Abstract
We conclude the book in this chapter with a discussion of directions for further research. These include a general recap of some of the crucial post-syntactic operations found within the Basque auxiliary through the lens of a revisitation of the apparent multiple exponence of plural morphology. This apparent multiple exponence is instead handled throughout the analysis via a division of labor between distinct mechanisms such as clitic Fission, complementizer agreement, and allomorphy of the auxiliary root itself, three phenomena which inhabit demonstrably distinct points along the Spellout path. The chapter also includes a broader summarizing discussion of the nature of Crossmodular Structural Parallelism as it is found throughout the overall organization and specific nature of post-syntactic operations, and the importance of a methodological cycle between broad dialect comparison and in-depth complete empirical coverage of individual dialects for the discovery of new generalizations and for particular issues that we identify as ripe for future investigation.
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Notes
- 1.
Again, we generally do not consider multiple exponence (or ‘exuberant exponence’, in the sense of Harris 2009), to be a theoretically valid option, but an empirical problem in need of an explanation. One such explanation adopted for Basque finite verbs in this book is based on the clitic vs. agreement distinction, but we do not expect multiple exponence to even be a uniform phenomenon.
- 2.
In fact, in Chap. 3 we devote a considerable amount of space to a complete phonology of the auxiliary system, which itself shows some rules that are lexical and some are postlexical according to Hualde’s (1991a) overview of these strata within Biscayan phonology.
- 3.
Its prominence in the Labourdin coast lead to the adoption of the prescriptive term solécisme de la côte ‘solecism of the coast’ by Lafitte (whose very insightful work on Basque grammar had both descriptive and prescriptive objectives), as they are ‘contraires au courant général de la langue basque’ (Lafitte 1944:296; our translation: ‘they go against the general current of the Basque language’). Any ‘confusion’ between direct and indirect object marking in Basque sentences is typically frowned upon by prescriptivists, whose descriptions of these ‘solecisms’ can often guide theoretical linguists in their search for theoretically relevant patterns.
- 4.
The loss of allocutive clitics in many Biscayan dialects seems to be part of a more general pattern of loss throughout Basque, even in areas where the phenomenon is still in common use (e.g. Azkue Ibarbia 2000). This only emphasizes the pressing need to do further work on the topic.
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Arregi, K., Nevins, A. (2012). Concluding Themes. In: Morphotactics. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, vol 86. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3889-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3889-8_7
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