الموروث
Volume 10, Numéro 2, Pages 404-413
2023-12-17

The Structure Of Arabic Verbless Sentences In Contemporary Syntactic Theories

Authors : Mhamedi Nadir . Ibrir Latifa .

Abstract

Modern theories of syntax seek a universal account that helps explain the structural patterns in a minimalist fashion. However, languages are distinct with respect to the typological features that warrant the surfacing of distinct canonical structures. The structure of Arabic verbless sentences in unique as it involves no apparent verbal predication. This has spilled a lot of ink in contemporary theories. Such theories are primarily influenced by their initial analysis of Indo-European languages, which contain verbal predication. As Arabic contains structures with no overt verbal constituents, the projection of such models on Arabic may be challenging. The present study highlights the theoretical complications of the three main outcomes of this applications which consider verbless sentence as: (a) small clauses with no functional projection, (b) containing an erased copula that is null in present and (c) containing a functional tense projection but no copula.

Keywords

verbless sentences ; null copula hypothesis ; predication