One, Empty Nouns, and θ-Assignment

Abstract

The standard analysis that the ''pronominal count noun'' one is an N′-or NP-level element is challenged and it is argued to be an N 0 . Moreover, the behavior of one is identified with that of a phonologically empty counterpart. The fact that these N heads lack descriptive content is shown to be the source of two of their distinctive properties: their inability to take arguments, which accounts for their superficially phrasal status, and their triggering of pronominal reference. The existence of a [pronominal] feature is argued against; instead, such noun heads' lack of descriptive content is claimed to be what LF interprets as ''pronominal.'' an anonymous reviewer for their comments, suggestions, help, and intuitions. All errors, omissions, and misconceptions remain mine.1 Kester's analysis faces two problems: if one is a functional head, it is an ''intransitive'' one; and unifying its behavior with that of e necessitates a more elaborate mechanism (see section 2 for details). I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for inquiring about the status of one as a functional item.

Gender mismatches under nominal ellipsis

“…I propose that all gender mismatched cases involve a null proform, in particular a null noun, e N , following Panagiotidis 2003aPanagiotidis , 2003b for Greek. This null pro-noun has analogs in the English one and Afrikaans een/ene, as discussed in Barbiers 2005, Corver andvan Koppen 2011, and others (though one may have more similarities with classifiers than the Greek item).…”

“…4 See, among others, Brucart 1987, 1999, Ritter 1988, Picallo 1991, Bernstein 1993, Kester 1996, Sleeman 1996, Giannakidou and Stavrou 1999, Depiante and Masullo 2001, Kornfeld and Saab 2002, Panagiotidis 2003a, 2003b, Masullo and Depiante 2004, Barbiers 2005, Nunes and Zocca 2005, Corver and van Koppen 2010, Alexiadou and Gengel 2012, Depiante and Hankamer 2008, Saab 2008, Zamparelli 2008, Bobaljik and Zocca 2010, Eguren 2010, Cornilescu and Nicolae 2012, Lipták and Saab 2011and see Lobeck 2006 for an overview.…”

NP-ellipsis with adjectival remnants: a micro-comparative perspective

“…The nominal (i.e., N) status of one is suggested by a number of morphosyntactic properties which they share with lexical nouns (see also Perlmutter 1970;Baker 1978;Wiltschko 1998;Schütze 2001;Panagiotidis 2003aPanagiotidis , 2003b. First of all, it can inflect for number, as shown in (7).…”

“…4 There is another way in which one semantically differs from regular nouns, namely it cannot occur with arguments (Lakoff 1970, crediting Baker;see also Jackendoff 1977: 58;Schütze 2001:134;Panagiotidis 2003aPanagiotidis , 2003b):…”

The syntax of anaphoric possessives in Hungarian

“…22 English anaphoric possessives have been analysed in both ways. Jackendoff (1977, 58-60), Déchaine and Wiltschko (2002), and Panagiotidis (2003a), among others, argue that English anaphoric possessives employ a pronoun, and this pronoun is one. For Jackendoff, this pronoun stands in for theN constituent, while for Déchaine and Wiltschko and Panagiotidis it stands in for the N head.…”