Jessica Coon
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 811178 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Jessica Coon |
| PRENOMES | Jessica |
| SOBRENOME | Coon |
| ASSINATURA | COON J |
| AFILIAÇÕES | McGill University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7875-8116 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 27 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 260 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 26 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2009 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 11 |
Invisible inanimates and the syntax of pronominal prefixes in Northern Iroquoian
Northern Iroquoian languages are famous for the complexities of their agreement systems, realized through three sets of ‘pronominal prefixes’. Drawing on new and existing material from Kanien’kéha (Mohawk), this article proposes a formal model that captures the range of empirical patterns using standard assumptions about argument structure and agreement, combined with the proposal that inanimate nominals have no person, number, or gender (φ) feat…
Correlates of Object Raising in Mayan
Mayan languages show variation in the morphosyntactic distribution of absolutive objects. A now commonly-adopted analysis ties this variation to differences in object movement and agreement. In so-called 'high-absolutive' languages, objects consistently raise to a position above the ergative subject, where they are targeted for -Agree by a probe on finite . In 'low-absolutive' languages, on the other hand, objects remain low and enter into -Agree…
Type-shifting in headless relative clauses
Research on the (in)definiteness of bare nouns has developed various proposals regarding which type-shifters exist in human language and which principles are needed to govern their distribution (Carlson 1977; Partee 1987; Chierchia 1998; Dayal 2004; i.a.). At the same time, literature on headless relative clauses (HRCs), primarily focusing on free relatives (FRs) in Indo-European languages, has also developed type-shifting principles (Jacobson 19…
Atz’am k’ik’ atz’am
This article and text provide a new take on the San Mateo Ixtatán saltwater sources from the perspective of Xuwan, a San Mateo resident who for her entire life has been working in the extraction, production, and merchandising of atz’am k’ik’ atz’am ‘the black salt’, a culturally-valued good which forms a quintessential aspect of Chuj life and culture. In addition to recounting her experiences with black salt, Xuwan comments on several other aspec…
Feature Gluttony
This article develops a new approach to a family of hierarchy-effect-inducing configurations, with a focus on Person Case Constraint effects, dative-nominative configurations, and copula constructions. The main line of approach in the recent literature is to attribute these effects to failures of φ-Agree or, more specifically, failures of nominal licensing or case checking. We propose that the problem in these configurations is unrelated to nomin…
Mayan agent focus and the ergative extraction constraint
Many languages of the Mayan family restrict the extraction of transitive (ergative) subjects for focus, WH-questions, and relativization (Ā-extraction). We follow Aissen (2017b) in labeling this restriction the ERGATIVE EXTRACTION CONSTRAINT (EEC). In this article, we offer a unified account of the EEC within Mayan languages, as well as an analysis of the special construction known as AGENT FOCUS (AF) used to circumvent it. Specifically, we propo…
Hierarchy effects in copula constructions
This paper develops a generalization about agreement in German copula constructions described in Coon et al. (2017), and proposes an analysis that ties it to other well-established hierarchy phenomena. Specifically, we show that “assumed-identity” copula constructions in German exibit both person and number hierarchy effects, and that these extend beyond the “non-canonical” or “inverse” agreement patterns described in previous work on copula cons…
Adverbs and variability in Kaqchikel Agent Focus
Building verbs in Chuj
This paper offers an in-depth look at roots and verb stem morphology in Chuj (Mayan) in order to address a larger question: when it comes to the formation of verb stems, what information is contributed by the root, and what is contributed by the functional heads? I show first that roots in Chuj are not acategorical in the strict sense (cf. Borer 2005), but must be grouped into classes based on their stem-forming possibilities. Root class does not…
Deriving verb-initial word order in Mayan
