Analyzing word order variation and agreement asymmetry in SVO and VSO structures of Standard Arabic: Towards a unified account

Abstract

Standard Arabic (SA) exhibits two common word orders: subject-verb-object (SVO) and verb-subject-object (VSO). In SA, agreement is contingent on word order. In SVO, for instance, the verb agrees in all phi-features (phi features = person, number, and gender) with the subject preceding it. In contrast, in VSO order, the verb only agrees with the post-verbal subject in person and gender but not in number, resulting in partial agreement. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it attempts to provide a unified account for the subject-verb alternation based on a distinction between ʔal-ʤumllah ʔal-iʔsmiyah “the nominal sentence” and ʔal-ʤumlah ʔal-fiʕliyah “the verbal sentence”. I assume that there is a Functional Phrase (FP) in the CP area, which is responsible for licensing the sentence as nominal or verbal. In light of this assumption, it will be shown that the feature on the Functional head (F) is the locus of word order variation in SA. Second, the current paper aims to account for the agreement asymmetry that is dependent on word order. In a probe-goal configuration, I propose that the subject in (SVO) order values the verb’s unvalued phi (ɸ) features, thereby obtaining full agreement. On the other hand, in a verb-initial clause (VSO), I suggest that because the verb moves to the Functional head (F), which is endowed with an valued singular number feature, the verb always has a singular feature, regardless of the subject (singular, dual, or plural) that follows it. As a result, partial agreement takes place between the verb and the post-verbal subject.