Affiliation:
1. University of Illinois Chicago
2. Leiden University
3. University of Amsterdam
4. University of Vigo
Abstract
Abstract
This article presents an argument that bare (singular) nouns in Papiamentu include additional silent functional
structure, as proposed in Kester and Schmitt (2007). The argument is based on
Dutch-Papiamentu code-switched noun phrases and exploits the crucial datum that a Dutch bare noun is grammatical when inserted in
a Papiamentu sentence, although bare nouns are ungrammatical in a Dutch unilingual sentence. We propose that this datum can be
accounted for if the Dutch bare noun is the complement of a silent Papiamentu category, D or Num. The locus of cross-linguistic
variation that yields the (un)acceptability of bare nouns is a property in D or Num.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company