Rebecca Tollan
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 840909 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Rebecca Tollan |
| PRENOMES | Rebecca |
| SOBRENOME | Tollan |
| ASSINATURA | TOLLAN R |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Delaware |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9652-5594 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 8 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 6 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 8 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2021 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 1 |
Investigating nominative object constructions in Korean
Cross-linguistically, the existence of ‘double case’ configurations (e.g., nom -subject and nom -object) presents an empirical challenge to theories of case where anti-identity, or distinctness between two NPs, plays a key role (e.g., Yip, Maling & Jackendoff 1987). This study investigates the factors that influence the distribution of nominative object constructions in Korean. In a novel acceptability judgment experiment, we find that sentences …
Effects of uniqueness on extraction from definite NP objects
What Does That Mean? Complementizers and Epistemic Authority
A core goal of research in language is to understand the factors that guide choice of linguistic form where more than one option is syntactically well-formed. We discuss one case of optionality that has generated longstanding discussion: the choice of either using or dropping the English complementizer that in sentences like I think (that) the cat followed the dog. Existing psycholinguistic analyses tie that-usage to production pressures associat…
Dependency formation interacts with case
The subject-object asymmetry in relative clauses, where structures containing subject dependencies are typically easier to process than those with object dependencies, has been previously attributed to both grammatical function (subject > object) as well as morphological case (e.g., nom > acc). We investigate processing of Double Nominative Constructions (“DNCs”) in Korean, where the object exceptionally has nominative case like the subject (i.e.…
Pronoun resolution and ergativity
Anaphoric pronouns such as ‘it’ are referentially underspecified and therefore depend on prior context for interpretation. The factors influencing their interpretation are a long-standing topic of research in syntactic and pragmatic literature. We present a novel study of pronoun resolution in the ergative-absolutive Polynesian language Niuean, investigating whether Niuean exhibits the same subject preference found for nominative-accusative langu…
Licensing unergative objects in ergative languages
Transitive and unergative verbs have long received a uniform syntactic analysis, where they differ in whether an overt object is present (in transitives) or absent (in unergatives). We examine how objects of unergative verbs are case licensed when theyarepresent, focusing on a contrast between two related Polynesian languages: Samoan and Niuean. Both languages have ergative case systems, with subjects of intransitive verbs receiving absolutive ca…
Syntactic Ergativity as a Constraint on Crossing Dependencies
This article presents an account of syntactic ergativity based on the grammaticalization of a processing-based preference for nested as compared with crossing dependencies. We propose that ergative subject extraction restrictions arise because such movement would cross the prior Ā-movement path of the absolutive object and create an illicit crossed dependency. Our account predicts that arguments merged between the A-movement tails of the absoluti…
The Role of the Absolutive Object in Morphological Accessibility
This squib discusses environments in which a subject bears ergative case in the absence of an absolutive object, contrasting syntactically ergative languages (e.g., Q'anjob'al) with languages in which the ergative argument cannot be targeted for φ-agreement (e.g., Hindi-Urdu). In these environments, the parallels between Ā-movement and verb agreement with respect to the morphological accessibility hierarchy (Bobaljik 2008, Deal 2016) break down: …
Licensing unergative objects in ergative languages
Transitive and unergative verbs have long received a uniform syntactic analysis, where they differ in whether an overt object is present (in transitives) or absent (in unergatives). We examine how objects of unergative verbs are case licensed when theyarepresent, focusing on a contrast between two related Polynesian languages: Samoan and Niuean. Both languages have ergative case systems, with subjects of intransitive verbs receiving absolutive ca…
Effects of uniqueness on extraction from definite NP objects
Syntactic Ergativity as a Constraint on Crossing Dependencies
This article presents an account of syntactic ergativity based on the grammaticalization of a processing-based preference for nested as compared with crossing dependencies. We propose that ergative subject extraction restrictions arise because such movement would cross the prior Ā-movement path of the absolutive object and create an illicit crossed dependency. Our account predicts that arguments merged between the A-movement tails of the absoluti…
The Role of the Absolutive Object in Morphological Accessibility
This squib discusses environments in which a subject bears ergative case in the absence of an absolutive object, contrasting syntactically ergative languages (e.g., Q'anjob'al) with languages in which the ergative argument cannot be targeted for φ-agreement (e.g., Hindi-Urdu). In these environments, the parallels between Ā-movement and verb agreement with respect to the morphological accessibility hierarchy (Bobaljik 2008, Deal 2016) break down: …
Syntactic Ergativity as a Constraint on Crossing Dependencies
This article presents an account of syntactic ergativity based on the grammaticalization of a processing-based preference for nested as compared with crossing dependencies. We propose that ergative subject extraction restrictions arise because such movement would cross the prior Ā-movement path of the absolutive object and create an illicit crossed dependency. Our account predicts that arguments merged between the A-movement tails of the absoluti…
The Role of the Absolutive Object in Morphological Accessibility
This squib discusses environments in which a subject bears ergative case in the absence of an absolutive object, contrasting syntactically ergative languages (e.g., Q'anjob'al) with languages in which the ergative argument cannot be targeted for φ-agreement (e.g., Hindi-Urdu). In these environments, the parallels between Ā-movement and verb agreement with respect to the morphological accessibility hierarchy (Bobaljik 2008, Deal 2016) break down: …
Pronoun resolution and ergativity
Anaphoric pronouns such as ‘it’ are referentially underspecified and therefore depend on prior context for interpretation. The factors influencing their interpretation are a long-standing topic of research in syntactic and pragmatic literature. We present a novel study of pronoun resolution in the ergative-absolutive Polynesian language Niuean, investigating whether Niuean exhibits the same subject preference found for nominative-accusative langu…
Licensing unergative objects in ergative languages
Transitive and unergative verbs have long received a uniform syntactic analysis, where they differ in whether an overt object is present (in transitives) or absent (in unergatives). We examine how objects of unergative verbs are case licensed when theyarepresent, focusing on a contrast between two related Polynesian languages: Samoan and Niuean. Both languages have ergative case systems, with subjects of intransitive verbs receiving absolutive ca…
Dependency formation interacts with case
The subject-object asymmetry in relative clauses, where structures containing subject dependencies are typically easier to process than those with object dependencies, has been previously attributed to both grammatical function (subject > object) as well as morphological case (e.g., nom > acc). We investigate processing of Double Nominative Constructions (“DNCs”) in Korean, where the object exceptionally has nominative case like the subject (i.e.…
What Does That Mean? Complementizers and Epistemic Authority
A core goal of research in language is to understand the factors that guide choice of linguistic form where more than one option is syntactically well-formed. We discuss one case of optionality that has generated longstanding discussion: the choice of either using or dropping the English complementizer that in sentences like I think (that) the cat followed the dog. Existing psycholinguistic analyses tie that-usage to production pressures associat…
Effects of uniqueness on extraction from definite NP objects
Investigating nominative object constructions in Korean
Cross-linguistically, the existence of ‘double case’ configurations (e.g., nom -subject and nom -object) presents an empirical challenge to theories of case where anti-identity, or distinctness between two NPs, plays a key role (e.g., Yip, Maling & Jackendoff 1987). This study investigates the factors that influence the distribution of nominative object constructions in Korean. In a novel acceptability judgment experiment, we find that sentences …
Computer Science (6 obras) · Linguistics (6 obras) · Philosophy (6 obras) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (6 obras) · Mathematics (5 obras) · Ergative case (4 obras) · Artificial Intelligence (3 obras) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (3 obras) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (3 obras) · Nominative case (3 obras)