The English Noun Phrase in its Sentential Aspect - Vinartus

2. INFL IN THE NOUN PHRASE 272 In in the Noun PhraseThere are numerous languages in which the noun phrase is much more likethe sentence than it is in English, in that the noun phrase in these languageshas one or both or the following properties: (1) a possessed noun agreeswith its subject in the same way that the verb agrees with its subject,and (2) the possessor receives the same case as the subject of the sentence,rather than a special genitive case. Schematically:(22) [ NP NP i -nom/erg N-agr i ... ]Both of these phenomena point to the existence of an AGR in the nounphrase: we see it overtly, and we see its eects in the case assigned to thepossessor. If there is an AGR, then the minimal assumption is that there isan In-like position which it occupies. If not, we must nd an explanationfor why AGR occupies dierent positions in the sentence and noun phrase.The only alternative to postulating a noun-phrase In which suggestsitself is that AGR is adjoined to N 0 :(23) NP/ \NP N'|N/ \N AGRNot only is this less desirable a priori, because it makes it more dicultto account for the constraints on the positions in which AGR appears,but it is also empirically inadequate. Namely, it is reasonable to supposethat the conguration illustrated in (23), with \V" substituted for \N", isthe structure of object agreement markers: subject agreement markers aregenerated in In, object agreement markers in the verb. If NP lacks an Inlikeposition, we predict that it will only have object agreementmarkers. Infact, in Yup'ik, nouns have both subject and \object" agreement markers. 4Thus the hypothesis under which (23) illustrates the only position for AGRin the noun phrase is empirically inadequate, and we are forced to assumean In-like position in the noun phrase.Let us begin, then, by considering the facts from Yup'ik in more detail.4 The \object" agreement is not agreement with an actual object I have called it\object" agreement because it is morphologically identical to object agreement in thesentence. See immediately below, section 2.1.