The role of argument structure in Meꞌphaa verbal agreement

Abstract

This dissertation explores aspects of Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa morphosyntax, from verb roots to verb-initial word orders. I argue that patterns of agreement map directly onto the syntax of argument structure, which in turn feed the language's unique manifestation of ergativity. Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa agreement morphology is richly complex, and I show that this is due, in part, to three core ``ergativity properties'' \citep{deal2015ergativity} coalescing in the language: transitive subjects and intransitive subjects are encoded differently for a subset of verbs (the ergative property), intransitive subjects are sometimes marked with the same morphology as transitive objects (the absolutive property), and split-intransitivity in the language yields differential marking for intransitives (the argument-structural property). This produces a system that is \textit{consistently} ergative, with a particular ergativity property being visible depending on what verbs are under comparison, and what clause types are involved. I propose an explanation of this rich agreement morphology by appealing to the syntax of argument structure. I argue that Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa's way of being ergative is not about verbs \textit{per se}, but verbal structures \citep{marantz2013verbal} with distinct functional components and configurations. Language-specific unaccusativity diagnostics and other tests point to the existence of a constellation of verbal structures. Orienting to structural diversity reveals how Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa's patterns of verbal agreement reflect a high degree of sensitivity to underlying geometries. Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa agreement exponents reflect their probe, and an array of functional heads in the verbal domain participate in Agree(ment). This means that higher functional heads (e.g., T) are not required for such operations in the language. Instead, the very pieces involved in building verbal structures are the ones responsible for determining verbal agreement. In addition to laying the foundation for building the clause from the verb up, showing how the verb itself offers a snapshot of the core clausal architecture, this work further accounts for how the verbal and inflectional domains interact to produce verb-initial orders. I propose a VP-remnant raising account for Me\textcharis{ꞌ}phaa, attending to aspects of the derivation that successfully account for both morpheme order in the verb stem as well as constituent order at the larger clausal level.