ɸ-agreement within Construct State in Jordanian Arabic

Abstract

Abstract This paper shows that the head noun of the Construct State may ɸ-agree (in Number and Gender) with the accompanying DP associate in Jordanian Arabic. When it occurs, this agreement is, however, only invoked when the DP associate is referential (e.g., galam ʔil-walad ‘the boy’s pen’>galamuhi ʔil-waladi , but barbiiʃ ʔil-ʁaaz ‘the gas pipe’>*barbiiʃ-uh i ʔil-ʁaazi ). The paper provides a syntactic account of this observation which clearly demonstrates that Construct States do not constitute a homogenous group. We specifically argue that the head D° of the Construct State is endowed with a bundle of uninterpretable, unvalued ɸ-features which are valued via Agree by the DP associate of the Construct State. The outcome of this valuation, when it occurs, may surface as an inflectional suffix that appears on the head noun occupying this position, i.e. D°, in PF. For why D°-related uninterpretable ɸ-features are only valued by referential DPs, we propose that this follows from the assumption that such DPs carry a [person] feature, hence ɸ-complete, unlike nonreferential DPs which lack a [person] feature, and hence ɸ-incomplete. ɸ-incompleteness makes non-referential DPs incapable of valuing uninterpretable ɸ-features carried by c-commanding heads in Jordanian Arabic.