Individual languages in the Mayan family display either rigid VSO or alternating VOS/VSO word orders (England 1991). In this article we review problems with previous accounts of Mayan word order and argue that verb-initial (V1) order is consistently derived by head movement of the verb to a position above the subject and below Infl 0 , which accounts for uniformity in verb-stem formation across the family. After an in-depth examination of the fac…
Ch’ol
Ch’ol is a language of the greater Tseltalan branch of the Mayan language family, spoken today by around 200,000 people primarily in the northern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas (see Vázquez Álvarez 2011 ). Ch’ol, Chontal, and Ch’orti’ together constitute the Cholan subbranch. Ch’ol is generally divided into two main dialects: Tila and Tumbalá. See López López 2005 and Vázquez Álvarez 2011 on dialect variation. Ch’ol speakers refer to their …
The Oxford Handbook of Ergativity
Little-v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol
This paper addresses typological differences in subject-verb agreement and provides evidence that transitive subject agreement need not always involve a high functional head, namely T0, but may instead be the result of a local relation between the subject and a low functional head, v0. In Mayan languages, grammatical relations are head-marked on the predicate through two series of morphemes, known as "Set A" (ergative/possessive) and "Set B" (abs…
Introduction to Mayan Linguistics
Mayan Morphosyntax
Ergativity and the complexity of extraction
Nominal Constructions and Split Ergativity in Chol (Mayan)
The interaction of person and number in Mi'gmaq
This paper presents puzzles concerning the representation of features in the agreement system of the Eastern Algonquian language, Mi'gmaq. A growing body of research converges on the idea that φ-agreement should be separated into distinct person (π0), number (#0), and sometimes gender (γ0) probes (e.g. Anagnostopoulou 2003, Béjar 2003, Béjar and Rezac 2003, Laka 1993, Shlonsky 1989, Sigurðsson 1996, Sigurðsson and Holmberg 2008, Preminger 2012). …
The role of case in A-bar extraction asymmetries
Many morphologically ergative languages display asymmetries in the extraction of core arguments: while absolutive arguments (transitive objects and intransitive subjects) extract freely, ergative arguments (transitive subjects) cannot. This falls under the label "syntactic ergativity" (see, e.g. Dixon 1972, 1994; Manning 1996; Polinsky to appear(b)). These extraction asymmetries are found in many languages of the Mayan family, where in order to e…
Classifiers Are for Numerals, Not for Nouns
In languages with numeral classifier systems, nouns must generally appear with one of a series of classifiers in order to be modified by a numeral. This squib presents new data from Mi’gmaq (Algonquian) and Chol (Mayan), arguing that numeral classifiers are required because of the syntactic and semantic properties of the numeral (as in Krifka 1995), rather than the noun (as in Chierchia 1998). The results are shown to have important consequences …
TAM Split Ergativity, Part II
This article surveys empirical and theoretical work on Tense‐Aspect‐Mood (‘‘TAM’’) based split ergativity, and offers an account for how it arises. While these splits are typically assumed to represent a unified phenomenon, I demonstrate that non‐ergative portions of split systems exhibit different patterns. I argue that these patterns reflect at least two different triggers of split ergativity: (i) non‐perfective aspects are more likely to be bu…
TAM Split Ergativity, Part I
This article surveys empirical and theoretical work on Tense-Aspect-Mood (''TAM'') based split ergativity, and offers an account for how it arises. While these splits are typically assumed to represent a unified phenomenon, I demonstrate that non-ergative portions of split systems exhibit different patterns. I argue that these patterns reflect at least two different triggers of split ergativity: (i) non-perfective aspects are more likely to be bu…
Split ergativity and transitivity in Chol
VOS as predicate fronting in Chol
Rethinking Split Ergativity In Chol
All Mayan languages exhibit ergative–absolutive systems of agreement. However, Chol and some other members of the family display aspectually based splits: while perfective clauses show the expected ergative–absolutive alignment, imperfective and progressive (hereafter “nonperfective”) clauses show a nominative–accusative alignment (Larsen and Norman 1979, Bricker 1981, and Quizar and Knowles-Berry 1988). In addition to this difference in agreemen…
The role of case in A-bar extraction asymmetries
Many morphologically ergative languages display asymmetries in the extraction of core arguments: while absolutive arguments (transitive objects and intransitive subjects) extract freely, ergative arguments (transitive subjects) cannot. This falls under the label "syntactic ergativity" (see, e.g. Dixon 1972, 1994; Manning 1996; Polinsky to appear(b)). These extraction asymmetries are found in many languages of the Mayan family, where in order to e…
