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Title: Dimensions of Reflexivity
Author: Jeffrey Lidz
Email: click here to access email
Homepage: http://babel.ling.northwestern.edu/~lidz/
Degree Awarded: University of Delaware , Department of Linguistics
Degree Date: 1996
Linguistic Subfield(s): Syntax
Director(s): Peter Cole

Abstract:

Human languages make use of two mechanisms for the expression of reflexivity. Some languages use a verbal affix while others use a special anaphoric pronoun. These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, however. Many languages have both. The research in this thesis is driven by the question of how many systems are needed to account for this variability. Is the system governing the distribution of verbal reflexives completely independent of the system governing the distribution of nominal reflexives? If not, to what extent do these systems overlap or interact? I propose that the distribution of verbal reflexives is determined primarily by argument-structure representations while the distribution of nominal reflexives is determined primarily by syntactic representations. We do find, however, certain cases of overlap. In these cases, the existence of two systems is precisely what is required to achieve a level of explanatory adequacy.
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Page Updated: 26-Nov-2009

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