On some properties of nominals in Hebrew and Arabic, the construct state and the mechanisms of AGREE and MOVE

Abstract

Phrasal roll-up movement in DP has been shown to account for the mir- ror-image effect in the order of post nominal modifiers in Arabic and Hebrew. In a model in which features can be valued without movement, through AGREE, the question arises as to why movement must occur in the first place in the Semitic DP. We relate movement to a morpho-syntactic property of the Semitic determiner, namely, the absence of φ features. Consequently, SEARCH initiated by the clausal probes v and T for a goal with valued φ fea- tures cannot succeed in the absence of some mechanism bringing DP-internal φ features at the edge of DP. This is accomplished in Semitic by movement, subject to familiar economy guidelines. The landing site of NP movement inside DP varies: No movement takes place when no material intervenes between the determiner and the noun or when intervening modifiers do not bear φ features. When agreeing modifiers intervene, NP raises above them, while remaining below D. Finally, construct state nominals raise as high as they can, to Spec/D. These different trajectories are justified empirically and grounded theoretically.

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