LINGUIST List 19.2198: Syntax: Koskinen: 'Features and Categories: Non-finite ...'

LINGUIST List 19.2198

Wed Jul 09 2008

Diss: Syntax: Koskinen: 'Features and Categories: Non-finite ...'

Editor for this issue: Evelyn Richter <evelynlinguistlist.org>

1. Paivi Koskinen, Features and Categories: Non-finite constructions in Finnish

Message 1: Features and Categories: Non-finite constructions in Finnish
Date: 09-Jul-2008
From: Paivi Koskinen <Paivi.Koskinenkwantlen.ca>
Subject: Features and Categories: Non-finite constructions in Finnish
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Institution: University of Toronto Program: Department of Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 1998

Author: Paivi Koskinen

Dissertation Title: Features and Categories: Non-finite constructions in Finnish

Dissertation URL: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~twpl/dissertations.htm#top

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax
Subject Language(s): Finnish (fin)
Dissertation Director:
Elizabeth Cowper Diane Massam Yves Roberge Ron Smythe Anders Holmberg
Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis explores the inventory of syntactic features that drivesFinnish word order. It focuses on several non-finite constructions thatmanifest categorially inconsistent morpho-syntactic properties. The centralassumption underlying this research is that such incongruities result fromalternative combinations of cross-linguistically common syntactic featuresrather than from the presence of rare and exceptional functionalcategories. My main proposal is that lexical and functional syntacticfeatures may combine to produce hybrid forms. I examine the nature of suchfeature complexes in different clause types in Finnish: main, finite andnon-finite embedded and relative, and infinitival clauses. Thisfeature-based approach resolves problems in categorizing morphemes whosesyntactic category affiliation has traditionally been difficult todetermine. In most languages there are lexical elements that manifestmorpho-syntactic properties associated with more than one lexical categoryas well as functional inflectional morphemes (e.g. participles,infinitives, modals). I analyze the Finnish forms as containing a hybridcategory: a lexical feature ([N, V] or [N]) accounts for their nominalqualities, while a functional feature [Tense] explains their verbal andtemporal characteristics. Consequently, I argue that changes in syntacticcategory take place not only through morphological derivation, but alsowithin the syntactic component. This is possible under a view ofmorphological derivation as vocabulary insertion based on the syntacticfeature matrices that surface at the end of the computational component.The thesis is organized according to the traditional division of Finnishverb-based forms into finite, participial and infinitival. Chapter 2 setsthe basis for contrasting finite and non-finite forms by providing anaccount of the syntactic feature content of main clause structure. Thischapter also presents a structural analysis of the seeminglynon-configurational word order of Finnish. Chapters 3 and 4 examine thepresent and past participle morphemes, and the infinitival morphemes -ta,-de and -ma. Each suffix occurs in several distinct constructions. Myinvestigation identifies the syntactic features that produce thecategorially incongruous properties of the forms, and provides a maximallyunified account of each morpheme. Furthermore, the theoretical frameworklaid out in this thesis demarcates a research program for further study ofsimilar elements in other languages.