<OT> New Posting: ROA-876

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 876-1006

Approximation in Russian and the single-word constraint

Loren Billings <billings at ncnu.edu.tw>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=876


Abstract:
Russian quantifiers are known for their complexity. This
dissertation investigates expressions of indefinite quantity--spe
cifically, accusative-assigning <i>s</i> 'about' of approximate
measure.


This preposition has undergone a somewhat unique diachronic
change which now requires that its complement consist of
only a single word. I chronicle the advent of the single-word
restriction (LONE-WD), showing historical data with multi-word
complements of s. Adjective-noun and numeral-noun complements
were once attested; Russian now requires only one word after
<i>s</i>.


This study investigates various apparent exceptions to LONE-WD,
which are violated only under very specific circumstances.
These exceptions clarify the morphosyntax of


-- paucal numerals ('two' through 'four' and the fractions
<i>pol</i> 'half' and <i>ˇcetvert'</i> 'quarter'),

-- 'prequantifier' adjectives,

-- syntactic compounds (adjective-noun sequences which inflect
separately but are treated by the syntax as a single word), and

-- large-quantity numbers (<i>tysjaˇca</i> 'thousand' and
greater).


Distributions of special genitive-singular and -plural forms,
assigned only by quantifiers, are shown to be distinct:
Only paucal numerals in morphological nominative case assign
'ADPAUCAL' genitive-singular forms (such as end-stressed
<i>ˇcaSA</i> 'hours'); a number of elements, not just numerals,
trigger 'COUNT' genitive plural forms (<i>ˇcelovek</i>
'people'). Other constructions discussed include <i>okolo</i>
'approximately', approximative inversion, <i>`etak</i> 'about',
and <i>neskol'ko</i> 'several':


Quantification is not a syntactic category but a semantic
feature for which <i>okolo</i> is unmarked; <i>okolo</i>
is quantificational only if its sister is a quantifier.
Otherwise <i>okolo</i> is merely proximative: 'near'. Tests
confirm that quantificational okolo heads a prepositional
phrase within the noun phrase. While most prepositional
quantifiers have this structure, accusative-assigning <i>s</i>
is the relativized head of a hybrid phrase due to featural
deficiencies.


Numeral-noun complements of <i>s</i> undergo approximative
inversion--the noun moving to specifier position--to circumvent
LONE-WD. Approximative inversion is likewise subject to
a variant of LONE-WD, which requires a single PROSODIC word
in the quantified constituent. When inversion is impossible
a pleonastic count noun is inserted instead.

An Optimality-theoretic model is proposed, formalizing LONE-WD
and constraints requiring prosodic contiguity and exceptions
to LONE-WD caused by words expressing more closely defined
measure.

Comments: 1995 Princeton University dissertation. Chapter 6 is an Optimality-theoretic analysis
Keywords: Russian, approximative inversion, prepositional quantifiers, prequantifiers, adpaucal, LONE-WD constraint
Areas: Phonology, Syntax, Morphology, Formal Analysis
Type: PhD Dissertation

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=876