VOS as predicate fronting in Chol
Rethinking Split Ergativity In Chol
All Mayan languages exhibit ergative–absolutive systems of agreement. However, Chol and some other members of the family display aspectually based splits: while perfective clauses show the expected ergative–absolutive alignment, imperfective and progressive (hereafter “nonperfective”) clauses show a nominative–accusative alignment (Larsen and Norman 1979, Bricker 1981, and Quizar and Knowles-Berry 1988). In addition to this difference in agreemen…
Feature Gluttony
This article develops a new approach to a family of hierarchy-effect-inducing configurations, with a focus on Person Case Constraint effects, dative-nominative configurations, and copula constructions. The main line of approach in the recent literature is to attribute these effects to failures of φ-Agree or, more specifically, failures of nominal licensing or case checking. We propose that the problem in these configurations is unrelated to nomin…
Deriving verb-initial word order in Mayan
Individual languages in the Mayan family display either rigid VSO or alternating VOS/VSO word orders (England 1991). In this article we review problems with previous accounts of Mayan word order and argue that verb-initial (V1) order is consistently derived by head movement of the verb to a position above the subject and below Infl 0 , which accounts for uniformity in verb-stem formation across the family. After an in-depth examination of the fac…
Mayan Morphosyntax
Little-v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol
This paper addresses typological differences in subject-verb agreement and provides evidence that transitive subject agreement need not always involve a high functional head, namely T0, but may instead be the result of a local relation between the subject and a low functional head, v0. In Mayan languages, grammatical relations are head-marked on the predicate through two series of morphemes, known as "Set A" (ergative/possessive) and "Set B" (abs…
Interrogative Possessors and the Problem with Pied-Piping in Chol
In this squib, I present new data from possessive phrases in Chol (Mayan) and discuss the problem they present for standard analyses of pied-piping (see Heck 2004 and references cited therein). I argue that a theory of pied-piping in which features of a wh-word ‘‘percolate’’ up to a higher maximal projection is unable to straightforwardly account for the ordering facts found in interrogative possessive constructions in Chol (also described for Tz…
Mayan agent focus and the ergative extraction constraint
Many languages of the Mayan family restrict the extraction of transitive (ergative) subjects for focus, WH-questions, and relativization (Ā-extraction). We follow Aissen (2017b) in labeling this restriction the ERGATIVE EXTRACTION CONSTRAINT (EEC). In this article, we offer a unified account of the EEC within Mayan languages, as well as an analysis of the special construction known as AGENT FOCUS (AF) used to circumvent it. Specifically, we propo…
Split ergativity and transitivity in Chol
Classifiers Are for Numerals, Not for Nouns
In languages with numeral classifier systems, nouns must generally appear with one of a series of classifiers in order to be modified by a numeral. This squib presents new data from Mi’gmaq (Algonquian) and Chol (Mayan), arguing that numeral classifiers are required because of the syntactic and semantic properties of the numeral (as in Krifka 1995), rather than the noun (as in Chierchia 1998). The results are shown to have important consequences …
The interaction of person and number in Mi'gmaq
This paper presents puzzles concerning the representation of features in the agreement system of the Eastern Algonquian language, Mi'gmaq. A growing body of research converges on the idea that φ-agreement should be separated into distinct person (π0), number (#0), and sometimes gender (γ0) probes (e.g. Anagnostopoulou 2003, Béjar 2003, Béjar and Rezac 2003, Laka 1993, Shlonsky 1989, Sigurðsson 1996, Sigurðsson and Holmberg 2008, Preminger 2012). …
TAM Split Ergativity, Part I
This article surveys empirical and theoretical work on Tense-Aspect-Mood (''TAM'') based split ergativity, and offers an account for how it arises. While these splits are typically assumed to represent a unified phenomenon, I demonstrate that non-ergative portions of split systems exhibit different patterns. I argue that these patterns reflect at least two different triggers of split ergativity: (i) non-perfective aspects are more likely to be bu…
Distinguishing total and partial identity
Building verbs in Chuj
