. A referential NP in the matrix subject position may acquire its thematic role through linkage with an argument at a lower level of embedding. The paper present...

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Main Author: Carolyn Harford
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: LibraryPress@UF 1997-06-01
Series:Studies in African Linguistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/107390
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author Carolyn Harford
author_facet Carolyn Harford
author_sort Carolyn Harford
collection DOAJ
description The Kenyan Bantu language Kitharaka (E.54) has a biclausal construction in which a verb with an athematic subject takes a finite complement. A referential NP in the matrix subject position may acquire its thematic role through linkage with an argument at a lower level of embedding. The paper presents evidence that this construction, referred to as Empty Operator Raising, involves empty operator movement, although it is also semantically similar to Raising-to-Subject. If the matrix subject is distinct from the subject of the nearest embedded clause, this clause must contain a clefted NP. The author proposes that this clefting is a distancing strategy to prevent an empty operator in SPEC/CP from binding the embedded subject position, to avoid forming an illicit chain with the matrix subject.
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spelling doaj.art-721984f271ae460da2de41f762dd7fd82022-12-21T20:38:17ZengLibraryPress@UFStudies in African Linguistics0039-35332154-428X1997-06-0126210.32473/sal.v26i2.107390Empty operator raising in KitharakaCarolyn HarfordThe Kenyan Bantu language Kitharaka (E.54) has a biclausal construction in which a verb with an athematic subject takes a finite complement. A referential NP in the matrix subject position may acquire its thematic role through linkage with an argument at a lower level of embedding. The paper presents evidence that this construction, referred to as Empty Operator Raising, involves empty operator movement, although it is also semantically similar to Raising-to-Subject. If the matrix subject is distinct from the subject of the nearest embedded clause, this clause must contain a clefted NP. The author proposes that this clefting is a distancing strategy to prevent an empty operator in SPEC/CP from binding the embedded subject position, to avoid forming an illicit chain with the matrix subject.https://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/107390KitharakaBantuclausal complementraising
spellingShingle Carolyn Harford
Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
Studies in African Linguistics
Kitharaka
Bantu
clausal complement
raising
title Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
title_full Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
title_fullStr Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
title_full_unstemmed Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
title_short Empty operator raising in Kitharaka
title_sort empty operator raising in kitharaka
topic Kitharaka
Bantu
clausal complement
raising
url https://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/107390
work_keys_str_mv AT carolynharford emptyoperatorraisinginkitharaka