Subject-verb number (dis)agreement

Abstract

This paper discusses cases of number mismatches between subjects and verbs. The main proposal is that subject-verb agreement is not in number but in a different feature, that we call Cardinality. Cardinality is a feature of DPs that is computed on the basis of number features and collectivity features carried by various heads in the DP. The “computation” of the Cardinality feature proceeds internal to the feature matrix of one lexical item - the D. The values of the number and collectivity features carried by various heads in the DP are transferred to the D by means of a feature checking mechanism and the value of the Cardinality feature is then derived from these.

Keywords

• ardinality
• collectivity
• number
• agreement
• DP-shells