On the Syntax of Complementizer Phrases in Standard Arabic: A Minimal Approach

Abstract

The syntax of Complementizer Phrases (henceforth, CPs) is an interesting issue that has been raised with the development of Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG). Languages display different morphological and syntactic properties of CPs; however, the syntax of this construction in Standard Arabic (SA) is a typical case of the interaction of CPs with other parameterized functional categories including Tense and the Passive (PASS). The purpose of this paper is to present empirical limits to the traditional analysis of CPs and suggest instead a minimal analysis of CPs in relation to resumption, Whphrases and moved constructions including Left Dislocated Noun Phrases (LDNPs) and Wh-constructions. The main proposal is that CPs and Wh-constructions, contrary to Left Dislocation, may be affected without recourse to any movement to a licensing Functional Head. Under minimalist assumptions (Chomsky 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008), strong features checking needed in the CP analysis will be shown to apply, in accordance with the phase-based model, at PF while Wh-features are checked at LF in satisfaction of Procrastinate, where displacement of Wh-elements is altruistic and applies in satisfaction of reconstruction.