On the syntax of postpositional phrases in Mari: Choosing between two structures
Irina Burukina
July 2023 

The paper discusses the syntax of postpositional constructions in Meadow Mari (Uralic, Morkinsko-Sernur dialect; head-final, SOV). Building upon existing approaches to postpositions in the world’s languages, I propose that PPs in Mari may have one of the two underlying structures depending on the nature of the dependent but not on the nature of the adposition. PPs with a pronominal dependent involve possession between the Ground and a LOCATION nominal. In PPs with a non-pronominal dependent the Ground is merged directly into the complement position of a P head. I further expand the dataset and show that the two configurations capture successfully the distribution of reflexive pronouns in PPs. The proposed analysis accounts for all the relevant data: examples with independent and affixal postpositions and referential and pronominal dependents.

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/007081 (please use that when you cite this article)
Published in:	(OA) Journal of Uralic Linguistics 2(2): 158-194. https://benjamins.com/catalog/jul.2.2
keywords:	postposition, spatial case, locative, dative, possession, agreement, morphology, syntax
previous versions:	v2 [February 2023] v1 [January 2023]
Downloaded:	677 times

 

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