A syntax for semantic incorporation: generating low-scope indefinite objects in Inuktitut

Abstract

The range of scope readings for Inuktitut nominal expressions appears superficially to depend on the verbal morpho-syntax, with noun incorporation and antipassive inflection both playing a role. A new model is presented in which the syntactic role played by agreement features in Case theory is unified with the absence of a choice functional D in the semantic interpretation. For both, a phase-level D-deletion operation ensures the correct results. The model is shown to account for the scopal properties of nominals in a range of contexts larger than the literature typically considers, including incorporation of predicational, locational, and locative nouns, and non-modalis-marked arguments of non-antipassive verbs.