Malagasy Adverbs Andrea Rackowski McGill University August 1996

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In The Structure of Malagasy, Volume II , ed. Ileana Paul, UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, 1998. 2 matetika 2 F NegP 2 tsy 2 neg FP etc. 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 >3 > ................ // aza > 1 > NP subj 6.8 Tena Tena is the intensifier that appears between other adverbs. Unlike tsy (another pre-verbal adverb with different orders), which behaves similarly to other adverbs and has several position restrictions, tena can appear between any of them and intensifies whatever is adjacent to it. Tena is located in the Specs of pre-verbal adverbs are AdvPs which are AdvPs in Specs, with Specs of their own (as according to Cinque). Tena only occurs with the pre-verbal adverbs (which have Specs available), not with the post-verbal adverbs in a sentence, which may be attributable to their status as heads of categories in the tree, causing them to have different behaviour in terms of which Specs are open. This discussion is necessarily vague, but there definitely is a split between pre- and post-verbal adverbs in terms of which can occur with tena, and this suggestion of a solution at least begins to account for the difference. Tena can only appear in these sentences in Specs of pre-verbal adverbs. (63)a. Tsy tena mbola mahay mandihay Rakoto. “Rakoto still really does not know how to dance.” b. *Manasa lamba tena tsara Rakoto. The following structure demonstrates tena’s position. 7. Conclusion (64) FP 3 MatetikaP 2 3 F NegP Tena matetika This paper has been an exercise in synthesis, attempting to combine Cinque’s Adverb Theory and Kayne’s Antisymmetry of Syntax Theory in Malagasy. For the most part, the synthesis is successful - Cinque can hold in Malagasy, as can Kayne, and each theory is developed and focused as its interaction with Malagasy is examined. Some modifications of Cinque’s theory are necessary to account for Malagasy, but the general theory is supported. The universal order of adverbs is preserved in the structure presented here, and the surface discrepancies (with Cinque’s order) are shown to be due to movement out of base position. Cinque’s theory must be modified slightly to allow adverbs to be heads of their own categories, rather than always being located in the Specs of Functional 22
In The Structure of Malagasy, Volume II , ed. Ileana Paul, UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, 1998. Categories, but this is a minor change, as he has elsewhere mentioned this possibility for certain languages. Kayne’s theory also holds in this exercise, and it is, indeed, an asset to explanation. The status of each Spec as an adjunction allows the necessary movement of elements out of embedded positions, resulting in a correct prediction of grammatical and ungrammatical orders in Malagasy. The Kayne-type tree requires a great deal of movement to obtain the surface order of elements, but the surface order is at least possible, as long as certain categories are able to be inserted to serve as landing sites for movement (or alternatively are always present in a large string of empty categories). Insertion of categories is an attractive solution to Kayne’s need for landing sites, and this paper helps produce positive evidence for this theory. The data and processes presented here indicate an underlying structure which relies on AgrP insertion to create surface word order. This process has interesting implications for the existence of non-content-full categories, which have been argued not to exist. Malagasy, however, must have these categories insert in order to explain the grammaticality of certain structures. Alternative explanations, such as moving to another Spec, do not predict the same grammatical results and are therefore inadequate. The structure presented here explains the variant behaviour of the pre- and postverbal adverbs, as well as the position of subject, Speech Act adverbs, and matetika. The framing pair na (dia)...aza is also explained through a head-head selection mechanism and subsequent movement of elements. In addition, the tree is restrictive in its predictions of grammatical and ungrammatical word orders - another desirable characteristic of structures. The synthesis of these theories with Malagasy word order is generally successful. This paper has raised several theoretical possibilities, which may be further developed in the future in more cross-linguistic research. 23
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Malagasy Adverbs Andrea Rackowski McGill University August 1996

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