Formal analysis of the inverse

Abstract

Abstract This chapter presents a generative analysis of the Algonquian inverse. The key proposal is that the inverse agreement pattern arises whenever the Infl head agrees only with the object and the Voice head lacks agreement features. In inverse voice contexts, this configuration results from the use of a special “ergative” Voice head, which produces a clause that is morphologically, syntactically, and pragmatically inverse. In inverse alignment contexts, the same configuration results from a particular outcome of the Agree operation on the Infl head, which produces a clause that is morphologically inverse even though it has default syntax and pragmatics. By identifying two distinct syntactic paths to the same morphological outcome, the analysis explains why the Algonquian inverse appears to be a unified phenomenon at the morphological level despite the fundamental distinction between inverse voice in third-person contexts and inverse alignment in SAP contexts.