@article{THESIS,
      recid = {1848},
      author = {Ershova, Ksenia Alexeyevna},
      title = {Syntactic Ergativity in West Circassian},
      publisher = {University of Chicago},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2019-06},
      number = {THESIS},
      pages = {299},
      abstract = {This dissertation explores the relation between the notion  of subjecthood and syntactic ergativity through the lens of  West Circassian (or Adyghe; of the Northwest Caucasian  family), a polysynthetic morphologically ergative language.  West Circassian displays a number of unusual syntactic  ergativity effects, i.e. effects which indicate that the  absolutive argument occupies the structurally prominent  position which is generally believed to be associated with  subjecthood. Through the close examination of two such  effects – reciprocal binding patterns and constraints on  parasitic gap licensing – I arrive at the conclusion that  the absolutive argument in West Circassian may be generated  in a variety of positions within the verbal theta-domain,  but then uniformly undergoes A-movement to the highest  argument position in the clause regardless of its  theta-role. 

The derived status of the high absolutive  explains why a number of subjecthood diagnostics, such as  reflexive binding and obligatory control configurations,  single out the ergative agent as the subject: this is  because the syntactic properties of these constructions  rely on the voice projection, which is merged directly  above the verbal theta-domain, i.e. vP. Given the low  position of Voice0, diagnostics which involve the use of  this head single out the highest argument in vP as the  subject, rather than the highest argument in the full  clause. The proposed analysis provides support for the idea  that subjecthood properties may be disbursed across several  positions – in a syntactically ergative language like West  Circassian, these positions are often occupied by two  distinct nominals. In the absence of a single position or  single nominal which could be labeled as a subject within a  given clause structure, the term ‘subject’ becomes  theoretically vacuous. 

The dissertation provides insight  into the nature of syntactic ergativity, the structural  status of subjecthood, and the syntax of anaphor binding,  parasitic gap licensing and obligatory control  constructions. Through the examination of argument  asymmetries in a polysynthetic language, this project  contributes to the line of research demonstrating that  polysynthesis and non-configurationality cannot be defined  macro-parametrically, but are rather a consequence of  several micro-parameters at play, and that there is  configurational structure at the core of such a language.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/1848},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.1848},
}