Syntax/Semantics Discussion Group this week: Tim Chou and Sujeewa Hettiarachchi on Sinhala


By Andries W. Coetzee
Feb 17, 2013

In the Syntax/Semantics Discussion group this Friday, graduate students Tim Chou and Sujeewa Hettiarachchi will present on joint work that they are doing about the syntax of Sinhala. In this research, they question the standard assumptions about case assignment in Sinhala. Traditional analyses have assumed that so-called "volative" verbs assign nominative case to their subjects, while "involative" verbs assign dative case. Based on careful and detailed analyses of previously unnoticed data, however, Tim and Sujeewa show that nominative case is not assigned by a verb, but rather, more standardly, is a structural case assigned by a finite T. They develop an analysis for these data in the Minimalist framework. The abstract for their presentation is available at this link. 

What: Syntax/Semantics Discussion Group

Where: 403 Lorch Hall

When: Friday, 2/22, 3 pm

Presenters: Sujeewa Hettiarachchi and Tim Chou

Title: On Sinhala Involitives and Case Marking

Abstract: Here.