The Polish Dative as a test case for linguistic theory
Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
Final Report Abstract
The project was devoted to the interplay between Dative case and its syntactic environments in modern Polish, and to the implications of this phenomenon for the theory of case marking and argument structure cross-linguistically. It was a collaborative, bipartite endeavour with a team in Germany (funded by DFG) and a partner project in Poland (funded by NCN). Dative case is particularly revealing, because it touches on many interface areas of linguistic theory: lexical-semantic phenomena (e.g., recipients and benefactives are regularly marked dative), syntactic-semantic phenomena (e.g., the experiencer in impersonal constructions is often dative, datives may be added “freely” in syntax , expressing involvement, often possession), issues of subjecthood (e.g., some datives can bind reflexive pronouns, others are clear objects), and argument-structure variation (e.g., alternations between “impersonal” dative/nominative vs. “personal” nominative/accusative). There have been attempts to cover all of the uses of Dative under a very general meaning of the Dative case. The present project instead departed from concrete judgment studies of linguistic acceptability, mainly on binding and coreference of reflexives and pronominals, based on which we developed a theory of two syntactic positions for datives, a higher and a lower one, and a refined theory of binding, building on Nikolaeva’s (2014) Index Theory. A PhD dissertation deriving from the project integrates nearly all of the uses of Dative in Polish (and many in Icelandic) into a coherent analysis of case licensing and the mapping from argument structure to syntax. Promising directions for further research will include the application of this model to closely related languages (Czech, Russian, Ukrainian).
Publications
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“Binding by objects in Polish double object constructions – acceptability and correlation with object order”. In: Annual workshop on formal approaches to Slavic linguistics: The Urbana-Champaign meeting 2017. Ed. by T. Ionin and J. E. MacDonald, pp. 112–130
Gogłoza, A.; P. Łęska; R. Meyer & J. Witkoś
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“Degrees of externality and Dative Case selection in Dative Reflexive Construction in Polish”. In: Form, Meaning and Function in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. Ed. by K. Drabikowska, M. Izdebska, and A. Prażmowska. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 73– 106
Gogłoza, A.
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“PCC effects in English, Icelandic and Polish – A unified analysis”. In: Constraints on Structure and Derivation in Syntax. Ed. by A. Bloch-Rozmej and A. Bondaruk. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp. 101–129
Gogłoza, A.
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Binding by objects in Polish docs and please-type double object unaccusatives: Testing theoretical accounts. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 54(4), 509-540.
Gogłoza, Aleksandra & Łęska, Paulina
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“Binding by Polish Experiencer Datives and the Anaphor-Agreement Effect”. In: Annual Workshop on Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics: The Stanford Meeting 2018. Ed. by V. Gribanova, S. Grimberg, E. Petersen, E. Portelance, and B. Waldon. Paper presented at Berlin Dative Days, May 24-25, 2018, pp. 83–104
Gogłoza, A.; P. Łęska & J. Witkoś
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“Peeling of Subject Case – Marked subjects in Polish”. In: Studies in Formal Linguistics: Universal Patterns and Language Specific Parameters. Ed. by A. Boch-Rozmej and A. Bondaruk, pp. 91–109
Gogłoza, A.
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“Settling the unsettled – in search for the base-generated position of the Polish Experiencer Dative”. Paper presented at Berlin Dative Days, May 24-25, 2018
Gogłoza, A.
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Bind Me Tender, Bind Me Do!.
Witkos, Jacek; Łęska, Paulina; Gogłoza, Aleksandra & Dziubała-Szrejbrowska, Dominika
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“Polish Datives – an Applicative Analysis”. PhD thesis. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Sprach- und literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Gogłoza, A.