This paper offers an in-depth look at roots and verb stem morphology in Chuj (Mayan) in order to address a larger question: when it comes to the formation of verb stems, what information is contributed by the root, and what is contributed by the functional heads? I show first that roots in Chuj are not acategorical in the strict sense (cf. Borer 2005), but must be grouped into classes based on their stem-forming possibilities. Root class does not…
Adverbs and variability in Kaqchikel Agent Focus
Introduction to Mayan Linguistics
Ergativity and the complexity of extraction
Correlates of Object Raising in Mayan
Mayan languages show variation in the morphosyntactic distribution of absolutive objects. A now commonly-adopted analysis ties this variation to differences in object movement and agreement. In so-called 'high-absolutive' languages, objects consistently raise to a position above the ergative subject, where they are targeted for -Agree by a probe on finite . In 'low-absolutive' languages, on the other hand, objects remain low and enter into -Agree…
Distinguishing total and partial identity
Interrogative Possessors and the Problem with Pied-Piping in Chol
In this squib, I present new data from possessive phrases in Chol (Mayan) and discuss the problem they present for standard analyses of pied-piping (see Heck 2004 and references cited therein). I argue that a theory of pied-piping in which features of a wh-word ‘‘percolate’’ up to a higher maximal projection is unable to straightforwardly account for the ordering facts found in interrogative possessive constructions in Chol (also described for Tz…
VOS as predicate fronting in Chol
Rethinking Split Ergativity In Chol
All Mayan languages exhibit ergative–absolutive systems of agreement. However, Chol and some other members of the family display aspectually based splits: while perfective clauses show the expected ergative–absolutive alignment, imperfective and progressive (hereafter “nonperfective”) clauses show a nominative–accusative alignment (Larsen and Norman 1979, Bricker 1981, and Quizar and Knowles-Berry 1988). In addition to this difference in agreemen…
Split ergativity and transitivity in Chol
TAM Split Ergativity, Part II
This article surveys empirical and theoretical work on Tense‐Aspect‐Mood (‘‘TAM’’) based split ergativity, and offers an account for how it arises. While these splits are typically assumed to represent a unified phenomenon, I demonstrate that non‐ergative portions of split systems exhibit different patterns. I argue that these patterns reflect at least two different triggers of split ergativity: (i) non‐perfective aspects are more likely to be bu…
TAM Split Ergativity, Part I
This article surveys empirical and theoretical work on Tense-Aspect-Mood (''TAM'') based split ergativity, and offers an account for how it arises. While these splits are typically assumed to represent a unified phenomenon, I demonstrate that non-ergative portions of split systems exhibit different patterns. I argue that these patterns reflect at least two different triggers of split ergativity: (i) non-perfective aspects are more likely to be bu…
Nominal Constructions and Split Ergativity in Chol (Mayan)
The interaction of person and number in Mi'gmaq
This paper presents puzzles concerning the representation of features in the agreement system of the Eastern Algonquian language, Mi'gmaq. A growing body of research converges on the idea that φ-agreement should be separated into distinct person (π0), number (#0), and sometimes gender (γ0) probes (e.g. Anagnostopoulou 2003, Béjar 2003, Béjar and Rezac 2003, Laka 1993, Shlonsky 1989, Sigurðsson 1996, Sigurðsson and Holmberg 2008, Preminger 2012). …
The role of case in A-bar extraction asymmetries
Many morphologically ergative languages display asymmetries in the extraction of core arguments: while absolutive arguments (transitive objects and intransitive subjects) extract freely, ergative arguments (transitive subjects) cannot. This falls under the label "syntactic ergativity" (see, e.g. Dixon 1972, 1994; Manning 1996; Polinsky to appear(b)). These extraction asymmetries are found in many languages of the Mayan family, where in order to e…
Classifiers Are for Numerals, Not for Nouns
In languages with numeral classifier systems, nouns must generally appear with one of a series of classifiers in order to be modified by a numeral. This squib presents new data from Mi’gmaq (Algonquian) and Chol (Mayan), arguing that numeral classifiers are required because of the syntactic and semantic properties of the numeral (as in Krifka 1995), rather than the noun (as in Chierchia 1998). The results are shown to have important consequences …
Ergativity and the complexity of extraction
Introduction to Mayan Linguistics
Mayan Morphosyntax
