Language Research

Abstract This paper, based on nanosyntax, studies the semantico-syntactic contribution of Kurdish circumposition [elements (l{ ...(d) a, l{ ...{w{, w{...(d) a, w{ ...{w{) and their movement inside the containing PP. Contrary to minimalist, nanosyntax is non-lexicalsit and the terminal nodes contain elements smaller than morphemes i.e. morphosyntactic features. In this theory derivation begins with merging features and the lexicon is presyntax and syntax generates all items from morpheme to clause. Nanosyntax also follows the rigid universal functional sequence order of  Specifier – Head - Complement that is based on the principle one morphosyntactic property - one feature-one head. For instance, morphemes are, in a binary way, derived from merging morphosyntactic features, and then they are mapped on lexical entries stored in lexicon. If they match with lexical entries that contain , they will spell out. Studying the data in Kurdish shows that -(d)a in l{ ...(d)a represents Place and in w{ ...(d)a  Genitive. -{w{ in l{ ...{w{ shows Ablative including the feature/ head Bound and in w{ ...{w{ spells out Comitative. Stuying the Kurdish data also shows that the complement of the circumposition based nanosyntax movent principles moves lefteward and locates between the elemnts of the circumposition in a way that assymetrically c-commonds its bound part. As a result, according to Kayne’s Linear Correspondence Axiom (LCA) all terminal nodes dominated by DP precede all terminal nodes dominated by the bound element of the circumposition.

Abstract Except for personal clitics in past transitive forms, Sorani Kurdish has threeverbal prefixes; n?- for negation, be- for subjunctive, and (d)?- for imperfective. Thisarticle starts with bringing forth the question of why subjunctive marker in this languagecannot appear with verbal negative or aspect prefixes while there is no problem with the co-occurence of negative and aspect prefixes.After proposing some possible analyses, the author tries to analyze the question based onDM theory, saying that negation head moves downward, merges with the mood head, andthe merged form gets one phonological content by vocabulary items. For imperfectiveappearing in the final position in past subjunctives, she analyzes that this aspect headmoves to the final position of the verb in the presence of subjunctive marker. Both thesemovements happen in the morphological structure of PF –the first operates in terms ofhierarchical structure and before the linearizational rules being applied and the second operates in terms of linear order and after linearization- hence they are namedphonological rules, which are language-specific. As these rules changes –or sometimes add to- the syntactic structure, they are called readjustment rules too