Golden Oldies in Syntax

Why read the Golden Oldies?

I define a golden oldie as a paper in the framework of generative syntax written in the 60s and 70s (roughly between and including Chomsky (1957) “Syntactic Structures” and Chomsky (1981) “Lectures on Government and Binding”).

2019_09_16 (Sasi Fieldwork)

After three weeks with Kua, I am now moving on to my first fieldwork trip to Mokgenene for the year. I have already been there twice, once to deliver blankets to my consultants on July 3rd and another time for the delivery of the clothing to the children on August 8th. This time, I plan to stay in Mokgenene for two weeks to kick off my video documentation project. This project is part of an ELDP and ACLS funded project that will begin in earnest on January 1st (the official grant start date). I this short trip, I plan to do preliminary recordings and make sure my consultants are comfortable with the arrangements.

I have a house from the VDC council allocated to me, where I plan to stay for two weeks. Since there is no electricity in the village, I will bring my solar panel.

Backup Workflow for Linguistic Fieldwork

Backup workflow for Linguistic Fieldwork (based on a Facebook post of July 4, 2019) (workflow created by me and Zach).

Run-and-Gun Video for Linguistic Fieldwork

In working with the Cua this summer, Zach and I have developed an easy high-quality video set up which we call "run-and-gun" (following terminology used in the video world).

Outer negation of universal quantifier phrases

Abstract: This paper discusses two ways of negating DP quantifier phrases. In one way, NEG modifies the quantifier D directly with the structure [[NEG D] NP] (inner negation). In the other way, NEG modifies the whole DP with the structure [NEG DP] (outer negation). I give evidence based on negative polarity items that negated universal quantifier phrases like not every student involve outer negation (contra Hoeksema in Linguist Anal 16:25–40, 1986; in: ESCOL ’87, pp 100–113, 1987).

Outer negation of universal quantifier phrases

Best All-in-One Negation Package

The following papers all explore the issue of negating quantifier phrases. The topic is extremely rich, and has barely been scratched in the existing literature on negation and quantification (with the exception of "split scope" for which there exists a small literature). They all start from the assumption that it is possible to combine negation directly with a quantifier phrase: [NEG QP]. All of the papers were all written in the framework of Collins and Postal 2014. I do not include papers here on NEG Raising, which raises related but different issues.

Description of Ewe Repository

Ewe is a Gbe language, spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin in west Africa.

The Ewe Repository is a collection of articles and books on and in Ewe for serious Ewe scholars. As of today (June 13, 2019) it contains 289 files. It is not accessible publicly on the internet, although we are looking into creating an internet accessible version. If you are an Ewe scholar, and are interested in joining, the price of admission is to send me paper or book on or in Ewe that we do not already have. Then I will sign you up. Even if you do not want to be a member, if you have books or papers on or in Ewe, please send them to me.