Ch’ol
Ch’ol is a language of the greater Tseltalan branch of the Mayan language family, spoken today by around 200,000 people primarily in the northern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas (see Vázquez Álvarez 2011 ). Ch’ol, Chontal, and Ch’orti’ together constitute the Cholan subbranch. Ch’ol is generally divided into two main dialects: Tila and Tumbalá. See López López 2005 and Vázquez Álvarez 2011 on dialect variation. Ch’ol speakers refer to their …
The Oxford Handbook of Ergativity
Little-v0Agreement and Templatic Morphology in Ch'ol
This paper addresses typological differences in subject-verb agreement and provides evidence that transitive subject agreement need not always involve a high functional head, namely T0, but may instead be the result of a local relation between the subject and a low functional head, v0. In Mayan languages, grammatical relations are head-marked on the predicate through two series of morphemes, known as "Set A" (ergative/possessive) and "Set B" (abs…
Adverbs and variability in Kaqchikel Agent Focus
Building verbs in Chuj
This paper offers an in-depth look at roots and verb stem morphology in Chuj (Mayan) in order to address a larger question: when it comes to the formation of verb stems, what information is contributed by the root, and what is contributed by the functional heads? I show first that roots in Chuj are not acategorical in the strict sense (cf. Borer 2005), but must be grouped into classes based on their stem-forming possibilities. Root class does not…
Deriving verb-initial word order in Mayan
Individual languages in the Mayan family display either rigid VSO or alternating VOS/VSO word orders (England 1991). In this article we review problems with previous accounts of Mayan word order and argue that verb-initial (V1) order is consistently derived by head movement of the verb to a position above the subject and below Infl 0 , which accounts for uniformity in verb-stem formation across the family. After an in-depth examination of the fac…
Hierarchy effects in copula constructions
This paper develops a generalization about agreement in German copula constructions described in Coon et al. (2017), and proposes an analysis that ties it to other well-established hierarchy phenomena. Specifically, we show that “assumed-identity” copula constructions in German exibit both person and number hierarchy effects, and that these extend beyond the “non-canonical” or “inverse” agreement patterns described in previous work on copula cons…
Feature Gluttony
This article develops a new approach to a family of hierarchy-effect-inducing configurations, with a focus on Person Case Constraint effects, dative-nominative configurations, and copula constructions. The main line of approach in the recent literature is to attribute these effects to failures of φ-Agree or, more specifically, failures of nominal licensing or case checking. We propose that the problem in these configurations is unrelated to nomin…
Mayan agent focus and the ergative extraction constraint
Many languages of the Mayan family restrict the extraction of transitive (ergative) subjects for focus, WH-questions, and relativization (Ā-extraction). We follow Aissen (2017b) in labeling this restriction the ERGATIVE EXTRACTION CONSTRAINT (EEC). In this article, we offer a unified account of the EEC within Mayan languages, as well as an analysis of the special construction known as AGENT FOCUS (AF) used to circumvent it. Specifically, we propo…
Atz’am k’ik’ atz’am
This article and text provide a new take on the San Mateo Ixtatán saltwater sources from the perspective of Xuwan, a San Mateo resident who for her entire life has been working in the extraction, production, and merchandising of atz’am k’ik’ atz’am ‘the black salt’, a culturally-valued good which forms a quintessential aspect of Chuj life and culture. In addition to recounting her experiences with black salt, Xuwan comments on several other aspec…
Type-shifting in headless relative clauses
Research on the (in)definiteness of bare nouns has developed various proposals regarding which type-shifters exist in human language and which principles are needed to govern their distribution (Carlson 1977; Partee 1987; Chierchia 1998; Dayal 2004; i.a.). At the same time, literature on headless relative clauses (HRCs), primarily focusing on free relatives (FRs) in Indo-European languages, has also developed type-shifting principles (Jacobson 19…
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (25 obras) · Linguistics (22 obras) · Philosophy (21 obras) · Computer Science (19 obras) · Mathematics (17 obras) · Ergative case (9 obras) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (8 obras) · Transitive relation (8 obras) · Verb (8 obras) · Combinatorics (6 obras)