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Abstract:
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This paper, which studies verb agreement in Standard Arabic (SA), presents two hypotheses that deal with sentences involving a preverbal noun: the Topicalization Hypothesis and the Subject Hypothesis. The former claims that the preverbal nominal in a noun-first sentence is a topic; the latter claims that it is a subject. The paper shows that the Subject Hypothesis is superior to the Topicalization Hypothesis. Two other hypotheses concerning the agreement between the verb and subject in an SVO order have been proposed: the Singular Verb Analysis and the Zero Number Agreement Analysis. Using the Checking Theory as a frame of reference, I argue that the Zero Number Agreement Analysis is more adequate than the Singular Verb Analysis in SA.
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